Posted on 01/23/2008 6:51:55 AM PST by wintertime
Snow days, kids and school officials have always been a delicate mix.
But a phone call to a Fairfax County public school administrator's home last week about a snow day -- or lack of one -- has taken on a life of its own.
(snip)
It started with Thursday's snowfall, estimated at about three inches near Lake Braddock Secondary School in Burke. On his lunch break, Lake Braddock senior Devraj "Dave" S. Kori, 17, used a listed home phone number to call Dean Tistadt, chief operating officer for the county system, to ask why he had not closed the schools. Kori left his name and phone number and got a message later in the day from Tistadt's wife.
"How dare you call us at home! If you have a problem with going to school, you do not call somebody's house and complain about it," Candy Tistadt's minute-long message began. At one point, she uttered the phrase "snotty-nosed little brats," and near the end, she said, "Get over it, kid, and go to school!"
Not so long ago, that might have been the end of it -- a few choice words by an agitated administrator (or spouse). But with the frenetic pace of students' online networking, it's harder for grown-ups to have the last word. Kori's call and Tistadt's response sparked online debate among area students about whether the student's actions constituted harassment and whether the response was warranted.
Kori took Tistadt's message, left on his cellphone, and posted an audio link on a Facebook page he had created after he got home from school called "Let them know what you think about schools not being cancelled." The Web page listed Dean Tistadt's work and home numbers.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
No - the kid posting the voicemail on the internet led to the fame. And the school has already indicated that there will be no punishment, so there would be no meeting with the principal.
As for the parents - where are they? This is all over the news and radio in this area and I have not heard one mention of the parents. This kid was not “asserting himself” but bitching that he still had to be in school.
Did Mrs. Tistadt go over the edge? maybe, but from this kid’s behaviour, I’m thinking he hasn’t seen a lot of discipline in his life so far. When someone else has to discipline your child, you’ve failed that part of parenting.
The kid has a 3.977 grade point average, suggesting that he spends most of his waking hours doing exactly what the school authority figures tell him to do.
they played this on Good Morning America this morning
Well, don't forget that 98% of the kids probably aren't travelling the same route as you are...
In my area, it can be fairly clear in one part of the county, but much worse in the higher-elevation northern part of the county. It's an all-or-nothing call on shutting down county schools. Plus, in the more rural areas, the busses have some treacherous roads to travel, with a long drop to a lake or stream, and up hills as steep as a calf's face. Many of the routes are scary enough to drive even in good weather... lol
Fletcher J
Now, tell me again about how 3-inches of snow is nothing to take seriously...
video:
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4176101
Sounding Off: Snow Day Phone Call Flap
School Administrator’s Wife Leaves Angry Message for Student, Which He Posts on Web
Mrs. Tistadt gave him the material to post on the internet. As I said before, she should have called her husband to tell him about it, and then he could have arranged for the boy to be called to his principal’s office for a chat and/or called the boy’s parents and asked them to have a chat with him. That’s how it should have been handled, and then none of us ever would have heard about it. The boy has a 3.977 grade point average, which isn’t easy to get in that particular school system. I don’t think he’s lacking discipline or looking for excuses to cut class.
You have seat belts and airbags? School busses don’t.
How is it harassment? Sure the kid is a little snarky here, but this is a public servant, not a King. We pay his salary, and contacting such a person should not be off-limits.
‘”It’s really an issue of kids learning what is acceptable and not acceptable. Any call to a public servant’s house is harassment,” Regnier said in an interview.’
Regnier, doesn’t that sound king-like?
Since there was no answer at the administrator's office, the kid may reasonably have wondered if the administrator had stayed home due to the snow (i.e. "wokring from home today"). I wouldn't be surprised if, in fact, the administrator's secretary had stayed home due to the snow, accounting for the office phone not being answered. At any rate, the wife's rant was over the top as a response to what was reportedly a politely-toned message left by the student, and suggests that the anger she directed at the student may really have been rooted in pre-existing anger with her husband about his working hours.
This is Candy Tistadt, Dean Tistadt's wife. This message is for Dave Kori. How dare you call us at home?! If you've got a problem with going to school, you do not call somebody's house and complain about it. My husband was up at 4 o'clock this morning, trying to decide the best thing to do, to send you to school, on a day when the weather man is calling for one thing and another thing happens. You don't begin to know what you are talking about, and don't you ever call here again! My husband has been at the office since 6:30 this morning, so don't you even suggest that he purposely didn't answer his phone. He is out almost every single night of the week at meetings for snotty-nosed little brats, and he may not have called you but it is not because he's home because it snowed. Get over it kid, and go to school. Get an education, that's what you're there for.
If I remember correctly from my Virginia Sabbatical, the kids had “heat” days off.
“I don’t think he’s lacking discipline or looking for excuses to cut class.”
EVERY teenager is looking to cut class at some point. And a GPA isn’t necessarily indicative of anything other than the fact he can take a test. It’s a meaningless factor in behavior.
I don’t care what her motives were and of course it was foolish but it wasn’t threatening. Most people know not to leave angry messages because they are recorded...
His seemingly non existent parents need to teach him boundaries or he is in for more rude awakenings out there.
Last year in April I set out to pick up my kids from private school. The rain turned to snow on the way. Unbeknownst to me, the administrators had let the buses go way early but neglected to notify any parents that they were doing so. So the car riders were stuck waiting for parents.
We were going slow but it turned treacherous and we slid all over the road and turned over. If my other kids had been in the car, they would be dead. It was very serious. One child was fine because he was on my side which ended up in the air.
The kid was right. Thursdays snow here in VA was no joke. It's not worth anyone dying over to miss a few hours of school.
My condolences to your and your friends family
And this guy is responsible for schools???
LOL, are you serious?!!
The kid is 17 years old and most likely an American citizen, born and raised.
“The kid has a 3.977 grade point average...”
I don’t know how easy it is to get a good GPA in that school system, or how hard his schedule is.
And he’s still a punk regardless.
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