So I was not expecting this! The teacher does not want to be vaccinated for COVID (she disclosed this herself to us), and is being let go. This is her last day. She’s decided to move to a different state without vaccine mandates.
They have no one lined up to replace her and having a revolving door of subs isn’t going to be much of an improvement. Cross your fingers for us that they find a good replacement ASAP!
Positive Update:
The principal approached me afterschool today to ask how my DD was feeling about the class! DD was there, and heard the principal ask, and gave the okay for me to talk with her. DD walked away so we could talk privately. I shared what had happened, and the principal let me know that they are working closely with this teacher, have a district trainer coming in to work with her, and some other stuff that is confidential. It was all very positive and I really appreciated that she came to me in DD's presence, so DD was not upset at all with me.
DD2’s school (where I now work) had a very weak principal for ten years or so. There’s a teacher on staff that parents have complained about for years. DD2 (12) has her this year for two classes. My older DD never had this teacher so I didn’t quite realize how bad she is. She is awful! The teacher yells at students for making mistakes, gives them zeros for missing one problem (I have double checked this myself in DD’s work), and assigns an hour of homework minimum per night for each class. Unfortunately there is no other teacher my DD can switch to. The teacher yelled at my daughter today for making a mistake. To the point my daughter started silently crying (not while teacher was next to her.) Then teacher pulled a gaslight move of “I wasn’t too hard on you!” to which my upset DD2 agreed.
The problem is this teacher retaliates against the kids for parent complaints, and she’s been getting away with this for years. DD doesn’t want me to say anything. The new principal is much stronger and she or the counselor are present in the classroom a lot. I know for a fact she’s gotten multiple complaints in just the last fews weeks alone.
I’m a new teacher at this school site and am not sure what to do. If I knew the principal better I’d ask to privately meet with her. I did tell DD that she can, at any time, get up and leave class and come to me. I told her it’s okay to start crying in front of the teacher and say stuff like, “That really hurt!” or “How does yelling at me help? Do you think I’m going to think better when I’m upset?” But that is so hard to do! I would email the teacher and principal a note of, “Please show me the research that supports yelling at students when they make mistakes. Because I am always interested in using the best practices with my students, and am wondering how this is evidence-based teaching?” (The teacher version of Bless your heart.)