Frustration

Halifax County High School is pretty low on my list right about now. Let me explain..

Last spring Trisha went to meet with Melssa and her guidance counselor to ensure that Melissa's classes for this year would give her all the credits she needs to receive an advanced diploma. Everything seemed to be fine. When her schedule arrived everything still seemed fine and we started the school year without a hitch.

In the third week of school Melissa got called to the guidance office and was informed that the Ecology class she was in wouldn't give her the proper credit and she would be short one science credit for the advanced diploma. Her counselor wanted to change her into Anatomy, which Melissa wanted to avoid taking in the first place. Keep in mind that all classes are now three weeks in and in the middle of projects, etc.

Trisha went in and talked with guidance again and worked out a compromise. Melissa started her CL English class this semester and will be in the Advanced Ecology class next semester. At this point we aren't sure exactly what the rest of her second semester schedule will be. Melissa was a lot more comfortable to go into English three weeks late than any other class, but it's still been a huge struggle. The teacher wasn't happy about having a student added to her class, and they are in the middle of a huge project that they've been working on since the first week of school. She had to work hard all weekend to produce sixty research note cards. I don't mind her having to work hard, and to her credit she handled it very well.

The worst part about that entire fiasco is that guidance never really offered an apology or any explanation to explain the error.

The next fiasco is a bit more emotional. Melissa is in Equine Management II this semester. She loves horses and always has. Mrs. Vaughan is a great teacher and has single handedly created a great program from scratch. She found funding to have a new barn facility built.

This semester's students are the first to use the new facility. Virginia Governor Tim Kaine is going to appear at the grand opening for the facility. Two students were selected according to test scores to attend the grand opening and to meet the Governor. Melissa was one of those students and she was extremely excited about it.

Yesterday she was told that because of a scheduling conflict (she has to be at the STEM Center in Halifax at the time of the grand opening) she wouldn't be allowed to miss that class to attend the event at the barn facility. You can imagine how heartbroken she is and she feels like the entire school is out to make her senior year the worst year possible.

The more I think about this the angrier I become. Trisha and I have emailed and called the school to find out exactly what the problem is. They had no problem with her missing three weeks of CL English, but the refuse to let her miss one Pre-Calculus class. Where is the logic in that? The logic is that THEIR SCREW UPS mean nothing, but they can't bend their rules to allow a student to attend a prestigious event when that student worked hard to beat out all the other students.

I sent an email to Ms. Vaughan last night and I haven't received a reply. Trisha called Ms. Griles this morning and had to leave a voice mail message. Her call hasn't been returned, either.

The grand opening is happening as I type this, and I'm not happy.

The moral of the story: send your kids to HCHS, where administration errors are fine, while attendance issues are more important than rewarding hard work.

UPDATE:

Ms. Griles returned Trisha's phone call (probably after returning from ribbon cutting ceremony). She said that the teacher was to submit a list of 'suggested students' to her for approval. Melissa didn't get picked by Ms. Griles because her first block class is off campus at the STEM Center. When asked why it was ok to throw Melissa into CL English after 3 weeks and it wasn't ok for her to miss one Pre-Calculus class Ms. Griles had no answer.

She said that Ms. Vaughan shouldn't have told the students who would be going until she had received approval from administration. I can understand that, but it doesn't change the fact that Melissa was disqualified simply because she couldn't be in the building at the right time. It also reeks of 'passing the buck.'

Don't you just love the nonchalant attitude administrators have when they're cutting you off at the knees?

I still do not have a reply to last night's email to Ms. Vaughan. I'm still interested in hearing what she has to say about it. I wonder if she shares Ms. Griles laissez-faire attitude?

I'm still angry, and the more I think about the entire mismanagement of the situation the angrier I get. Melissa isn't in the top ten and she isn't a star athlete, so her chances are rather low of being recognized by the school system for something else.

Throughout Melissa's time at HCHS I've tried to remain optimistic about the school even when I heard others' horror stories of mismanagement and callousness. Even though I knew the school wasn't perfect, I thought they did a reasonably good job. I've even been one of the most vocal proponents of the school system over on www.halifaxtalk.com. Right now I'm reconsidering everything I thought I knew about the system.

I know there are some great people (especially teachers) working there trying to give our students an excellent education. If they face the same nonchalance then I pity them and hope that they can excel in the face of adversity.

Congratulations HCHS administration. You've let down another student.