Would you sign a blank school form?

[elektra]

I had been dreading informing the school about the independent study that we need to do when I pull DD out of school for a week and a half in May for our Israel trip. But I emailed the teacher yesterday and she seemed excited and supportive of DD taking the trip. I was so relieved.
SO today I went into the office, got the forms, filled them out and signed where appropriate and gave them to a secretary. 5 min later another secretary called me back to say there were a few other things that needed to be filled out, so I walked back over.
She said I needed to sign the bottom of all the forms. However, I had purposely not signed in certain spots because it was to agree to all the assignments that the teacher would list. But she hadn't listed anything yet. So I explained as much and she said that it really didn't matter and I should just sign. I then said I would really rather wait to review the assignments.

I know that everything would likely be fine, it is just a school form, it is first grade and not high school, and we are not talking about some million dollar business deal here, but from my dealings in the working world as well as what some of you have mentioned here on the BBB about school dealings, I was really uncomfortable signing that form!
I actually want to see what the teacher is going to assign before I sign the paper agreeing to it all. I do think they would still be willing to work with me on the terms even if I disagreed with the workload once I see it, but still.

I think they were just annoyed because it creates more work for them, as they have to now contact me again about re-signing it before they do whatever official district submission.
She finally put on the most saccharine smile and told me that if that's how I wanted to handle it, that was fine.
I apologized for being difficult but explained I just really did not want to sign a blank form. She then told me that nobody had ever had an issue doing so before.

Should I have just signed the dang form to keep the peace? Am I overreacting?


I really like this school but the office staff does rub me the wrong way sometimes.

[BunnyBee]

I would not sign a blank, binding form. How can you agree to something without knowing the terms? Crazy. And the "everyone else does it" argument is LOL-worthy. Would you jump off a bridge just because everyone else did? ;)

Edited: I missed first grade. Somehow thought sixth grade! Much less likely the assignments would be insane in 1st. :)

[egoldber]

I understand your reluctance, but I would likely have just signed that type of form.

In first grade, the worst that happens is they give more homework than you think is necessary, and then you just don't do it. Or take your time. I would be more concerned at higher grade levels where they could give long, complicated projects with short deadlines.

[basil]

Probably would have signed it, but mostly cause I'd be too lazy to go back and sign it again. Would have been irked, though.

[american_mama]

I think either approach is fine. I would have signed, but see why someone else would not. I signed a permission slip a month ago for a special school district art camp that DD may or may not get into. It was for a field trip at an undetermined place, at an undetermined time over the course of the two week camp. I did LOL at it. Surely such a permission slip is meaningless, and I will bet dollars to donuts they'll send out another, more specific one during the camp no matter whether I did or didn't sign the first form.

[123LuckyMom]

For first grade and due to laziness, yes, I would have signed it. I doubt that if there were an issue the fact that your signature was on it would matter anyway. If it were high school, I wouldn't.

[elektra]

Ugh! I guess I should have just signed. But when in doubt, I guess it's maybe better not to.
I have been overthinking this whole trip and how to deal with the school on it, which I am sure is leading me to want to have all the i's dotted and t's crossed here. Because I know I have signed other "silly" things before and not really worried about it.

[squimp]

I would have signed it too. I guess in that case I would trust my DD's teachers to give her the appropriate homework or make-up work. If she wasn't able to do it, then I would deal with it later. No one is going to get sued because they didn't do their 2nd grade homework. ;)

But I am pretty lazy and just wouldn't want to make work for myself or others.

[petesgirl]

Ugh! I guess I should have just signed. But when in doubt, I guess it's maybe better not to.
I have been overthinking this whole trip and how to deal with the school on it, which I am sure is leading me to want to have all the i's dotted and t's crossed here. Because I know I have signed other "silly" things before and not really worried about it.

Meh. The common sense rule is don't sign something if you don't understand /agree to/know what it is.

[vonfirmath]

For first grade and due to laziness, yes, I would have signed it. I doubt that if there were an issue the fact that your signature was on it would matter anyway. If it were high school, I wouldn't.

First Grade I'd have signed it.

[TwinFoxes]

For first grade and due to laziness, yes, I would have signed it. I doubt that if there were an issue the fact that your signature was on it would matter anyway. If it were high school, I wouldn't.
:yeahthat:

But when in doubt, I guess it's maybe better not to.


:yeahthat: too. I think the office person was out of line.

[speo]

I would have signed it because I doubt that they would give and assignment that was crazy. However, I understand why you didn't and think that is ok too.

[hillview]

First Grade I'd have signed it.


I would have signed it because I doubt that they would give and assignment that was crazy. However, I understand why you didn't and think that is ok too.
:yeahthat:

[niccig]

Meh. The common sense rule is don't sign something if you don't understand /agree to/know what it is.

:yeahthat: This is me. I also make sure I read everything before I sign, even if the person is getting antsy for me to hurry up. If I get push back, I give my saccharine smile and tell them it's the law school years coming out in me.

[Ceepa]

I would have signed the papers. It has nothing to with laziness, I don't know why that would come into play here, but rather I trust the instructors have been through this before and have a method for managing missed work. And even after a I signed the paperwork if there was something I strongly disagreed with, I would feel comfortable approaching the teacher and explaining my position.

[indigo99]

DS's school sent home forms at the beginning of the year. One of them said to sign and return if you did NOT want to give permission for XYZ (I don't even remember what it was but maybe using computers? or being filmed? I'm not sure). We didn't return that one. Then the office lady gave DH a hard time and told him they still needed that form. We told them it was fine, and we didn't want to opt out. The lady insisted that it had to be signed. We read and reread it, and I'm 100% positive that SHE was wrong about it. Whatever, we just signed it. If they want to have messed up paperwork then fine.

I would have probably signed it in OP's case. You don't get to approve assignments given usually so agreeing that you'll do whatever the teacher assigns while away doesn't seem that different. The teacher is agreeing to work with you on the absence, and by not signing you are potentially making it more difficult for her.

If it hadn't had a blank list and had just said that you agree to complete whatever work is assigned then would you have felt so uncomfortable?

[elektra]

If it hadn't had a blank list and had just said that you agree to complete whatever work is assigned then would you have felt so uncomfortable?

There was a separate form that I did sign that had the general terms, saying we abide by the standards for independent study and that we will do what the school asks, etc. and I did sign that one.

The one I didn't sign was specifically for the detailed assignments. It was basically a big blank grid, that the teacher fills in, and had a short paragraph at the bottom about how the parent agrees to all that has been outlined in the grid.

[123LuckyMom]

It's no big deal either way. Don't spend another ounce of your energy on it. It's fine that you wanted to wait to sign.

[indigo99]

The one I didn't sign was specifically for the detailed assignments. It was basically a big blank grid, that the teacher fills in, and had a short paragraph at the bottom about how the parent agrees to all that has been outlined in the grid.

Yeah. I get that. My point was just that you don't normally have approval of what assignments your child does. It is really weird of them to want you to sign the form when it isn't filled out yet, but signing the blank form is basically the same (to me) as saying that you agree to whatever assignments the teacher gives. You don't have a problem doing that, but when they give you the form that makes it appear as if you have the right to approve or reject the assignments (by signing) then it feels different to you.

[TwinFoxes]

I would have signed the papers. It has nothing to with laziness, I don't know why that would come into play here

Because she would have to make a third trip to the school to fill it in.

[Ceepa]

:

Because she would have to make a third trip to the school to fill it in.

I guess it surprised me that on this board people would chalk up signing a form to laziness.

[bisous]

I understand your reluctance, but I would likely have just signed that type of form.

In first grade, the worst that happens is they give more homework than you think is necessary, and then you just don't do it. Or take your time. I would be more concerned at higher grade levels where they could give long, complicated projects with short deadlines.

This is precisely what I would have been thinking. But like others have mentioned, not a big deal either way!

[BunnyBee]

Yeah. I get that. My point was just that you don't normally have approval of what assignments your child does. It is really weird of them to want you to sign the form when it isn't filled out yet, but signing the blank form is basically the same (to me) as saying that you agree to whatever assignments the teacher gives. You don't have a problem doing that, but when they give you the form that makes it appear as if you have the right to approve or reject the assignments (by signing) then it feels different to you.

In 1st grade, the assignments would probably only be objectionable if they were just a burdensome amount of busy work. In higher grades, the assignments definitely can be inappropriate. A friend had to go back and forth with her school over the project assigned to her 5th grader for a visit to their home country. The topic was pretty jaw-breakingly biased and the requirements for completion seemed overly intense. They came up with a compromise but had to involve the principal. If the work is not completed per the document you sign, the absences are counted as unexcused and you could be turned in for truancy. If your child comes home with an inappropriate homework assignment, you can deal with that much more easily with no legal repercussions.

[JustMe]

Not sure what I would have done, but I think it is perfectly fine that you did not sign it. So, they are a little annoyed with you as it causes an extra step for you. It should not be a big deal. I would just make sure to sign it as soon as possible after they let you know it is available with the info filled in.

[Reyadawnbringer]

My background as a nuclear document controller and records manager has ingrained into me to never sign blank forms. I would not have signed it either. I have to know what I am signing my name to.

[Pinky]

I wouldn't have either!

[pb&j]

I wouldn't have signed it as is. If the school really pushed about a signature, I would have annotated the blank form with some language indicating that the form was blank when I signed it, and I must initial any changes to the form.

FTR, I am a huge pain in the ass when it comes to signing school forms. I used to be an airline captain and my signature on a form held me liable for the contents of that form - flight dispatch releases, maintenance items, pilot logbooks etc. The kind of stuff that can land you in hot water if it's incorrect, falsified, or contains information that could incriminate you in case of an accident/incident. When your career and reputation are on the line for every signature, it's hard to get out of the habit of verifying what you're signing.

For school consent forms at the beginning of the year, I often cross out and initial items for which I do not consent. For instance, the school sends home a blanket technology agreement for all K-12 students allowing accounts to be set up for Gmail, Prezi, and other online providers. I usually cross out and initial the majority of services. I also refuse to sign the blanket photo release, allowing my child's picture to be taken and distributed for anything the school sees fit. Nope, no thank you. DH is a professional photographer so I am very wary of signing such a broad model release.

OP, I am with you. I wouldn't have signed. The problem is with their process, not with you.

[abh5e8]

Nope. Op i would not have signed it. And would not feel the least bad. Im also in a profession where my sig carries a good deal of responsibility AND liability. I make a copy of every kid form i do sign and hang on to them.

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[Jacksmommy2b]

No way Jose! I also have a first grader and although I have had nothing but great interactions with the school there is no way I would sign a blank form.




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