My oldest son is supposed to be graduating today, but the high school screwed him over so he doesn't get to walk w/ his class. I'm not going to go into detail, because I'm so mad I could spit nails...yes he has some fault in it, but it's not completely his fault, and it's ridiculous. So he will be getting his diploma on June 30th.
About 3 years ago our school district decided to give trimesters a try as apposed to the age old semester system. Over those last 3 years they've discovered that MORE students failed classes(including my son) because the classes were too short and rushed and the kids weren't getting the instruction they needed. They then decided to switch back because it was obviously not working. This then being the last year of the trimester system they changed the rule for graduation. If a senior is missing 1 or more credits as of final grades they can't walk in the graduation ceremony. So on the last year of a system they know to be inferior they make it so a BUNCH of seniors can't participate in graduation. Great idea.
Summer is so close, thank God I'm overly irritated w/ all four of the schools I have to deal w/ on a daily basis. What used to be a good school district has gotten too big and they are NOT coping well. The high school has 10, 11, and 12th grade there are 1348 students in those three classes. The current 9th grade class has 548 students. This is NOT a big school district, and it was never meant to handle that many students. Holt is not even a city or a village it's a corporation. Michigan has what is called "Schools of Choice" that means you can enroll your kids in ANY public school you want IN Michigan as long as you can get them there. You have to apply to that school ,but there is no fee, and since they make money based on how many students they have, you're not likely to be turned away. This is not a bad thing, that's how my children were enrolled in Holt schools, I live a 1/4 of a mile from the edge of the district, and the schools they would go to are not that great, so I thought I was doing the right thing taking them to a better district. I guess the grass really isn't greener. I think it's probably still better than where they would go, but the differences are evening out faster than I like.
The whole "Zero tolerance" for bullies policy is the biggest load of bullshit they've ever come up with. They preach it , the teach it, and they don't enforce it. Three out of four of my kids have been bullied at least once each in the last year, and nothing was done to the bullying child besides a talk w/ the principle. The principle can do absolutely NOTHING but TALK to the opposing child, wow, big deal. They don't do detention anymore, there's no staying after school cleaning chalk board, there's not In school suspension, they do nothing. The high school used to have Saturday school if you had more than 3 tardy's in a trimester...no more. The 'middle' school my youngest son goes to has anti-bullying posters on every wall MADE by the students. So when he tells me that a GIRL told him she was going to POISON HIS FOOD in his lunch bag, I was LIVID. I called the principal who didn't even KNOW about the incident. WHAT?! The girl didn't even have to go to the principals office? What. The. Hell. Why put the posters all over the school if no one is going to do anything about it? What a crock.
I'm strongly considering homeschooling if things don't improve.
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