You Give and You Give II

It started as a side comment, and I didn't put much stock in it. Then by the end of the day, I received the dreaded salmon colored sheet; someone was transferring to another school.

A couple of weeks ago, we held an initial PPT for a student who enrolled in our school at the beginning of the school year. Let's call him Allen*. Allen came to us from the city, which meant that it would take several weeks to receive his educational records. When they arrived a month and a half into the school year, it was discovered that he had been retained twice prior to enrolling in our school. To make matters worse, my principal, in reference to information that Allen's father gave her, re-enrolled Allen in 4th grade, although he had completed and passed 4th grade last year. Furthermore, Allen's 12th birthday just passed. Therefore we had a 12 year old in 4th grade and at that rate he would be driving in middle school. The team decided to bring in the father and devise a plan that would consider testing him for special education. Preliminary assessments showed that he was barely reading on a 2nd grade level and that his behavior was sometimes a problem (hello, he should be in 7th grade, yet he was in 4th!). We were also going to move him up a grade or two, but we wanted to hear more about how he was functioning in his current classroom. His father came to the meeting and talked about what little he knew about Allen's upbringing and schooling. Dad knew that Allen was really struggling and needed assistance. It wasn't hard to sell testing to him. We explained the evaluation procedures, filled out paperwork, then Dad signed the consent for evaluation form. The team also decided that Allen should be instantly promoted to fifth. And so it was. Until today.

This morning, the special ed teacher was walking around with Allen and wanted me to hear something from him. Allen told me that he moved yesterday and that he was now living in the city. Word reached my principal and she started investigating. My district, like others, has been cracking down on non-residents attending our schools. When word gets out that a student has moved, then the authorities look into it. By authorities, I mean my principal, because my district only has residency officers at the middle and high schools. My principal talked to Allen's grandmother, because she was listed as the apartment's lessee. The grandmother said that Allen and his father moved out because of a dispute. When my principal talked to the father, he said that there was a misunderstanding and that he expected to work things out and still reside with his mother. Two hours later he came to school to withdraw Allen. Apparently he couldn't work things out with his mother and ended up moving for good. So now Allen is gone, for now.

I was sickened when I heard this. I told my principal that I was distraught because this has happened several times now. We've lost another child that we were trying to help. Some people already started their evaluations, luckily I hadn't. There's a chance that he isn't gone for good, some students return after a short stint away, my school's population is very transient. I hope he returns, for his own sake.

BBC