Incompetence Come to Life

What follows that not so surprising revelation is about 35 minutes of double-speak, unanswered questions, indirectly answered questions and circular conversation.

In short, I am getting nowhere.

Out of frustration, I finally ask, "Are you trying to get sued?"

They both look baffled and exchange glances.

I reassure them that I am not there to sue them, but to be truthful, sitting there, I am wondering why I don't. Maybe that will get their attention. I don't seem to be.

The secretary momentarily interrupts my harangue by stopping in to deliver not a freshly printed copy of the policy Rotelli led off with, but a photocopied version of the crooked, third generation version he had been gripping in his sweaty little hand when I'd arrived. I thank her and will her to vanish so I can continue.

I place the policy in my folder and ask a question. If they are so wonderfully, beautifully, flawlessly prepared and informed to handle all manner of bullying and truly do keep the topic at the forefront, then why was their esteemed colleague Dr. McDuff not apprised of the existence of this amazingly current, all encompassing policy. I suggest that their preparedness is an illusion. I've seen it in practice. It sucks. If you listen carefully, you can hear it sucking.

And again they start the tap dance. They have this and that in the works. They did the cyber-bullying presentation for parents (yawn, they trot that our every year) and they have "things planned" throughout the year. I ask where I might find some of the "things they have planned." They look at each other and feebly indicate that they are not on the calendar yet. They must be lousy dance instructors at this school. Rotelli and Fashion Tragedy are really clumsy tap dancers. And no match for me.

I remind them that I have offered to help. I remind them that poorer, poorly performing school districts have put them to shame with the attention and investment they have made to making bullying a non-issue. I suggest that they are deluded in thinking they are prepared and suggest that they have a problem they have simply refused to acknowledge. I ask again if they are trying to get sued.

They seem baffled.

I run through the litany of weaknesses. Starting with no communication to the students and finishing with the fact that they have a poster intended to satisfy a compliance requirement that they admittedly don't comply with. I suggest that they will be laughed out of court and seen as fools.

Fashion Tragedy pipes in to say that the poster is intended as a "visual reminder" of their stance against bullying.

I say it is a visual reminder that they are only interested in lip service and have no legitimate plan or program.

They begin talking at once trying to convince me that no, no, no they really do have their act together and really are way out in front of this issue.

I cut them off.

"I believe this meeting's usefulness has run its course. Your approach to this problem is wholly unsatisfying to me as a parent. I will take this issue to someone who is more capable and more interested in resolving it."

They began to stammer and repeat themselves while I calmly put on my coat. The more they begged to be heard, the more I thanked them for their time and looked them dead in the eye and said I needed nothing further from them. I'd gotten exactly the information I'd needed. Thanked them for confirming my suspicions. Walked out while they talked to the back of my head.

I thanked the secretary and wished her a happy Thanksgiving. I could not wait to take to Facebook. I needed a plan and needed my educator friends' advice.