As instructed by the school’s teachers, she checked to see if the children were working just on calligraphy and not other parts of the app. Curious about what her child was learning, she looked at some of the apps. She took screen shots so she could view them later at home. She noted what students were doing with the technology and took some photos of what was on their iPads without identifying any student.
She also asked her child’s teacher about the activity, chatted with another teacher who was a friend and, on her way out, stopped to talk to the librarian.
Despite 14 years of unpaid effort on behalf of the city’s schools, Dana was told by Jones she would no longer be allowed to volunteer if she did not mend her ways.
Dana has been a critic of Jones. Such tension between school leaders and active parents is common but rarely reported. School districts say they welcome outsider involvement. The Falls Church City school board’s mission statement says “our schools must be responsive and accountable to the community.” But parents like Dana often feel a chill if they ask too many questions.
In a statement, the school district said Jones warned Dana in part because “we are careful to protect student privacy and data.” It also bothered staff that Dana had asked to meet with staff members “on more than 20 occasions” during the school year and “wrote over 2,100 emails to 145 separate FCCPS email accounts,” according to the statement.
The best teachers I know like dealing with parents. A teacher who worked last year at an elementary school told me a majority of her colleagues “were thrilled that Melissa was asking questions.” Jamie Scharff, an International Baccalaureate teacher at George Mason High School, said he has “never met a parent as sincerely dedicated to helping the schools” as Dana.
Jones’s letter accused Dana of “attempting to log on inappropriately to at least one technology device, and taking random pictures not associated with tasks assigned to you in your role as a parent volunteer.” Dana said the charge of logging on inappropriately was “absolutely false” and “I was taking very specific pictures of the activity to which I was assigned.”
What bothers me most is the school district presenting her large number of emails as a sign of misbehavior. Dana told me she was concerned by teacher complaints of mismanagement and made hundreds of contacts with parents and teachers, plus school board members. What’s wrong with that? She said 234 people emailed her their support for a satisfaction survey she was advocating.
In May, several people, including Dana and her husband, formed a group called The Falls Church Way, seeking more input on school policy for parents, teachers and community members. The group wants the board to include staff, parents and community members in its evaluation of Jones this month. Jones has agreed to meet with the group every month.
School officials often consider such groups a nuisance. But asking questions can lead to meaningful change. Smart administrators know that and listen carefully to parents before threatening to ban them from volunteering.
"The best teachers I know like dealing with parents."
You must not know many teachers. The best teachers resist dealing with parents because parents want their snowflake to be given less work, or easier work, or to have their C bumped up to an A for no good reason. The sheer amount of nonsense parents ask for is outrageous. Bad teachers just succumb to it because they don't care.
You must not know many teachers. The best teachers resist dealing with parents because parents want their snowflake to be given less work, or easier work, or to have their C bumped up to an A for no good reason. The sheer amount of nonsense parents ask for is outrageous. Bad teachers just succumb to it because they don't care.
I
see the school district superintendent came from Oklahoma. You could
ask those parents if they were sad or glad to see her go. But who
tattled on the volunteer to start this mess? Looks to me like those
elementary school teachers need adult supervision themselves.
Teachers
are in the business of managing the education of children, not managing
adults. I don't think the average person in the public realizes how
little time teachers have to belabor the minutiae of school policy with
parents. Your child's teacher is usually dealing with 20-25 children and
their parents. That is one person serving as the contact point for
60-75 people, plus the demands of paperwork, planning and dealing with
whatever management throws at them.
Volunteers should volunteer. No teacher trying to assist 20 plus little children needs an adult volunteer who needs monitoring and attention. Would you walk into an ER and follow the staff around taking pictures and asking questions after a major car crash? By the way, a child's identity and image is private and schools are legally obliged to be discreet. Do you want a volunteer in your child's classroom to be wandering around and snapping pictures for unknown reasons? Think about it.
Most schools have steering committees that involve parents. This volunteer should join or start such a committee and stick to actually volunteering in the classroom.
Volunteers should volunteer. No teacher trying to assist 20 plus little children needs an adult volunteer who needs monitoring and attention. Would you walk into an ER and follow the staff around taking pictures and asking questions after a major car crash? By the way, a child's identity and image is private and schools are legally obliged to be discreet. Do you want a volunteer in your child's classroom to be wandering around and snapping pictures for unknown reasons? Think about it.
Most schools have steering committees that involve parents. This volunteer should join or start such a committee and stick to actually volunteering in the classroom.
The
risk for school administration is that involved parents and volunteers
can decide to run for the school board and become the administrator's
boss. It is far better for administration to answer questions than
risking inspiring a questioning person to run for the local school
board.
Sounds
like typical office politics to me. 'Office politics' means 'bullying
and pressure to fit in' really just worded in a more adult way for grown
ups who don't want to admit they act just like kids. But it's normal,
sadly, and what goes on in any work place or any place where many people
work together, unfortunately. It's just a part of life, and when
someone feels on edge because they worry you might threaten their
security, their job, or even their unaccounted for corruption, they will
retaliate most of the time. That's when you need to cross all your t's
and dot all your i's and sorry, but, snapping photos in a classroom
setting without permission is wrong. So of course they're going to use
it against someone when they're just looking for something to use
against you. They can't know for sure what she took a picture of, and
taking pictures of other children's phones and such, IS inappropriate.
What's Jones hiding?
3:20 PM PST [Edited]
She
sounds like a great employee to me. This is so common in schools and in
business, an employee does great work and their superiors get
threatened. Jones should be investigated.
Guilty of impersonating a real teacher, which today borders a crime.
