Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I've had a difficult time uploading because of AOL. I'm away from those idiots now and everything is working smoothly so I should be able to get all my additions up over the weekend.

Anyway, I decided to more or less use most of a letter I wrote to someone explaining the situation. As you can guess, I didn't accomplish a damn thing. I'm sure you are not surprised. If you have children in the Fort Worth Public Schools, you can understand. I wrote this letter in response to an article stating that the teenagers from a town called Victoria were being thrown in jail for skipping school. I was outraged that one town can throw these kids in jail for a few days because they skipped school and yet another town in the same state won't take any action against a school bully going around making death threats and consistently verbally and physically attacking fellow classmates. Is it just me? Does anyone else see something fucked up about this? No one cares untill it happens to their kids, and I'll tell you something, if it does happen to your kids, you are on your own.

I have been forced to repeat this story so many times, I'm just going to give you this letter to let you know the ending. I lost. No surprise. Hey, who runs the schools? Wait, doesn't the state government have something to do with it? Keyword here is government. The beginning here kind of recaps the last page so read the entire thing. Someone from the school will probably get a hold of this and deny it. They always deny everything. Have you ever noticed that you never see any of these school officials being praised in the news? There's a reason for that. If any of them do see this, they will try to use the rest of the content against me instead of facing the issue at hand. Oh hell, who am I kidding, they will never even see this, they are too busy at home calling each other to find a way out of trouble and a person to blame, not to mention sitting around with their heads stuck up their asses. Okay, here it is. I'll quit bitching for a few minutes and let you read.

I have a 12 year old daughter attending Leonard Middle School. We have had nothing but one problem after another. It's impossible to complain, you can't get through to anyone on the phone. My daughter has been harassed since the beginning of the school year by the same girl, Christina. My daughter Jessica has been physically attacked, threatened with death, called every profanity you could think of and yet Christina has not been punished. Jessica has gone to the vice principal over the sixth graders, Ms. Spooner, time and time again, I have called and gone up there. Nothing was done. I was treated like nothing more than an annoying parent expecting the staff to do their jobs. Most incidents took place on the bus in the beginning and then moved into the cafeteria. Christina started stealing food from Jessica and a few others. Again, we complained and Christina went unpunished. I became upset and frustrated, calling Ms. Dillworth, the person over the secondary schools, she wasn't in and I asked for a return call. I never got that call, instead the principal of Leonard called, Mrs Walker. She wasn't happy about me calling the school district. She said to notify her instead. The school brought the girls in and had them sign a sheet of paper saying they would avoid each other. Christina didn't stop and finally Jessica got tired of it, I can't blame her, and one day when Christina hit her on the bus, Jessica hit her back and told her....well, I won't use the language here but it was a lot like what Christina had been saying to her all year. Jessica came home and said "Mom, please don't get mad but I hit her back today, the principal won't make her stop. And I cussed at her too." I didn't punish her for this but I told her not to do it again and only to hit back if she absolutely had to. I don't know of any adults that would allow someone to hit them every day without eventually striking back. I called the school again and was told that since my daughter hit back, she would now be labeled as aggressive and Christina would not be punished, again. I'm furious at this point and called Ms. Dillworth's office back, she wasn't in but I was told she would call me back. She never did. Instead, Mrs Walker called me again and then a few days later the counselor called me and said she had interviewed Jessica to see what the problem was. Jessica told me the counselor says she must be angry with someone at home and bringing it on herself. I called the school and asked why the no tolerance rule didn't apply to Christina. Apparently there was no reason to enforce it. I asked if we could set up a parent conference with Christina's mother and myself. Ms. Spooner said she didn't feel it was necessary and saw no reason to pursue the issue. I told Jessica to try to avoid Christina and to tell every time something happened. Most of it died down for a while except for the name calling on the bus.

It started back up not long ago. I didn't even bother calling the school and told Jessica to not tell anyone because this time I was going straight to Ms. Dillworth with it. I called and as usual she wasn't in her office. I was told by her secretary that she had seminars and wouldn't be able to return my call until the following week. The next day Mrs Walker calls me back very upset that I went over her head. She told not to do that again. She was actually yelling at me and from what I'm told, all the kids in the office could hear. Yeah, that sets a good example. Don't you think? I asked her again why Christina was still allowed on the bus. She said that she is not at liberty to discuss the situation with me. She said that since Jessica started fighting back and yelled names back that it was considered a fight and Christina was not to blame. She yelled for a while longer then just said "Mrs Slatton, I have told Jessica to come straight to me if this happens again and under no circumstances to fight back." I asked her what she would do if I came in her office all the time and hit her and yelled but yet the police wouldn't make me stop. I asked her "Wouldn't you just hit me back or would you stand there and let me beat you up?" She didn't appreciate the comment and said "I have told your daughter what to do. Have a good day." She then hung up. I was mad. I called Ms. Dillworth's office back and talked to the secretary, which by the way is a very nice woman. I told her that I wanted Ms. Dillworth to call me and not to have Mrs Walker call me. If Ms. Dillworth can make time to call Mrs Walker in the evening from her home, I know this because Mrs Walker told me, that she can make time to call me. This was the third time I had tried to speak with this woman and she has never contacted me. I asked if it was because we were white. I thought I would claim racial injustice before anyone else did just in case that was going to be the next excuse. I made it clear I wanted Mrs Dillworth to call me.

The next week Mrs Dillworth actually called. I was surprised. She said it is her job to discuss problems between parents and principals with the principals so she can get both sides of the story. I replied "How are you supposed to get both sides of the story when you never return my calls and have never bothered to listen to my side?" She didn't have an answer for that one and asked why I was upset. I went on with the story and she said nothing could be done if my daughter fought back. She didn't fight back for the first few months but after no one helped, she didn't really have a choice. I told her about the fact that I was denied a parent conference and thought the entire way this situation was handled was ridiculous. She kept reminding me of her background and all the years she spent as principal. I don't really care about this. I care about my daughter being harassed and someone threatening to kill her. Guess I'm the only one that does care. She asked what I would like to see happen. I told her I would like to see Christina at least put in detention and I want her mother notified. She said her mother had been notified. That's not what I was told all year. Ms. Spooner said she wasn't going to call, there was no reason. Ms. Dillworth also warned me to tell my daughter that if she hit back or tried to defend herself in any way that she could go to jail along with Christina. I sarcastically asked " What if Christina pulls a knife on her, is she supposed to lay there and get stabbed then hope she can crawl to someone for help?" her reply "I don't make the rules, I'm just telling you that no matter what the situation is, if a child defends themselves in any way, they are just as guilty." I won't tell you what I said back to that one, but it wasn't nice. I told her I didn't think that would hold up in court. She said she didn't know about that. I told her "Well if one more thing happens you are going to find out. I'll go to court over this if I have to. All of you are incompetent." Well, she said I had a right to my opinion. She said that if Jessica gets physically hurt or attacked, she should just take it and then go find the on duty police officer. But if she fights back, the police officer might arrest her. She said bus incidents cannot be counted unless the bus driver fills out a report for the principal, she has to see it and hear it, they don't go by the word of the child. That is insane. I know kids lie sometimes but my daughter is not lying and I don't appreciate the staff of the FWISD telling her she will be punished if she tries to defend herself. I have spoken to several teachers about the way the district is run and they all agree that things need to change. When I called Ms. Dillworth's office to see who was over her, I was told it was a Mrs Taylor but if I called I would just be referred back to Ms. Dillworth's office. How am I supposed to complain about someone when the person I'm complaining about is the only one I'm allowed to speak with. Ms. Dillworth had no response when I reminded her that I had called two earlier times in the year and she did not return my calls. She more or less blamed it on her secretary. The school staff is famous for that one, blame it on someone under you, take no responsibility. I'm writing a letter to the head of the school district if I can get his address. No one knows it or will give it to me. I have asked for additional copies of the code of conduct book but no one seems to have any. I'll have to get someone else to get it for me.

Okay, there you have it. Another fight that was lost because of stupid ass people running our schools. Oh yeah, I did make the same comment to Mrs Spooner, Mrs Walker and Ms. Dillworth "I guess as long as she doesn't bring a gun or bomb to school, the other violence isn't all that bad." I told them that when this girl gets older and does something like that, I'll be the first one to run to the news and tell them that the schools had all the warning they needed to see it coming but they didn't feel taking action was necessary.

I have no faith in the school system and find it nothing but a disgrace. Maybe all those secretaries and receptionists that are the only ones willing to talk to the parents should be moved up to a higher position. I have found that the general office staff often agrees with me and seems to feel bad about the situation. Of course there's nothing they can do. They are the ones that get blamed for fucking up messages and not doing paperwork when their bosses are caught fucking around and not fulfilling their obligations.

There is nothing left to say here really. Except that it all fucking sucks! But then you have already figured that out and if you haven't, get the hell off my site. I'll go on with my plans to notify the main office downtown, the one over all of them. I'll be lucky if I can do this. Try to find out who to complain to in situations. It's impossible, you get referred back to the same people you started out with. I think they do this to make people give up. I accept the fact that nothing will ever be done and these assholes will deny every bit of it. They already have when talking to me. You would be surprised how many times I have heard "I'm sorry Mrs. Slatton, I don't remember saying that, you must have misunderstood" or "I'm so sorry a member of our staff told you that, they were incorrect and I will make sure it doesn't happen again." What they are really saying is "Fuck you, we have steady jobs with insurance and don't care about the kids or you. We will get paid and lie about it all. No one will ever believe you because we have power and the state is backing us. I wish you parents would leave us alone so we can play computer games in our offices without being bothered"

FUCK IT!