Too Many Questions?

The principal is concerned about having admissable in court, written documentation of violations of the law. I would carefully go over your e-mails. Something scared them…

It’s a great shame but it is true that e-mail are admissable in court documents and they may have just woken up to that. It’s also true that while I find e-mails a wonderfully convenient way to communicate with parents it scares many of my teaching colleagues. They seem to be bothered by the …familiarity of it. E-mails are easier to write than phone calls are to make so once I provided parents with my school e-mail, I was getting more e-mails from parents than I ever got phone calls. I welcome that but it did seem to make other teachers nervous.

I look forward to the day when every teacher in every school sees every phone call or e-mail sent by a parent as an opportunity to build and foster a relationship that’s in everybody’s best interest.

And isn’t it ironic that the Principal e-mails you that e-mails are not an effective form of communication??? If he really believed that, wouldn’t he have called you? I’d be sure to ask him (nicely) what is “ineffective” about e-mails and be sure to emphasize that you thought e-mails more protective of a teacher’s time than a phone call but you’d be happy to call the teachers twice a week if he prefers that and look forward to two phone calls a week from each of them.

Thanks for the hints.
I am not sure what scared them, but I think it might be that …They haven’t provided any services that were agreed upon for the new IEP and that one of the teachers wrote that my son didn’t have an IEP written in her subject, that the IEP was being worked on in resource and that she was providing the new curriculum for the year only.
What started this was….At the last IEP They had suggested pulling him out of math or language.
I began asking questions, (honestly to make an informed decision about what would be best for him). I realized that I had no idea what is really being done for him currently, and by whom. It wasn’t until then that I found they were modifying his tests in two subjects, I was amazed at what I did not know.
Anyway, No two ways around the fact that I need communication from the teachers so that I can help him at home and to make large decisions for my sons education.
I can’t imagine trying to negotiate a service, I have already been denied a copy of texts at home and I can’t get even get the small free things. (Grade checks and Communication )
Thanks for your advice. I feel a little better about tommorrow.
Mo

I would personally request the communication from school to home be written into the IEP. I had to chuckle about Sara’s comment about the principal actually using e-mail to notify you,LOL didn’t even think about that. The real shame is the resistance to accountablity.

It sure sounds like the principal realized there would be damaging things IN WRITING adn he wants to stop it now.

I would write a nice letter back to him — and cc the head of sped and superintendent — thanking him for his concern. I”d also mention, though, that you are sorry that he feels email is not a good method of communication, since you had found it to be so (and cite any evidence that the people you’ve been emailing with also agreed with you). You are sure he agrees with you that parental involvement in your child’s education is important, and that regardless of what communication methods are worked out in the future, this has been very beneficial to you because you have been able to discover details about your child’s program which had not been known to you; this has helped you immensely in understanding the efforts the teachers are making to help your child succeed.

I might go so far as to ask if teachers are instructed not to reply to your emails ever, and if this is a school policy of some sort. OF course, you understand that he’s got to think of the benefits and drawbacks of uses of technology, and that having too much email to respond to is certainly a consideration. And you think that if the teachers thought there were too many eamils, you should definitely meet and figure out when email communication was appropriate — because there indeed might be times when a quick e-mail one way or the other would be far superior to other kinds of communication. aAnd you might ask how he suggests you communicate for the rest of *this* year.

Basically I’d try to make it obvious to him and to the other readers of your letter that you are trying to communicate, not harrass.

Sue,
One problem is„„ I have to face the principal tommorrow morning at the IEP meeting, so I don’t have time to write a letter. I will have to address it in person. I could include that with my follow up letter to the IEP meeting or do you think I should write it up and hand it to them in person?
Thanks Sue
Mo

You should do it in writing too, even if it comes after. If you have time to write it up tonight so that it’s a “done deal” that would probably be best but if not, take notes and write a “follow-up” letter that thanks the principal for his/her time.

You want to have a true paper trail. THe same people that don’t want emails out there will forget they told you this or that, forget you told them this or that, and lose things you hand to them at meetings. That is unfortunately a too-common occurrence. On the other hand, these same people often *do* respond to the very idea of a paper trail by suddenly becoming more competent and providing better communication and more services. WHen the “paper trail” is professionally polite and lets them save a little face (basically “thank you for being wonderful people, I know we’re working together here,” — and it’s even better if you can convince yourself that it’s true because it often is for at least part of the team) it can work even better. And it can also mean that somebody who *wants* to do the right thing but is pressured by a boss can say “look, I just have to placate this pushy parent who’s making a paper trail, she could take us to due process.”)

Thanks everyone for the help !

Make absolutely sure you tape this meeting. If the e-mail fiasco comes up you’ll want it on tape. And by the way,you are most welcome:-) Benn there done that.