Hi everyone, I need some advice from this wonderful forum. I have a parent who, since August, has sent her complaints to the principal regarding her little one's hair being touched by other students (they are preschool), not agreeing with the differentiated work he is given (she feels it needs to be more challenging), among other things. Since August she has stormed into my room and has shouted at me in front of parents and talks to my co-workers about my class. Once when dropping off her daughter, she pulled out her phone and started quizzing the other kids on the playground just to prove that her child was smarter than them. I'm just wondering if I should go to my union rep. I've been so stressed out every day I see her, wondering what will upset her today. Another co-worker did this who was in a similar situation and that parent couldn't go near that teacher and had to pick up their child in the office for the rest of the year. Any advice would be helpful. Thank you!
The principal wants me to meet with her and him because she's requesting a personalized study plan for him because the child's intellectual needs aren't being met. She is not on an iep nor sst. Plus she's allowed to just show up on campus as long as she has a visitor badge.
Thank you! You don’t have to take this sort of stuff. Parents complaining to administration comes with the territory. Berating and defaming a teacher in public does not*. How does she get into your classroom? Doesn’t she have to go through the office first? Using her phone to quiz other students could be harassment (is she taking pictures of them?). A savvy principal will confront parent and tell her if she comes on campus without permission she will be removed. If she does show up call Ad’ to have her removed. Document what she says/does. *In my district it’s a misdemeanor (from state code) if a parent berates a teacher in public. It happened once in the hallway at dismissal. Parent was unaware principal was nearby and heard the demeaning verbiage. Principal got in parent’s face and told her to leave immediately, or the sheriff would be called to have her removed. Then principal added to never set foot on the campus again without permission from the office. The method your co-worker is using is another option. Of course, your principal should be teacher supportive for change to happen.[/QUOTE]
You are not a person to this parent. You are "the school". This parent is going to brag how she got the school to do what she wanted. So don't take this personally. If possible record or document any conversations with her. Perhaps you can get her to switch to email so you have her rants in writing. Your principal should be protecting you from this kind of harassment. Contact your union and ask if they can prepare legal documents to serve the abuser. You can also offer extra credit assignments to all students, then point out that their daughter hasn't done any of them. This is not on you, it's on the parent. So sorry!
How did the conversation with the principal go? Some parents can be really annoying and stand on their children sides, no matter they do. One of my students recently told me that he is using this service https://academized.com/write-my-paper to write his papers and he doesn't see anything wrong with that. How would you react on such a thing?
