Carol Duvall Fired Over Attendance Policy
April 12, 2010 by Brian
Filed under Posts About The Franklin County Attendance Policy
On April 1st I called Boones Mill to ask what I needed to do or not do to get more substituting jobs and was told that I would have to talk to central office. So, I called central office and was told that I would have to talk to Mr. Poff. I left a message asking about substituting more.
On Friday April 2nd Mr. Poff returned my call with Dr. Lackey. Dr. Lackey then did all of the talking. He said, “I have removed you from the substitute teacher list for distributing inappropriate and false information during the days you were in school substituting.” This was the first notification that I received that I had been fired. I found out on April 5th that the removal notice was sent to the schools back in February. The School Board members have told me they were unaware of this action against me.
I asked Dr. Lackey to tell me what information was inappropriate or false. He said we have nothing more to talk about. So, I asked him again, “Tell me what information was false or inappropriate so I can tell those who ask.”
He wouldn’t answer my questions.
In response to Dr. Lackey’s claim that I have “distributed false and inappropriate information” at school on days that I was substituting, the only printed information that I gave out has been the following:
1. An address label that said “www.schoolpoliciesthathurt.com.” There is nothing false or inappropriate in the web address. I have only given this to teachers who are my friends.
2. A petition with a copy of the article from the Franklin News Post. This was only left in the break room / mail room. Since the petition just asks for signatures, there is nothing false or inappropriate.
All through this process, I have repeatedly asked the administration to point out any inaccuracies in our information about the school attendance policy. We have not ever received any corrections. If fact, Dr. Lackey and Keith Pennington have confirmed that what we understand about the policy and its effects on students is accurate.
Therefore Dr. Lackey has given no valid reason for firing me.
During a phone conversation with Dr. Lackey (back in January I think), I told him that many teachers and other school personnel had told me that they wanted to sign a petition or survey but were concerned there would be retribution. Dr. Lackey said, “That’s not true.” He assured us that there would never be negative repercussions for individuals speaking out.
His action against me is proof that the teachers’ fears are justified.
People are fearful that Dr. Lackey may cut the Governor School as a further repercussion because he knows I support Governor’s School and have a student there.
A School Board member DID specifically ask me to survey people about their interactions with the school administration, the School Board, Saturday School and the attendance policy… which I am doing. In fact, I have been asked by more than one School Board member to get feedback from parents and students because they had not heard comments on the school attendance policy. We have since discovered that the School Board only receives a small portion of the emails sent to them.
I have never distributed this survey while substituting. Survey tools are appropriate and commonly used to gather useful information. It’s good business and should be used to make the school system better.
I have worked very hard on behalf of the students and families to find answers to the attendance policy problem by providing solutions used by other school districts. I have put in more than 500 hours on this effort.
Dr. Lackey claims that he has had a “huge number of calls… 30 or 40 calls or emails from people asking to be removed from my email list compared to the one or two..” who agree with my position.
I know of many concerned citizens (probably those 30 or 40 who called) who have spoken with him. They called to express their concerns over the attendance policy but Dr. Lackey told them that only “one or two students were negatively affected by the policy” and/or “I have only heard complaints from Mrs. Duvall.” Several of these concerned citizens have called me back to ask, “What’s the big deal?” after talking to Dr. Lackey. Dr. Lackey continues to tell people that we are providing the public with false and misleading information but has never specified what is false or misleading.
He continues to say this even after receiving the petitions with more than 50 adult and another 500 student signatures. He continues to claim that only one or two students are negatively affected even though his own data shows that 295 students have been affected with 44 being failed for the semester due to the attendance policy and another 38 students receiving F’s for the nine weeks all due solely to the attendance policy. In addition, another 122 students were negatively affected because they had to attend Saturday School AND pay the $20 fine.
So, who is really providing the public with false and misleading information?
In the next email, I will send you the attendance chart with explanations as given by Keith Pennington. There were 295 affected in the first semester- that is more than 10% of the student body.
I have had one child directly affected. Now I have been fired. However, these are not the main reasons I continue to pursue a change in the policy. I have several children in the Middle and High School. Just like many of you, we have had to rearrange appointments to accommodate the policy instead of doing what makes sense academically. We have had to send children to school with other children who are being sent to school sick so they won’t have to get F’s or pay for Saturday School. We have had to tell children they can’t go to some great extracurricular activities, etc. We parents should not have to put up with that.
This is wrong and unacceptable and must be changed now! It must be now because the policy is hurting their applications for other advanced high school classes, colleges, scholarships and financial aid.
Sincerely,
Carol Duvall
540-797-7133
