I just reread the last few blog posts and I'm getting concerned that everything is negative and I don't want that to be the story of the classroom that Gnu and I share. Despite what you've been reading there is a lot of good going on every day. Unfortunately, I need to continue the story of Prophet and the ever present challenges that this trouble young scholar brings to our classroom.
I'm having a bit of a senior moment as to when this event occurred. It was either the day after the case conference to determine Prophet's future or the following day. Before I continue, keep this in mind as I again restate the position of an overhead person who attended Prophet's case conference. I'm paraphrasing, "you will not be held at fault because you took the necessary steps to try and get him out." It's in the afternoon and as has happened so many times in the past Prophet has lost his focus and is refusing to do any further academics. Gnu pushes him a little to do his work to no avail. Prophet's anger is escalating and he leaves the classroom and with both hands, slams the door shut. As I walk out of the room to pursue him he starts to run away. As he is running down the hallway, other teachers are stepping out of their classroom as the door slamming was so loud they decided to see what happened. If I continue to pursue Prophet he will just keep running so I walk back into the classroom and call the front office to let them know that Prophet is out running the hallways again and ask them to get me some assistance. As others are pursuing Prophet he runs out of the building. Fortunately, one of his pursuers is real quick and Prophet is quickly contained and is brought back to our classroom. When Gnu and I are told that he actually left he building the first thing that came into my mind was the comment from the overhead person about Gnu taking all of the "necessary steps." A troubled scholar just ran out of the building and a decision must be made to pursue or not pursue. If you pursue and the scholar runs out into the street and gets hit by a car you're on the front page of the newspaper. If you choose not to pursue and the scholar continues to walk away from the school and gets hurt you're on the front page of the newspaper. You are stuck with two options and bad things can happen no matter which one you choose. Under these circumstances I wonder if the statement "you will not be held at fault" will still apply.
Apparently the last blog post got a few readers pretty animated as I was contacted via Facebook post, text message, plus an email message. A 9Patch Quilter made the comment that she is going to start drinking a glass of wine prior to reading my blog with the hope that it will keep her relaxed. A PrivateSchool teacher contacted me and said if I kept her hanging on this story for another week she was going to call my part time editor, part time consultant and full time spouse and file a complaint. As far west a Utah made some pretty strong statements about what was stated by the overhead person as well as what role the principal played in this process. To get as far west as Utah to relax a little I'll tell you about the BigB's position in this whole story. The day after Prophet's case conference the BigB unexpectedly walked into the classroom. I knew she wasn't in the room to do an observation of Gnu because she didn't have her laptop. When Gnu saw the BigB in the room she stopped the academics and the BigB walked toward the front of the classroom and said, "I'm really sorry." Gnu stood up and asked me to move to the front of the classroom and take over the academics as she exits the classroom with the BigB. A few minutes later Gnu returns, we switch places, and the day continues. About an hour later I had an opportunity to leave the classroom so I headed to the BigB's office. She sees me standing in her office doorway and invites me in. "What happened with the Prophet decision was just devastating for Gnu, she works to hard to have something like this happen to her," I say. "I know, I don't like it either, but there is just no placement alternative for Prophet right now so he has to stay," she replies. "So, even though you are the principal, the overhead personnel in the special education department can dictate what happens in your school. I'm sorry but I just don't understand that," I continue. "I don't like it either but that is how it works," is the reply I get. For the record, I like the BigB. She has a very difficult job to do and often, like anyone else in a leadership position, she has to make some tough decisions. While I don't always agree with her decisions I respect them and I hope she stays at our school for as long as I stay at our school.
It's now a Tuesday afternoon and Gnu informs me that she has to attend another case conference and I'll need to move to the front of the room again. "Who are you meeting with," I ask. Gnu replies, it's with Prophet's grand parental unit, an overhead person from the EH side of the special education department, and PhD(*)Pete so you'll take over at around 3:00pm. I survived the final half hour of the school day without incident. The scholars have all department without incident, the classroom is back in order, the case conference has not ended and I'm done for the day. It's around 7:00pm when my cell phone rings. I can see that the caller is Gnu so I answer the phone. I immediately recognize the emotion in her voice as she sounds as if she is close to tears. "He's gone," is all she said and then there was a pause. I was ready to say something when she continued. "His grand parental unit has agreed to place him in a residential unit and I feel horrible." My brain is going a hundred miles and hour trying to figure out what to say. "You did the right thing. Prophet has been in this school for three years and little if anything was accomplished. He was not progressing at all," is what came out of my mouth. "I know," she replied, "but it's still a tough thing to deal with." "I know, I feel just as bad as you do but you did the right thing. His father was involved in gang activity and died. His mother has a drug problem and often has to wear a police ankle bracelet, his grand parental unit failed a number of times to properly administer his medication which further added to his problems," I stated. "It's quite possible that for the first time in his life, Prophet may be in a stable situation where he can get the help he needs."
I was told when I first took this job almost four years ago that I was going to be in a tough environment. As you've read numerous times I've been kicked, hit, scratched, cussed out, flipped off and have seen so many items tossed around in a classroom that I've lost track of how often it happened but what happened with Prophet last week was not part of the game plan. For the first time since I started at this school, no, for the first time in my life I was part of the decision process to have a scholar removed from his home. That's tough, real tough. As I move toward concluding this blog I ask a favor of you. When time permits, please say a small prayer for Prophet and his grand parental unit. Please also say a pray for my teaching partner and please say a prayer for me. This was a tough week, one that will stay with me for a while.
It's Sunday evening. For the first time since last fall, I'm in my favorite bloging location, the screened in porch on the south side of my house as it is a beautiful day. My part time editor, part time consultant and full time spouse is about to fire up the grill for the first time this year. Burgers and a salad are on the menu and we'll be dining alfresco. To put the finishing touches on this beautiful day we'll have Bloody Mary's for dessert. Life is good and I'll see you next week.
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