Frustration Update

I have one word for you guys: wow. The outpouring of support this week has been overwhelming and I really appreciate all the comments, emails, and phone calls. I experienced similar support over on halifaxtalk.com. I especially appreciate board member Joe Gasperini and his constant willingness to post on Halifax Talk.

I gathered my thoughts enough to compose an email to send to Principal Randolph, Superintendent Stapleton, and all of the school board members.

Here it is...

I am writing to inform you all of my extreme disappointment with our school system.

My daughter, Melissa Rice, is a senior at the high school. She has worked hard her entire high school career to earn the credits required to receive an advanced diploma. Knowing that this would be her last year to complete the required courses, my wife, Patricia, and Melissa met with her guidance counselor, Sharon Hicks, last Spring to ensure that she would be registered for all the required classes this year. They were assured that her choices would put her on track to receive an advanced diploma.

Last week Melissa was called to the guidance office to meet with Ms. Hicks. She informed Melissa that the Ecology class she’d been attending for almost three weeks would not qualify her for an advanced diploma. Ms. Hicks’ solution was to replace Ecology with Anatomy this semester. Melissa did not want to take Anatomy at all, so we were not willing to have her start an advanced science class three weeks into the semester. My wife again met with Ms. Hicks and they worked out a compromise. Melissa’s schedule was changed and she was placed into College Level English this semester, and in the second semester she will be in advanced Ecology, which qualifies her for the advanced diploma.

The transition into the English class has not been easy. The class had been working on a research project for some time and Melissa struggled over the weekend to catch up. She had to turn in sixty research note cards on Monday. She worked very hard and completed the assignment on time.

I understand that errors are inevitable and the job we entrust to the guidance department is huge. However, no one in the guidance department accepted responsibility for the error or offered a sincere apology. How can we expect our young people to learn to accept responsibility for their errors when their school administrators and counselors refuse to accept and apologize for their own errors?

Melissa is also in the second year of Trina Vaughan’s excellent Equine Management program. She was chosen by Ms. Vaughan to represent her class at the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the new Equine Center held on Wednesday. I’m sure you can imagine how exciting that was for Melissa. Getting to meet Governor Kaine alone would be a huge honor, but she was more excited because it would be the first time she would represent her school at a major event.

On Tuesday Melissa was informed by Ms. Vaughan that she would not be allowed to attend the ceremony because her first block class is at the STEM Center. This decision was made by Principal Griles. Obviously she didn’t think it was appropriate for Melissa to miss a single Pre-Calculus class in order to represent the entire student body at an important press conference. My wife called to speak with Ms. Griles before the ceremony on Wednesday. Ms. Griles returned the call after the ceremony was finished and explained that Ms. Vaughan was instructed to submit her choice of students to attend the ceremony and pending her approval, she would inform Ms. Vaughan if the students were approved or not. Essentially Ms. Griles placed the blame on Ms. Vaughan because she told the students before they were approved by Ms. Griles.

My wife asked Ms. Griles if she could explain why it was appropriate to send Melissa into College Level English class three weeks late, but it was not appropriate for her to miss a single Pre-Calculus class to attend a prestigious ceremony. Ms. Griles gave no answer.

As parents, I’m sure you can understand our concern. Melissa isn’t in the top ten percent of her class, and she is not an athlete. This was likely her only chance to represent the school and to feel the pride that comes with that. The degree of her disappointment is difficult to express with mere words.

Our ‘middle of the road’ students seem to be at a definite disadvantage in our school system. Top performers (both academic and athletic) are lauded continually and troublemakers receive their share of attention, while average students working hard every day to get the best education possible so they can become successful adults are consistently ignored by the system.



I know that there is nothing that can be done now since the ribbon-cutting ceremony is long over. My hope is that you will use Melissa’s experiences and disappointments as a catalyst to re-examine the arbitrary enforcement of bureaucratic policy and instill in the administration how important it is to accept responsibility and to apologize for errors, intentional or not. As with any problem in life, accepting that a problem exists is the first step to correcting it.

Rules are important, but inconsistent and blind enforcement does a great disservice to our students and society as a whole.

Melissa has given up on Halifax County High School and is counting the days until graduation. She has great plans for her future and cannot wait to move on to college and adulthood. She feels that her chance of having a great senior year is over. I ask that you do not let this happen to another student.

Thank you for your time.