Are you ready?

Jessica
I am in receipt of your recent e-mail, and I am responding to your request for clarification on the end-year evaluation you received for the 2010-11 school year.  You received “as expected” in 8/10 of the general areas of evaluation, and “less than expected” in 2/10 of these general areas.
Please note that before I complete any classified employees’ evaluations, I meet with the teachers whom they work under.  Accordingly, I met with both teachers prior to completing your evaluation and based on our discussion, I rated you in each descriptor area.   Here are the answers to your questions:
1a. Attitude is the way one views something, in this instance, the significance of your role as Kg aide at the school.  I expect that each Kg aide views her position as extremely important.  As you know, the aide not only assists the teacher in the classroom, but also in less structured environments, like the playground and the lunchroom.  In these settings, she is in charge of the class and must assure that the safety of every Kg child is never compromised.   To be specific, when I met with the teachers just prior to completing your evaluation, I learned that you brought Emma, your 1st grade daughter, into the Kg classroom during the last three weeks of school.  You never asked for my approval; you apparently assumed that this would be acceptable to me, as well as to the teachers.  You also brought your daughter into the Kg playground and into the lunchroom where you supervised her along with the 25 Kg children for whom you were responsible.  I consider this “less than what is expected”. Supervising your own child, along with the 25 kindergarteners, especially on the playground and in the lunchroom, could have compromised the safety of other children.
1b. In terms of your attendance, you had 13 absences, including 4 personal and 3 unpaid days off during the 2010-11 school year.  (Please contact the secretary if you would like to see the list and details of these reported absences).
2. It is not required by district that actions resulting in a “less than expected” rating be documented prior to the end-year evaluation.
3. (See my answer in 1, above)
4.  You received your evaluation via the secretary, as did every other employee on campus.
5.  Absolutely not; one has nothing to do with the other.

So, what part of that has nothing to do with Emma?  I do believe it’s in retaliation.  There are also some discrepancies here.  Let me point them out.  He said that upon meeting the teachers he learned of Emma’s presence in the classroom.  Actually, he learned of that on May 2nd in my email to him after the lunchroom incident.  He is right in that I didn’t ask his permission, however I did ask one of the teacher’s and she said it was no problem.  And the last one; it is retaliation.

Here’s what I sent back, with the help of my advocate.

Mr. Principal,
I would like to start by correcting you in that I did ask permission. I did ask one teacher permission about bringing Emma into the classroom. She had no problem with it. I assumed that she mentioned it to the other teacher as their communication is superb. I also stated in an email to you that I would be having Emma stay with me from lunch on.
Emma’s lunch time was at the same time as my KG students. Emma’s supervision was not difficult for me and did not, at all, compromise the safety of anyone. My concern about Emma’s well being was documented in email. I never received any response from you in regards to that concern, so I moved forward with my plans.

I would like to know what evidence you have that I compromised the safety of my kindergarteners because I am confident there is none.   I took my position very seriously, just as I take the position of my daughter’s safety very seriously. If you doubted the safety of the students, then why have you waited until the last day of school?  Is it district policy to wait 3 weeks when there is a concern about compromised student safety?  If the safety of the students is suspected to be compromised, I expect that immediate action would be taken. Rather, I am being informed of such a concern via a “less than expected” performance review with no opportunity to defend myself. Hence, I am providing it to you now.

Regarding this situation, I felt like I was being a dutiful employee and mindful of my student’s safety by remaining at work and performing my duties rather than taking that time off and causing potential staffing problems. Clearly, had I done that, it could have jeopardized the children’s safety by creating either a lack of or a shortage of supervision as what happened with Emma.

I believe my “less than expected” rating and your narrative is in direct retaliation as evidenced by the comments made and the evaluation on file. Further, please make sure this correspondence stays in my file.  This has everything to do with Emma.

Jessica

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