Jan 6: What... huh?

I couldn't quite believe what I heard today uttered at school to a high school student. I know that if this child's parents were actually at the school and heard this, a lawsuit would have be brought so fast against the school that it wouldn't even be funny - and it still could happen. Good God.

This is what happened:

I was called down to an ARD for a student (let's say his name is Bob Knuckle) along with two other teacher and his counselor. We were in the Special Education reception area when we found out that we were unable to have the ARD (Admission, Review, Dismissal) meeting, because the meeting was called to evaluate the testing done on Bob. The testing had not been done because Tracey, the diagonistician, had not known about the testing.

The counselor told Tracey that it was pertinent that we have an ARD soon because of Bob's grades and he showed Tracey Bob's grades. She went over to where Bob was sitting, kneeled, and addressed him somewhat quietly. She told him that the grades that she was looking at reminded her of "temperature degrees rather than grades" and that he needed to put on his "trying pants so that he could go ahead and pass his classes". Tracey then preceeded to tell him that he was going to be taking a test from her to decide if he needed to be in Special Education and that he really needed to do well on it because if he didn't do well, then the ARD committee "would put him in a classroom where the kids were in wheelchairs, where kids drooled - you know, the retarded class."

I am truly appalled that Tracey would speak to a teenage child not only in a condescending way, but also using the terminology that she did. All of his teachers, wanted to talk with Bob, but every time we tried to talk with him, we weren't given a chance to do so - she monopolized the whole conversation with Bob.

Since that day, Bob has shut down in my class. He looks at the work, he discusses it with the others in the class and then will not turn it in.

I will be going to my principal and talking to him about this. I just couldn't do it today. I have a dandy of a headache coming back from yesterday and I needed to be at home in bed and relaxing.

Thankfully, tomorrow, I have a chance to get some rest and I just hope that it's not too cold... but I fear that I may be frozen in that Stock show barn. The high is supposed to be only 33 degrees.

~MJ