Why I always call school administrators.

Eric looking at the camera,
standing between two high school
band students in uniform.

Update: 9/24/12 - The following are my thoughts and feelings only. They do not represent those of the band teacher or the school. While I still can't imagine how my little blog is making the rounds locally, it is mine and mine only. If you are going to be offended or feel it necessary to complain to the school, stop reading and find something else to do with your time.

There's a reason why I always call school administrators....because I can. As a parent, I can call a principal or vice principal and ask why something in particular happened. A teacher cannot. A teacher cannot call his/her principal and ask why administration screwed up. So, I won't hesitate to call. Because it's my child. And, I want to now what went wrong. Let me give you an example.

Friday evening, Eric's middle school band was invited to attend High School/Middle School Night. The middle school band practices with the high school band, then have pizza, then sit with the high school band in the stands, and finally get to march and play with the high school band during half-time. Sounds like fun. Unless it goes horribly wrong. Okay, maybe not horribly, but it did go wrong.

Originally, I had planned to attend High School/Middle School Night just as a parent. But, at the last minute, one of the chaperones advised that she wasn't coming so I was drafted, er, happily volunteered. Now, I'm not only responsible for my child, but the rest of the middle school band too. This ended up being a good thing...because I was with the band for the entire evening....so I knew everything that happened with the band. This would come in handy.

The evening was progressing well. However, almost immediately after the high school and middle school bands marched into the stadium and onto the bleachers, it started raining. {It is still summertime in Florida, so afternoon/evening rains shouldn't have been a surprise to anybody. Especially, since we could see the nasty clouds headed in our direction.} I'll cut to the short version. Our middle school band director immediately took her students out of the stadium. We took cover under a covered walkway, but we were still out in the rain. {Florida rain tends to blow sideways.} And, their hallway flooded pretty quickly. The middle schoolers were left out there for at least a half an hour, and probably closer to an hour or more. {I left my watch at home.}  Because the outdoor hallway was flooded, the students could not put down their instruments. I was standing with the drum line of 6-7 boys. Two of the boys were holding 50-lb. snare drums...for the entire time. Everybody else - high school bands, football teams, cheerleaders, dancing squads, whatever, were taken inside while the middle schoolers were left outside in the rain.....with thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars worth of equipment. We had 34 students come for High School/Middle School Night. Eric was just one student....and he had a $2,000 trombone getting wet. Mommy wasn't happy.

On Monday morning, I called the high school and asked for the principal. He was out for the day at a meeting. Whatever. So, I spoke to a vice principal. My question was simple - Who was the administrator in charge of the middle schoolers? Easy right? Wrong. She hemmed and hawed, and finally tried throwing the band directors under the bus. Epic failure. The following is an abbreviated version of the conversation that I had with the vice principal.

Eric, again, walking between
two high school band students.

Who was the administrator in charge of the middle school students? "Your middle school band director." -- And, she did an excellent job of looking after her middle school band, but she has no authority on your campus. Who was the administrator in charge of the middle school students? "The high school band director." {Buzz! Wrong again.} -- He's a teacher, and not in charge of the campus. Who was the administrator in charge of your invited guests? Who was in charge of the welfare of 11-, 12-, 13-, and 14-year-old students? Who, by the way, are still children. "Well, the principal was there, along with all five vice principals, two athletic directors, and five police officers." -- Yes, and who was the administrator in charge of the middle schoolers? Who was the administrator who left the middle schoolers, including my 13-year-old son and his $2,000 trombone, out in the rain? "Well, I was in charge of the football team." -- Oh, okay, then could you explain to me why your football team was sitting in the auditorium, in their uniforms including pads and helmets, and not in their locker room, while the middle schoolers stood out in the rain? "Oh, well, by the time I got off the field and into the auditorium, the middle school students were already inside." -- Fine. But, who was the administrator in charge of the middle school band? "Well, the Dean of Students is in charge of student activities." -- So, the Dean was the administrator in charge of taking care of the middle school band? "Um, well, no. But, I'll have to do some investigation and call you back." Okay, fine.

When she did call me back, she couldn't be apologetic enough. "Oh, Mrs. Haddock, you are absolutely right. We dropped the ball. We didn't have an administrator in charge of the middle school band. We screwed up. Tomorrow, there is an administrators' meeting. And, I'll tell {the principal} and bring it up at the administrators' meeting that we need to change what we do for next year." Well, I certainly appreciate your calling me back and taking care of this. Because you see, I have another son in the middle school band. And, if he asks me next year if he can attend High School/Middle School Night, I have to be able to say "yes," and not "No, honey, they're not responsible enough to take care of you. So, I really appreciate your calling me back.

And, that's why I always call school administrators.