Impatient Parents

Rebekah Pierce

Grand Canyon University

College of Education, EAD-519: Clinical Internship I: Learner-Centered Leadership

Mark Jones

March 8, 2023

Part 1: Case Analysis

Info About the Case

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 In the “Impatient Parent” case study, a mother is shown up to my high school without an

appointment to discuss her concerns and allegations her daughter being harassed. She believes

the culprit is a boy from their neighborhood and is also in her daughter’s geometry class. She

says her daughter is getting harassing phone calls as well as being laughed out in class. The

mother wants to meet with the principal briefly before she has to go to work, however, the

principal is off campus at a meeting. The receptionist offers to let her speak with the vice

principal. The mother also mentions the fact she had emailed the teacher the night before but

hadn’t received a response. The vice principal offers to set up a meeting with her, her daughter,

and the teacher, but the mother claims she is not available to meet anytime soon, and requests the

school resolve the issue on their own.

Issues to be resolved

The issues that need to be addressed include investigating the allegations of harassment

in the geometry class. The principal will also need to talk with the teacher about responding to

the parent in a timely manner. Another issue is that the school does not have access to phone

records and may need to involve the school resource office if the findings are substantiated.

Stakeholders involved in the issues

Stakeholders involved in these issues include the daughter being harassed, her mother,

the boy being accused, the teacher in the geometry class, and the vice principal. The principal

will need to be informed of the situation when she returns. They may also need to include the

School Resource Officer if the investigation deems necessary.

One or two existing laws or court rulings that relate to the issues

North Carolina’s General Statutes says, “A student or volunteer who has witnessed or has

reliable information that a student or school employee has been subject to any act of bullying or

harassing behavior should report the incident to the appropriate school official” (Article 29C).

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This law means if the teacher saw any harassing behavior in the classroom, he or she should

report it immediately.

District policies that relate to the issues

Iredell Statesville School Board Policy 1510/4200/7270 states, “School officials shall

investigate and act upon any report of such behavior, including, when appropriate, reporting

criminal activities to law enforcement, the State Board, the State Superintendent of Public

Instruction, and the superintendent or designee”.

Possible solutions to the issues

The principal must immediately investigate if the allegations are true. If they are true and

the student is being harassed, then the School Resource Officer needs to be involved to trace the

phone calls and possible criminal charges may be brought. If the accusations are true, then the

principal must take disciplinary action immediately. If it is found that the allegations are not

true, then the mother needs to be notified that an investigation proved the allegations were false

and nothing more will be done. The principal also should discuss with the mother the protocol to

follow when there is an issue.

The solutions you are choosing to resolve the issues

In this case, I am going to believe the allegations are false. If the teacher did not notify

the principal about harassment in her class, then I choose to believe it didn’t happen. This would

only be concluded after discussion with the teacher and what she saw and heard. It is not against

the law to laugh during class with friends, and no proof that the alleged offender was laughing at

the girl. High school students say a lot of things, but making fun of someones clothing is not

harassment. If this was a continued problem, then possibly it could be considered bullying. The

principal does not have authority to trace the cell phones or numbers, and should have the parent

contact local police to investigate further.

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 Action steps

There must first be an investigation to determine if the allegations of harassment are true.

The assistant principal needs to talk to the principal and make sure there is a meeting set with the

teacher immediately to get more information of what took place in class and if the student was

harassed. Since we believe the accusations are false, the principal must contact both sets of

parents to let them know the investigation is closed and why.

Potential moral and legal consequences of the solutions

There could be many potential consequences of the principal choosing not to pursue

further. The mother is likely to push back and consider a lawsuit against the school for feeling

her child’s rights were violated or that the school did not adequately resolve the problem.

Part 2: Rationale

While there are many unknown factors involved in this case, it is imperative to determine

if the harassment is serious or not. A meeting with the teacher and students hopefully will shed

light on the truth of what happened in the classroom the previous day. However, the principal

should meet with the students at separate times so they can both feel safe and heard. In this case,

questions arise; like is the mother overreacting and accusing an innocent boy or is her daughter

actually being harassed. Once the investigation is completed, the principal must decide what

steps to take next. If the harassment is serious, then precautions must be taken to make sure the

daughter is safe. However, it is necessary to be sure false accusations do not hinder this boy, and

we must assume he is innocent until proven guilty. Both the daughter and the boy have rights

and need to be treated fairly and appropriately. It is the responsibility of the administration to do

its due diligence and address the issue fairly and appropriately.

Time is an important aspect of this case because harassment is a serious offense.

Collaboration with the teacher and the school resource office to investigate is crucial. In

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discussion with the teacher, you could ask her to keep an eye on the students as an extra

precaution. It is important to complete the investigation and come up with an action plan that

happens in a reasonable amount of time. All stakeholders must be informed and ensured that the

steps taken are the best legal and moral actions for all involved.

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 References

Article 29C. School Violence Prevention. North Carolina General Assembly. (n.d.). Retrieved

March 4, 2023, from

https://www.ncleg.gov/enactedlegislation/statutes/html/bychapter/chapter_115c.html

Policy Code: 1510/4200/7270 School Safety. Policy manual. (n.d.). Retrieved March 3, 2023,

from https://boardpolicyonline.com/bl/?b=iredell#&&hs=155814

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