My recent experience with a school's bureaucracy

[Platapus]

I recently had a wonderful experience dealing with a bureaucracy. Just one additional data point that supports the theory that we are doomed as a species.

I had recently purchased a new cell phone and, unfortunately, I had to change my phone number. Inconvenient but survivable.

The problem is that phone companies no longer wait before re-assigning phone numbers. Unfortunately, the previous owner of my new cell phone number (let’s call him John Smith) had given his cell phone number to the school where his kids went and the school added him to some broadcast automated call system.

This meant that I was getting between 2-3 phone calls per day, during the week, announcing some event or canceling of some event at the school. The problem is that this cell phone lives in my car and I don’t check it every day. Hence, when I did, I had about a dozen school messages to wade through to check if there was a legitimate message for me.

Something had to be done, and this started me on my bureaucratic trip to the twilight zone.

1. I called the school and told them that I was the new owner of this cell phone number. I asked them if this cell phone number could be removed from their automated system.

2. I was told, “no”. That only “John Smith” could remove the number as the records are under his name. Their advice was for me to contact John Smith and ask him to change the cell phone number.

3. I told the school that I had no idea who John Smith was nor did I have any way to contact John Smith, but if they gave me John Smith’s contact information, I would be willing to contact him.

4. The school said that they could not release the contact information on John Smith without John Smith’s permission.

5. I asked the school, if they could contact John Smith so that the school’s records could be either updated or deleted if John Smith moved out of the area.

6. The lady I was talking to said that the only contact information they had for John Smith was a cell phone number…………

(facepalm)

The ultimate solution to my problem was to cancel the voice mail capability on my cell phone. I am not that important of a person where people leave me voice messages anyway.

Sometimes you just have to shake your head ruefully and press on.

[Sailor Steve]

Did this happen to you for real, or is it from someone else?

[Buddahaid]

Now you've done it. Just wait for the knock on the door soon.

[em2nought]

Now that you've made that first step why don't you try this

I've got a similar situation with a state of Floriduh inmate release advisory, they just can't seem to get our business number out of their system permanently.

[CaptainMattJ.]

Isn't it lovely when schools forget that they work for us, not the other way around?

Schools have become increasingly worse, and worse. When i was in high school (which was only a few years ago), If someone punched you in the face and you tried to fend him off, you'd both get suspended without appeal and probably arrested. If you did something happened on the way to or from school, it was the school's business and they could punish you on record. So lets say that you threw a rock at something, it missed, and dented a car. not only would you have to pay for damages (which is absolutely fair), but you'd also be reprimanded by the school if it happened to be on the way from or on the way to school (and also during school hours, even if you were on your lunch break). The secretaries in the office we're rude and felt like i worked for them instead of they worked for me.

Dealing with schools makes me sick. According to them, it's now their business to interfere with an increasing amount of personal affairs. They've become all-controlling and excessively harsh. It's infuriating.

[Takeda Shingen]

The reason schools have policies like this is because parents frequently attempt to have each other removed from call lists, mailing lists or various other rosters when divorced or estranged. School administrators have found themselves in the middle of these type of affairs. Even worse is when the non-custodial parent attempts to dupe the school into releasing the children to him or her. Now the school district finds itself in the middle of a legal proceeding. The same is for trips to or from school. The bus is district property; the driver a district employee. Until you step foot off that bus, the school's regulations apply. And I'm more than willing to wager that the office staff thought that the students were just as rude as you thought they were.

Trust me, the school is equally sick of being thrown into the middle of your personal affairs. A lot of the reason that I got out of K-12 education is because parents and community members have interfered in the educational process so much that the actual teaching is now a miniscule percentage of what you have to deal with on a daily basis.

[Red Brow]

I shouldn't even make a post about this trivial incident. More succinct.

[Cybermat47]

This beuracracy seriously screwed up some guys life.

Therefore, it's working perfectly