I saw your call for feedback on the FCBOE policy in Wednesday’s Citizen. Here was our experience:
As a family, we recognize how important the inauguration of a new president is in the life of our country. It is the peaceful transition of power to a new leader and sometimes a new political party. It has happened continuously for 230 years.
We wanted our daughter, a sophomore at McIntosh High School, to see the event as it happened. I personally wrote a permission slip giving my authorization for my daughter to watch the inauguration in her classes, in another teacher’s class, or in whatever other location the administration may designate on campus.
I went into the front office at McIntosh and talked with an assistant principal. I was told that according to the FCBOE policy, watching the inauguration was at the discretion of each teacher if the event met a curricular purpose. There would not be any group watching of the inauguration like in the auditorium, cafeteria, or gymnasium.
In other words, if my child had a U.S. History class or Government class at noon (the time of the inauguration) on inauguration day, she would have an opportunity to see the inauguration if the teacher saw fit to show it.
While technically permitting students to watch the inauguration at McIntosh, there were so many conditions and provisos, in practice, almost no student could see the inauguration even with an explicit parent permission letter.
My daughter had World History the class period when the inauguration occurred. The inauguration was not deemed relevant to the World History curriculum, so even if my daughter’s teacher wanted to show the inauguration, he couldn’t. If she left her class with the permission slip I gave her to try to find another place to watch the inauguration, she would have received an unexcused absence.
Right now, the McIntosh administration is quietly only allowing 5 unexcused absences FOR THE YEAR, before penalties kick in, like no exemptions to tests for good grades, disallowing students from walking in graduation ceremonies, and withholding diplomas.
While the FCBOE allowed students to opt OUT of viewing the inauguration, they made no provision for students to opt IN if the student was in a class where the inauguration was not relevant to the curriculum, even with parental permission.
Something is very wrong with McIntosh and the FCBOE when they put so many restrictions on students as to make it virtually impossible for them to watch the inauguration of an American president, something these students will be able to do at most four times in their K-12 years.
There were TVs on in classrooms throughout schools in Fayette County when Barack Obama was inaugurated in 2009 (http://archive.thecitizen.com/node/34477.html). There were almost none for Donald Trump’s inauguration.
Some may say that this election was very controversial, so we should be sensitive to those whose candidate lost. Frankly, EVERY presidential election is controversial. I was elated when my guy won in 1980, 1984, 1988, 2000, 2004, and 2016. I was distraught when my guy lost in 1992, 1996, 2008, and 2012. That is the nature of presidential elections.
The inauguration is when we as a nation come together after a divisive campaign to peacefully hand the reins of power to the winner. I wanted my daughter to see that and experience that. Instead, even with my explicit permission, she was denied.
I hope my story is not unique and that it sparks the FCBOE to stop its politically correct craziness.
Dave Richardson
Peachtree City, Ga.
