Would You Make A Complaint?

[disneymom3]

as a matter of fact yes i did ask her if she was aware of what was happening...i get the warnings on my phone in texts i held up my phone as said are you getting this they said yes it goes until 7:45 am and i could hear their weather radio reporting and they were talking about a tornado being sighted so YES they knew....thats why i didnt go to her first, i dont need to hear her excuse, it was wrong...

Wow. I think you were much calmer than I would have been. I agree with going over her head in this case. As you said, you can't complain to her about herself.

 

[akhenaten]

because she was standing right in front of me while these kids were being told to go outside....i dont think she is going to have a talk with herself about following the tornado warning rules...SHE along with other adults there put my children and other peoples children in danger...I put in a complaint with the school board member for that area...they were very upset that this happened.

good for you!!! I think you did the right thing!!

 

[livie1205]

Thank you...i would go to her first if she wasnt right there but in this case I needed to...and as for why i just let them put kids in harms way, well i had NO authority to step in when a teacher is telling the kids to do something, these kids including my own are in there hands to keep safe during school hours,now if they would have said that to my kids i would have stepped in and said NO WAY.but i did walk out into the hall to make sure the kids got to the media center...with the kids sitting up at tables in the lunch room if the room had come off i dont even want to think what could have happened...when you can HEAR the tornado by all means its time to take cover...when i left the school later i had 3 trees and 2 power poles down on my road where i live..

 

[declansdad]

Wow, just wow... The resident teacher-educator gods are present here in full force, again...

The OP is concerned about children's safety, and she is being flamed...
ANYTHING to protect a principal/educator.

Yes, if I observe anyone violating policy, or the law, in any way that could endanger children, I would go directly over their head. What exactly is there to even be discussed??? The OP witnessed this first hand.

Yes, if I observed a neighbor who was endangering/abusing a child, the last thing I would do is personally talk to her, listen to 'excuses', and give the opportunity to cover her behind... I would call authorities directly.

Oh please give me a break.

Everyone deserves the chance to explain themselves. Sorry not everyone meets your perfect standard. I so glad you would be willing to ruin a person's reputation and standard in the community without any proof other than your own opinion.

OP: from your further details, it does seem if you have reason to go over the principal's head. The only reason I asked the question was because on many of these threads, there are so many people who have the "calling my lawyer" type of attitude. What ever happened to two people talking first so that all the information is available?

 

[aprilgail2]

I would freak out that they even sent kids out of a school building to walk outside even WITHOUT a tornado warning!! ONce the kids are in school that is it, you don't go outside for anything other than recess, you can't walk out of the office and outside of a school here!

 

[RLccweems]

I will try to make this short....last Friday I took my kids to school, well as soon as I pulled into the parking lot we had to run inside the school(i was in pjs and i had my dd2 also) there was a TORNADO WARNING .there was a tornado 1/2 a mile from school...it got bad...well i know they practice for these things so i was not worried...well they did not do what they practice for...they had kids still walking in the halls they put some kids in the media center and cafateria but they were sitting up at the tables...they did not cover their heads (like they practice) in the classes that had kids still in them they had kids sitting at there desks watching tv...if the roof would have peeled off kids would have been hurt...the cafateria has THE MOST windows of any other room in the school...i was in the office and there were 3 kids in the office and they said ok now go to your class but stay under the covered walkway! i could not understand! these are small children and it was a warning not a watch...you could hear it outside..lots of homes were tore up and a few injured, I had no power for a while...It is useless to go to the principal because she was in the office chatting, she is the one that had some of the kids go to the lunch room, should i call her boss?

Yeah...I would say something to the school board. I live in Oklahoma the heart of tornado land. It's one thing we take very serious...those kids sure have been in the tornado drill practice locations of the school for their safety.

 

[Teacher03]

I would have said something to the principal first, then went to the school board just to be sure you are following the order. Often times the school board will ask if you have talked to the principal. I agree that it doesn't seem like talking to the principal would have done much good considering she was part of the problem, but I would follow the correct procedure. It is unacceptable that the school didn't take the warning seriously.

 

[Teacher03]

Wow, just wow... The resident teacher-educator gods are present here in full force, again...

The OP is concerned about children's safety, and she is being flamed...
ANYTHING to protect a principal/educator.

Yes, if I observe anyone violating policy, or the law, in any way that could endanger children, I would go directly over their head. What exactly is there to even be discussed??? The OP witnessed this first hand.

Yes, if I observed a neighbor who was endangering/abusing a child, the last thing I would do is personally talk to her, listen to 'excuses', and give the opportunity to cover her behind... I would call authorities directly.

ANYTHING TO CRITICIZE A PRINCIPAL/EDUCATOR! Seriously, I don't think anyone here agrees that it was handled correctley and I sincerely don't think anyone flamed the OP.

 

[akhenaten]

I would have said something to the principal first, then went to the school board just to be sure you are following the order. Often times the school board will ask if you have talked to the principal. I agree that it doesn't seem like talking to the principal would have done much good considering she was part of the problem, but I would follow the correct procedure. It is unacceptable that the school didn't take the warning seriously.

if you read back a few posts you will see one were the OP says that at the time of the warning, she asked the principal if she was aware of what was going on..... so she did speak to the principal already...

 

[Teacher03]

if you read back a few posts you will see one were the OP says that at the time of the warning, she asked the principal if she was aware of what was going on..... so she did speak to the principal already...

I agree with you, I don't think talking to the principal would have accomplished anything. She obviously didn't take it seriously, what I'm saying is I would again voice my concern to the principal and then take it to the school board. I just know that many times you have to follow the order of command....I'm not saying it's right or I agree with it, but that is just how it is.

 

[Coolio]

as soon as I pulled into the parking lot we had to run inside the school(i was in pjs and i had my dd2 also) there was a TORNADO WARNING .?

does this mean you will get dressed before you take your kid to school next time?

 

[hildasmuriel]

Just curious ...... is it common in the US to go out in pyjamas? Only here if we saw somebody in the street in their nightclothes it would normally be a sign that a social worker needs to be called as someone had walked out of a nursing home or unit or something. I just love finding out the cultural differences between UK and US.

 

[aprilgail2]

Just curious ...... is it common in the US to go out in pyjamas? Only here if we saw somebody in the street in their nightclothes it would normally be a sign that a social worker needs to be called as someone had walked out of a nursing home or unit or something. I just love finding out the cultural differences between UK and US.

Not common with anyone I know! I have a friend that will drop her daughter off wearing sweatpants then come home shower and change but not pajamas.

 

[livie1205]

well..they ride the bus most days but that morning we were running late because the weather was already getting bad and the lights had went off for a short time but no tornado watch until i was already on my way...and when i say pjs i mean sweat pants and sweatshirt....lol but hair in bun and no brushed teeth..lol we live about 4 miles from school.oh and since i do not work for the school i do not have to go to the principal first...if i had had a issue with a teacher i would have went to her first but in this case it was a complaint about the way her and the rest of the staff under her handled it...and no one said i wanted to sue them, but if they dont follow the rules and those kids got hurt or god forbid worse walking to their class they would have been sued by someone i am sure.oh all the halls at the school are outside but they should have just kept the kids in the office until all was clear.I have no regrets about the call that was made,if she is so worried about her reputation she should be more aware of what she is doing during a tornado warning instead of chatting with the girls...I am NOT the first person who has made a complaint against her.

 

[Rock'n Robin]

I sometimes wear those flannel PJ pants to weight watchers to weigh in...they weigh less than sweatpants or jeans!
BTW OP--if this had happened at my school, I'd call the school board and report my principal myself! I hate tornadoes! But I can say in all my years as a student and then as a teacher (almost 40 total--yikes) I have never seen a tornado during school hours here. I know there was one before I started school because my mom had to go pick up my sister, but that is the only one I can remember.
Robin M.

 

[livie1205]

Not common with anyone I know! I have a friend that will drop her daughter off wearing sweatpants then come home shower and change but not pajamas.

pjs to me are sweats...throw on my flip flops and jump in the car, then come home and get dressed...but like i said i dont drive them to school everyday...but i live near FSU and the kids ALWAYS go to walmart,publix even class in pjs...i see it all the time not sweats pjs lol

 

[fan_of_small_world]

I would freak out that they even sent kids out of a school building to walk outside even WITHOUT a tornado warning!! ONce the kids are in school that is it, you don't go outside for anything other than recess, you can't walk out of the office and outside of a school here!

A lot of schools in warm-weather climates have outdoor walkways between buildings, so students often must go from one class to another by going outside.

Wishing on a star...I've read many posts from you regarding teachers, school, and education adminstrators. I don't think even one of them was positive. I have no idea what issues you have with them. In this case I agree that the principal was utterly neglectful. However, nobody is flaming the OP, you just seem to want to make this into more than it really is. And for the record, MOST people in education are dedicated, intelligent people who truly have the best interests of students at heart. Just because some are incompetent doesn't make them all so, as is true of every profession.

 

[Liberty Belle]

I would most definitely go to the superintendent with this. That was a very poor choice on the principal's part.

 

[declansdad]

well..they ride the bus most days but that morning we were running late because the weather was already getting bad and the lights had went off for a short time but no tornado watch until i was already on my way...and when i say pjs i mean sweat pants and sweatshirt....lol but hair in bun and no brushed teeth..lol we live about 4 miles from school.oh and since i do not work for the school i do not have to go to the principal first...if i had had a issue with a teacher i would have went to her first but in this case it was a complaint about the way her and the rest of the staff under her handled it...and no one said i wanted to sue them, but if they dont follow the rules and those kids got hurt or god forbid worse walking to their class they would have been sued by someone i am sure.oh all the halls at the school are outside but they should have just kept the kids in the office until all was clear.I have no regrets about the call that was made,if she is so worried about her reputation she should be more aware of what she is doing during a tornado warning instead of chatting with the girls...I am NOT the first person who has made a complaint against her.

Please do get me wrong, I never said you should sue anyone or that the principal was worried about her reputation. I was simply commenting on the fact that so many people make comments about going to the next level without ever talking to the other party. Your ealier posts did not make it clear (to me anyway) that you had already asked the principal about the situation.

The comment about a person's reputation was in response to another poster who seems to have an agenda against anything that seems to be pro-school related.

 

[manning]

Just curious ...... is it common in the US to go out in pyjamas? Only here if we saw somebody in the street in their nightclothes it would normally be a sign that a social worker needs to be called as someone had walked out of a nursing home or unit or something. I just love finding out the cultural differences between UK and US.

We like to call it casual dress