It just keeps getting weirder by the minute, folks. Recently, there have been a litany of questionable decisions by the leaders of Kingsport’s school system. KCS painted over the Indian in J Fred. “Indians” has been removed from the new basketball court. We have been rebranded “The Tribe” without so much as a discussion. The KCS BOE stumped on behalf Democrats and “never Trumpers” in a failed attempt to stop the Governor’s and President’s initiatives regarding school vouchers. WJHL recently noted that KCS is balking at putting a student who is home-schooled on the Wall of Distinction even though that student played honorably for the Indians in helping them win their first state softball title. And now we have the city wide punishment of law abiding parents over a few, apparent bad apples. I just shake my head. Literally…smh. We are walking through the cow pasture and can’t resist stepping on every patty.
We cannot allow our school system to systemically remove parents from schools. That is exactly what is occurring whether it is intentional or not. Parents were banned from buildings during COVID, and IMHO they really haven’t been welcomed back into buildings at the same levels prior. We have all seen draconian measures imposed(by governments at all levels) during COVID in “the name of safety.”
The last act is the greatest treason. To do the right deed for the wrong reason. – T.S. Elliot
I want our kids to have a safe learning environment. My last few months as an employee were spent fighting to keep my school safe from potential violence, and I dealt with reprisals for speaking up. That said, it is completely unacceptable to cut parents off from school buildings for so, so many reasons. Let’s not begin using “safety” as an all encompassing excuse to make our schools like prisons. What happens when parents are banned from campuses during the school day and then kids no longer have cell phones? Those two bans seems like a very bad combination. That means there are no eyes in the building from the community.
I freely admit that parents can be a problem at school during lunch. I have dealt with cafeteria situations where parents became part of the problem. Just reading between the lines by system employees in that article, I am sure we have had a handful of misbehaving parents. But we can’t punish everybody for the mistakes of a few.
Traditionally, we have in the past learned to live with the few bad apples in order to provide the vast majority of law-abiding parents an opportunity to fellowship with their children and classmates. With social media and a growing populace which seems angrier by the day, I understand the move but don’t agree with it. Surely, we could have come up with a better solution. Honestly, the decision seems lazy. Let’s also be honest in saying that this probably only affects mainly elementary school children. Middle school and high school kids don’t want their parents at lunch!
What would I do? Thanks for asking…
First and foremost, parents have every right to see their child while they are at school. Schools do NOT retain the right to sever parental/child relationships for seven hours a day. They do not own our children. They cannot raise them better than we can as parents.
So, here is what I would do. I have some experience in handling this, because I have been there.
The first thing is that “an ounce of prevention is worth of pound of cure.” The “ounce of prevention” BTW is not banning parents. The “ounce of prevention” is awareness and communication by our schools and their staffs. As a teacher, I read the files of my students. I knew who had restraining orders on file. There weren’t often many situations like that, but legal notices were the very first thing I looked for when I read student files at the beginning of each school year. In addition to my legwork, the front office also maintained a working list of legal orders. We also were very aware of any potential conflicts unrelated to legal orders, and those folks were stopped at the front desk until we knew there was not going to be a conflict. Every day I walked my students into the cafeteria, got them settled, and took note of who was there. I also tended to know if there were any parents there who had the potential to cause trouble. If that was the case, I plopped right down and ate lunch with my students.
For most of my career, we had a teacher’s table in the cafeteria where teachers ate. Teaching assistants also worked lunch duty shifts. The cafeteria staff was also present. At any point during operating cafeteria hours, there were probably 15-20 adults in that space. It sure seems like the school resource officer should be present in the cafeteria on a regular basis (if they aren’t already), and especially if a parent (on the radar for questionable decision making) shows up for lunch.
Secondly, if the system feels like they can’t maintain safety due to the inability to maintain situational awareness, i.e. the problem is too big for them…..I would offer parents several passes per year to eat with their children off-campus provided the parent picks up and drops off their student. No tardy. No absence. No strings attached. During the 1950s and 1960s, students were allowed to walk home for lunch. With today’s environment, I don’t know if walking home from lunch is wise for little ones. However, we can surely offer parents 10-15 passes per year to eat(off-campus) with their children with no strings attached. If the system can’t find a way around that, then we need new people who can rethink this.
Thirdly, and this seems like the easiest option. Why not provide a separate place on campus for parents to eat with their children? If the concern is negative interactions between parents and other students, then allow them to eat at a table in the cafeteria which is set to the side or provide some other out-of-the-way place. We are talking about providing a way for children and their parents to have a meal together. We aren’t trying to achieve world peace. This is solvable.
If the system doesn’t provide access to students(by parents during the day), there will certainly be litigation at some point with all players named. Right now KCS is lobbying to prevent our students from being able to use vouchers. They are lobbying to remove cell phone usage during school. They are now deciding that parents cannot eat with their children. Do you see the pattern there? Yuck. It kind of feels like we are dealing with control freaks who think they own our children. Restricting parental access to children is a major no-no.
We should want to build a sense of community with our schools. Conversely, we don’t want to create an environment where students are isolated for seven hours a day from the rest of the world. The entire community shouldn’t be punished for the behavior of a few. I do understand the need to balance safety, but we cannot just put our kids in a bubble all day long where the world is suspended from view.
I tell you what. When the people at Central Office are ready to turn in their phones, sit in assigned seats at lunch, and have restricted access to their families…then maybe we can take them seriously.
I urge all of you to write your school board members and superintendent and ask for an alternative to a total ban of parents at school lunches. If we learned anything during COVID, it is this -> Once we lose our freedoms, it is like pulling teeth to get those freedoms returned. If ASC is as smart as they think they are, they should be able to come up with an alternative solution. If they can’t, you need to begin asking questions.
Speak up or lose your rights!
ProTip: How many of the people who made this decision still have elementary school kids in Kingsport City Schools? Maybe I should have led with that question. It is a good one. I am willing to bet that the ratio is roughly 10:1 (in favor of people who don’t have elementary kids currently in KCS).
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