Why I am glad I have been homeschooling all these years...long rant sorry

[Donna]

My ds wanted to try public school this year (8th grader who has always been homeschooled). He wants to go to high school because he wrestles and can only compete through a high school once he gets that age so we agreed to let him go to school in 8th to get used to everything.

 

The school in our district is bad and we are moving (if our home that has been on the market since 10/08 ever sells) so in April I contacted the school in the distrtict we are moving to, telling them the whole story and asking what I need to do to get him enrolled. I spoke to many different people, none of whom knew anything but passed me on until I eventually contacted the superintendent who gave me the principal and she told me to fill out this "Families in Transition" form, have it notorized, and have my dad (whose home we will eventually buy) fill it out. I do all of that, take it to the BOE building only to be told that since there is not a contract on my house yet, that is the wrong form. Instead I need to write a letting asking to enroll him as a tuition student.

 

I write the letter in beginning June. I meet with the principal (who has to okay my request) when she makes appointment in mid-July (only time they do these meetings I am told). She tells me she will accept him, I will get a letter in the mail to fill out and return with first tuition payment, and they will test him end of August. I inform her we will be away the 3rd week of August which she says is no problem. I ask if there is anything else I need to do and she says "No. It's all taken care of." I get the paperwork, fill it out and send it in with my first tuition payment the next week.

 

Fast forward to last week of August...husband is calling school to find out when they will test ds. No one returns any of his 3 calls. I get home last Sunday from camp with dd and email principal to ask. Get return email saying the date has not been set yet, she will let me know when it is. (1 week 2 days before school is to start).

 

On Tuesday, I contact principal's secretary asking when the testing will be and when I will get any kind of paperwork on what materials ds will need, school times, etc... She tells me that I never registered ds with the BOE so they don't even have him in the system. I told her I filled in all the paperwork I was sent and sent in my (very large) tuition payment. She says there is other paperwork.

 

I ask why no one told me to fill out this paperwork or why wasn't it sent with the other paperwork where they gladly took my money. She says, "Someone obviously dropped the ball." (You think.) So I get the correct paperwork, fill it out, turn it in. My husband talks to the person who does testing and we wait for her to set the date telling her we'd prefer ds not to miss any school.

 

She finally returns a phone call on Thursday saying she will test him Tuesday if she can get the techs to set up the program for her. Dh tells her we don't want ds to miss any school. She says "He won't. School starts Wednesday."

 

 

Dh informs her, "School starts Tuesday."

 

She gets very nervous then starts trying to explain that he won't miss much the first day. So, now ds has to start school later than everyone else as the "new kid" his first time ever in school because they messed up. I am ready to tell them to give me my money back and homeschool him another year. :banghead:

[Heather in Neverland]

Welcome to the world of public school. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[mamato4girls]

Why is there tuiton for a public school?

[Journey]

There is tuition for public school when you don't live in the district that the school you want your child to go to is in. That is so "normal" for the public school system. I put my daughter in PS in her last year of high school (she wanted it) and she has graduated and I'm STILL getting notices asking if she's still in the district. I don't even bother to send them in, let them figure it out. They sure sent me on a wild goose chase trying to get her enrolled. I know how you're feeling, so don't feel like you're alone!

[jplain]

Some public schools will allow out-of-district students to enroll as long as they pay tuition.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

I'm sorry it's such a rigamarole for you! Just don't ask them what curricula your son will be using. You should have seen the look on the principal's face when I asked her that about my entering 1st grader!

[dragons in the flower bed]

So, now ds has to start school later than everyone else as the "new kid" his first time ever in school because they messed up.

 

This exact same thing happened to us when DSS11 went back last year. He had to start late as the new kid. They also didn't put him in classes he should have been in based on his test scores, and they seemed to bounce him around from class to class randomly when we asked them to fix that. I think he was in three different English classes the six months he was there.

 

But it didn't matter. No matter what English class he was in, the teachers consistently undermined what I'd taught him about doing his best work. He did his laziest work and got straight As. He got As with misspellings, grammar errors, illegible handwriting, even answering questions flat out incorrectly.

 

I'm so glad he's not involved in team sports.

[Sue G in PA]

:grouphug: We are going through almost the same hassles. Dd12 was tested the DAY BEFORE school started and put in the WRONG math class even though I told them she needed to be in Alg. 1. They didn't even have testing in place for incoming students...until we enrolled dd b/c my husband gave them a lecture on the importance of testing students this age to make sure they are placed in the correct classes b/c 8th grade is the year before high school and the entire course layout for hs is at stake. They just shrugged. :001_huh: Welcome to the world of public school...for both of us.

[dangermom]

:ack2: Yuck. I think homeschooling is less work than public school! I hope everything works out OK for you.

[kalanamak]

Welcome to the world of public school. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

 

Welcome to the world of bureaucracy. Try doing this with getting housing, medical follow up, covered prescriptions, AND a psychologist who takes Medicaid for someone who is significantly mentally ill. Every seam must hold water or the whole thing falls apart.

 

I kiss the ground my social worker walks on.

 

Happy for you that you could get your kiddo into the school you wanted!

[gingersmom]

Somehow none of this surprises me.

 

I got a letter from our school nurse at the local elementary school (my son has been gone nearly 3 years) telling me his immunization records are not up to date and when I am at the school can I drop them off.

 

I threw the letter in the mail.

[iluvmy4blessings]

I hear you! I did public school for 3 years and that sounds about right.

[Impish]

My worst bureaucratic experience came when I pulled Diva out of school. I sent her with a letter that am, explaining that she would not be returning, and asked for all her books, etc be sent home with her.

 

I received a call from the VP. She said she was calling to find out where to send Diva's school records. I knew dang good and well that she cannot send anyone anything unless and until they are requested. So, I told her what she was fishing for, that we were homeschooling. She told me that I couldn't mid year, it wasn't allowed. I informed her that I had someone coming out the next day to register her for homeschooling (here you have to register with one board or another, and meet with your facilitator twice a year, depending on what 'stream' you've chosen). She huffed, told me I was wrong, and that she would be marking Diva truant for every day that she was absent and not registered in another school. I told her to go ahead, I figure one day truant won't hurt anyone. She ended the call by saying that the school would welcome Diva back when I changed my mind. I told her that would never be an issue, and hung up.

 

Never ONCE was I asked *why* I was pulling Diva, or if there was anything they could do to change my mind, just an attempt to bully me.

 

Over the next few weeks, kids from Diva's class, who'd never been here before showed up, begging her to come back, that the class would have a party if she did, everyone promised not to be mean and bully. When closely questioned, the children had been asked by the teacher to do so, who then gave them our address! :cursing:

 

I also had a mother and daughter I'd never met before in my life show up with a duotang (mostly blank, like all the other books she'd brought home) and asked if she could please come back. Again, teacher supplied our addy and asked for this to be brought to us. We live a grand total of 2.5 blocks or so from the school, and could have picked it up. I apologized to the mom for her being asked to bring this, if I'd been called I would have gotten it myself. We talked for a bit, and she seemed to understand the reasons I pulled Diva, and would not be putting her back. She agreed, and followed up with, "Well, I know my girl really misses her." so I told her to call me for a playdate.

 

After they left, Diva told me that the girl was one that always teased her, and never played with her, she couldn't imagine why she would have missed Diva, unless it was someone to make fun of every day :glare:

[Donna]

My worst bureaucratic experience came when I pulled Diva out of school. I sent her with a letter that am, explaining that she would not be returning, and asked for all her books, etc be sent home with her.

 

I received a call from the VP. She said she was calling to find out where to send Diva's school records. I knew dang good and well that she cannot send anyone anything unless and until they are requested. So, I told her what she was fishing for, that we were homeschooling. She told me that I couldn't mid year, it wasn't allowed. I informed her that I had someone coming out the next day to register her for homeschooling (here you have to register with one board or another, and meet with your facilitator twice a year, depending on what 'stream' you've chosen). She huffed, told me I was wrong, and that she would be marking Diva truant for every day that she was absent and not registered in another school. I told her to go ahead, I figure one day truant won't hurt anyone. She ended the call by saying that the school would welcome Diva back when I changed my mind. I told her that would never be an issue, and hung up.

 

Never ONCE was I asked *why* I was pulling Diva, or if there was anything they could do to change my mind, just an attempt to bully me.

 

Over the next few weeks, kids from Diva's class, who'd never been here before showed up, begging her to come back, that the class would have a party if she did, everyone promised not to be mean and bully. When closely questioned, the children had been asked by the teacher to do so, who then gave them our address! :cursing:

 

I also had a mother and daughter I'd never met before in my life show up with a duotang (mostly blank, like all the other books she'd brought home) and asked if she could please come back. Again, teacher supplied our addy and asked for this to be brought to us. We live a grand total of 2.5 blocks or so from the school, and could have picked it up. I apologized to the mom for her being asked to bring this, if I'd been called I would have gotten it myself. We talked for a bit, and she seemed to understand the reasons I pulled Diva, and would not be putting her back. She agreed, and followed up with, "Well, I know my girl really misses her." so I told her to call me for a playdate.

 

After they left, Diva told me that the girl was one that always teased her, and never played with her, she couldn't imagine why she would have missed Diva, unless it was someone to make fun of every day :glare:

 

That is awful. Is there no privacy policy that prohibits a teacher from giving out a family's personal information?

 

Thanks everyone for the kind words. I found out yesterday that my aunt, who just retired as the principal of the school my children would have attended in our district, is friends with the new superintendant of the school ds will be attending. Things may get even more interesting. She told me to call him and drop her name as I told him everything.