Something that was brought to my attention the other day was another one of the many struggles teachers are having with students from two homes.
Situation:
John brings spirit t-shirt money to his fifth grade teacher on Monday from his Mom's house in hopes of her receiving the t-shirt for him to wear on Fridays, which is spirit day most weeks.
The teacher passes out the prepaid t-shirts out on a Wednesday which means that the t-shirt Mom just paid for went home with John to Dad's house because it is a Wednesday and Dad has him.
Friday rolls around and Mom is incredibly angry because she doesn't have John's t-shirt that she paid for and John is angry because he will be the only one in his class that isn't wearing his spirit t-shirt.
Now, Mom shoots the teacher a hateful email expressing that she didn't receive what she had paid for and that it is her fault. Dad also shoots the teacher a hateful email because he feels like he was never asked about ordering a spirit t-shirt.
Who should be at fault for this?
Parents say the teacher.
Communities say the parents.
Schools stay neutral and try to accommodate on top of the huge laundry list of mandates handed down to them.
I say...regardless of blame...you still have to recognize and address the fact that this child has just missed out on having his t-shirt and enjoying spirit day like the rest of his class.
