principal's response

[barbtries]

yesterday i posted the email i wrote to my son's principal expressing my feelings about President Obama's speech not being shown at school.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...


i got a response this morning:

Thank you for bringing your concern to my attention. I would have loved nothing more than to show the speech to our entire student body at the same time. Unfortunately, we did not receive information on the speech until last week. The speech took place during part of our B lunch and part of our C lunch, so 2/3 of our student body would not have been able to watch without the schedule being changed. Given the late notice of this speech, we were unable to coordinate a last minute plan that accommodated the entire student body minus those whose parents refused to allow their student to watch the speech. Teachers were given the option to show the speech in their classroom, but many were unable to because of their lunch period.

Good news, the speech is on the WRAL website and I have included the link.

http://www.wral.com/news/local/politics/video/5954697 /

i'm mollified by the response; it makes sense to me. except the "minus those whose parents refused to allow their student to watch the speech" - aargh.

[global1]

1. I Guess The Principal Has Never Heard Of Those Fancy Video Recording Machines.......

so he could tape the speech and show it at a different time.

[deaniac21]

9. Uh, the principal included the video in a link.

[barbtries]

16. to me that wouldn't cut it either

i liked the idea of all the students - all across the country - together watching it live. i think it would foster a shared sense of pride and respect that he's not going to gain by watching it on the internet. nonetheless, i may sit him down tonight and watch it with him.

[saltpoint]

2. Well, then, as long a there was a legitimate reason.

Juggling a pre-set lunch schedule -- my god, that would have been inordinately hellish.

[FLDCVADem]

4. Depending on the size of the school

Yes, it could have been.

I don't see why it couldn't have been shown to the classes that weren't in lunch though.

[saltpoint]

7. Sounds like a manageable problem to me.

They could have done it had they wanted to.

[FLDCVADem]

8. Again, it depends on the size of the school

Try to change the schedule of 300 students at lunch, and yeah, it can be a real problem.

[saltpoint]

11. Insofar as predictable routine holds as the hobglobin of little minds, I

reassert the notion that an address by the President of the United States could have been managed.

[barbtries]

15. try 2400 students

it's a big school.

[barbtries]

17. actually i think it would have been

there are over two thousand students in this school.

[saltpoint]

20. My high school had more than that and we managed any number of

all-school events.

All together or in split sessions, this is a manageable problem. The principal's letter was jibber-jabber.

[Aragorn]

3. no one

can eat lunch in class, or in front of a TV. That's not until college....

At least you got a reply. Courtesy is not a lost art.

[barbtries]

18. yes, there's that

i wish i could see his response to those parents "who would not allow their children to watch." it might help me gauge which side he's on.

[OneGrassRoot]

5. Timing and scheduling seems to be a reasonable explanation...

for all students not watching it live simultaneously.

However, taping it to show over subsequent days seems to be a plan that would have worked.

My biggest problem is that this should have NEVER been an issue or anything to BE opted out of. I know even some DUers disagree with that, but many of us do not see a presidential speech to children, simply motivating and encouraging them, as political.

Since the right has politicized it, the school districts now need to establish a procedure for anything even REMOTELY political and how it will be handled in the future.

With this district largely not showing the speech nor taping it, they're setting a precedent to not expose students to anything with any potential political message. At least that should be the case, to avoid hypocrisy and inconsistency.

[FLDCVADem]

10. I agree with your post 99.9%

I do believe that parents should be able to opt out, but you are correct that a precedent has now been set. Best to put the procedures in place now, rather than later.

[orpupilofnature57]

6. Hiding behind protocol

[seabeyond]

12. there is validity to what the principal is saying. and to dismiss readily as excuse doesnt work

we had the same issue on the inaugration.

the school working hard to get up for kids to watch. problem with whatever the links are so were sending kids to computers. and then lunch schedule was breaking some of the kids watching it, depending on the period.

i understood that. they tried. and a lot watched. a lot of problems came up. they tried

i would have liked to see a 9 a.m. showing from obama exactly for this reason. people saying, they should reschedule lunch, or put up as kids eat just are not being reasonable.

i like the idea of tape and then show....

but i do understand what principal is saying, and dont think it is "excuses"

[ellenfl]

13. and it couldn't be shown in the lunchroom, because . . . ? eom

[seabeyond]

14. they are on schedule. limited time. kids eating, kids in line, kids up and down

and then out of there for the next class.

i so understand why that would not even be attempted.

[barbtries]

19. if they showed it in the lunchroom

as he noted in his email, 2/3 of the students would not have been able to see it, and the rest would have been able to watch only part of it. they have three lunch periods. big school.