I'm finally getting somewhere with the school.

So I talked to the school about this issue. Here is how it went.

First, I called the principal. He was not in. Then I called the superintendent, who was also not in. (Turns out, they were in a meeting with each other.) The superintendent called me back that same evening, and I told him the whole story in as few words as possible, because in real life, just like online, I tend to get unbelievably wordy.

The superintendent was not happy, to say the least. He listened carefully and then told me he would talk to Chris (the principal who hates to be called by his first name) and then we'd all figure out what was going on.

The next morning, Chris called me. He had already spoken to Mrs. F. She lied through her damn teeth! She told Chris that EJ wasn't getting books anymore because she was at such a high reading level that they had run out of books. Oh, that's just brilliant - punish a kid for being smart! (She is a ridiculously good reader. She's seven, and right now she's reading and loving The Call of the Wild. Yeah.) And even if they did run out of books for her to read - um, hello! There's more than just first grade in this school - go over to the fifth grade and borrow a book if you have to. You know?

So then apparently Chris told Mrs. F. what the superintendent told him, which was what I had told the superintendent. Surprisingly, he got it all correct, but then get this! Mrs. F. said that the book that had been drawn in was not from last week, but from January! She had gone through all the books EJ had used, because she "had a feeling." Chris was FURIOUS when she told him this, and he assured me - repeatedly - that EJ would have a book every night, even if Mrs. F. has to borrow them from the middle school.

I am glad that this was resolved, because EJ felt terrible about the whole thing. Apparently Mrs. F. took her in the hall to tell her she wouldn't be able to take a book home, and also that she wouldn't get a treat for reading because she wouldn't be able to read. EJ cried when she told me about this. I also found out that this didn't happen Monday as I thought - it happened Friday. So my poor girl was hanging onto this and worrying about it all weekend, and that makes me so mad.

I told EJ that from now on, if Mrs. F. takes her in the hall for anything, she needs to tell me when she gets home. This is the way I said it: "Mrs. F. is a very nice teacher, but even teachers make mistakes sometimes, and it's Mom's job to make sure that when teachers make mistakes, their children don't feel bad about it." (See, I think it's important for EJ to respect her teacher.)

So that issue is resolved, and more importantly, I think the school finally got the message that I will not put up with this. I'm really not trying to be argumentative or hard to please, I just want what's right and I won't settle for less. My children deserve a good education, and they deserve to be treated with respect. And if that isn't happening, I'll do what it takes to make sure it does.