GOING HOME

‘But that’s hearsay’, I declared at Monday’s online meeting.

‘This is not a court of law’, he insisted as I persisted with my questioning.

‘But you don’t actually have evidence against my son, do you?’

‘No’, and then he proceeded to explain that he did not need to. That my son has done things in the past, so he must be punished now. In addition to the countless times he has already spent in both ISS and at LEO this past school year.

I wasn’t having it and continued with my questioning, even though I knew it would go nowhere. With my son sitting next to me, looking confused and beaten by the entire situation, we continued to listen to the utter nonsense coming from this school administrator. The one who just started the assistant principal position at this middle school at the start of this school year and who has set out to punish as many kids as possible this year, most for rather minor infractions which did not warrant the sentences imposed upon them.

‘Didn’t my son hear you recently tell another student that ‘if Sage hung out with me, he would be smarter, better looking, and have better hygiene’?’. I had to mention this even though he tried to tell the principal that he was being sarcastic. That is not the definition of sarcasm. That is simply being cruel.

The entire Zoom call was pointless because in the end, the assistant principal who seems to revel in authority, had already decided that he did not want to see my son at school for the remainder of the school year. Thus, he was ‘sentenced’ to return to LEO for ‘Harassment or Bullying on the Basis or Race, Color, or National Origin’. Something he did not do but something that the art teacher was told by another student that my son said.

But where were the school administrators when my son was called ‘a stupid white boy’ or a ‘Nazi’? What kind of protection did he get when he was thrown against the lockers, shoved to the ground, had his AirPods stolen, his laptop and iPhone damaged, and his various shirts ripped? What protection did my son get when a group of students grabbed his backpack and damaged its contents?  

Though I still have a meeting with the principal on Friday morning to appeal the assistant principal’s ruling, it makes no difference as school is basically over. The middle school years which will now be nothing more than a string of bad memories. Not having had the experience of the last school dance, the field trips, the band performances, and not even getting to have his friends sign his yearbook. All taken away by someone high on power.

With my son having to take three STARR tests in a row, the final one which was rescheduled for tomorrow so that he could start serving his ‘sentence’ on Monday, he is exhausted. Both physically and emotionally. No further classes are being taught. No more homework assignments being given. Nothing left to do at school other than to sit around and watch movies. Why not give the students an extra two or three weeks of summer vacation? Because it all comes down to money. Teachers get paid only if students are present. Even if they are not teaching. So, why should my son serve the final three weeks of school at the Leander Extended Opportunity Center? No reason.

In the words of Eric Cartman… ‘screw you guys, I’m going home!’