| annieo |
| (veteran) |
| 04/18/12 04:39 PM |
Re: OT-Middle School principal...VENT...
|
Having worked at a small school as the office secretary (small being K-12 and 150 kids) if the "important" is not an emergency I went to the classroom and got the child to come to the office and use the phone - but it had to wait if I was on the phone or helping someone at the front desk. In an emergency I would put my call on hold and/or have whoever I was helping wait and I would go get the child to come use the phone while I left the parent on hold.
The school building was actually quite spacious for so few students so I couldn't just run to this class or that and in their infinite wisdom there wasn't a phone in each room nor was there an intercom, would have made my job a lot easier had there been.
Your son should have been allowed to use the receptionist phone but he was not - maybe the principle wanted to make sure he made his call so you could not say he never called you - maybe she felt she needed to monitor it to see the "importance" of the phone call to see what you deem important for future issues? You could have just told her what the call was about and she may have reacted differently? I know, YOUR child - you should be able to get a hold of him I completely agree - maybe in the future say it is an emergency and you'll get a little more attention and your son will be gotten right away?
All I know is that if there is short staff, no phone available (was the receptionist one available?) etc... I would not have dropped everything to make sure your child called you I would however (if you dealt with me the way you did in this incident) make sure I was witness to the call so that no one could say I did not let the child call. I want to be clear though - if it was an emergency and the parent only said it is an emergency and not what the emergency entailed I would have most certainly gotten the child without question and not even bothered with what the emergency was - it would not really be my business. I never had a parent not tell what the emergency was because in an emergency it is generally best to clue the adult in that will be dealing with the child.
Was there some reason you could not have told the principle what the important issue was? I get that you just wanted your child to call you from the receptionist phone as that would have been "normal" way the call would have been handled but in this instance the "norm" didn't happen and now your upset, the principle is irritated/frustrated and your son has a mark against him for the way his father handled the entire situation.
I am guilty of not handling an issue with my son in the correct manner with the person in charge and I did "demand" something but my son was the one who paid the price for my making a mountain out of a mole hill and I regret that now. It all turned out fine in the end but I didn't demand anything again, much better to work with people who have influence in your child's life then to work against them.
Everyone's idea of "important" is different...