I Don't Even Know Where to Begin?!

Every time I try to write an update about what's going on with Reagan at school, more drama gets heaped on the already "stranger than fiction" situation.  The following is a post I started writing back in March, I guess it's as good a place to start, as any?:

Hallelujah!  Reagan has an IEP (Individual Education Plan) in place!  She is now getting weekly sessions with the school occupational therapist; and a social-relations class.
Life with Reagan has been wonderful, the past month.  Knock on Wood.
I attribute most of it to the fact that she is now in a Kindergarten class with a sane, organized teacher.

Her new teacher has helped Reagan progress so much, it is almost unbelievable!
Case in point: Reagan's handwriting was practically illegible at the beginning of the year.  And then, two weeks after she started in her new class, she brought this home:

It says: "The sun is a star.  It warms the earth.  Scheurer Reagan".

For Reagan, this is phenomenal.  Elsa's 3 year old penmanship is better than Reagan's.  But I can't judge them with the same standards.

At the beginning of the year, I had so much anxiety.  Mostly induced by the things that Reagan's 1st teacher was saying to me.

Remember how I said that I craved anonymity when I would drop off, and pick Reagan up for school?  Because I was so overwhelmed with dragging a screaming Reagan to class (she hated school), and when I picked her up I hated the inevitable bad report the teacher would give me...

Those days are gone.  Reagan goes to school in the morning, on her own.  And Reagan's new teacher is strict, but Reagan is complying with the rules; and thriving.

However, I still hate the daily trips to the school.  These days, it's because I want to avoid her old teacher.

At first it was just awkward.

My interpretation of the situation is that Reagan's old teacher knew she had said WAY too much to me, and that she had breached her code of ethics. 

She had been so mean to both Reagan and me, on Reagan's last few days in her class.  I think she realized that, and went in to damage control-mode.  Because, she was calling me, and leaving me voicemails; that I needed to call her- so that she could explain her behavior.  When I didn't call her, she started texting me.

One day, she pulled me aside, as all of the Kindergartners were arriving for the day; and wanted to talk about it.  I told her it was neither the time, nor the place.

Good Gravy!  I just wanted her to leave me alone.

I told Nick that I wanted to write a letter stating all of the "incidents" that had occur ed between Reagan's old teacher and me.  Nick told me to leave it alone.  That she wasn't our problem anymore, and that we ought to just move on.

But I kept thinking about all of the stress she caused me.  And I cringed at the thought of another parent having to go through, what I went through; because of that teacher.

The clincher came when I found out that Reagan's old teacher hadn't been passing along the paperwork I had been giving her, to put in Reagan's file.  Specifically, the report from Reagan's Occupational Therapist.  I believe that Reagan's old teacher didn't pass it on because it said less-than-flattering things about her.

In any case, it turns out the reason it was taking so long for Reagan to get an IEP was because reports, like the one from the Occupational Therapist, weren't making it to Reagan's file; so the school was ordering independent reports.

I decided to write a formal letter.

My opinion of her original teacher has done a complete "180".

Even though I was being blatant in my avoidance of her, Reagan's old teacher wouldn't quit.  She asked another parent (that she was meeting with at parent teacher conference!) to send me a message, and asked that I call her!

Then, the woman sent me an email.  From her personal account.  Again, asking me to contact her.  Stating that I needed to know what had happened in her class the day that she had been so rude to me.  The email was over-the-top complimentary toward me.  And had a lot of religious content.

The email also contained correspondence between the teacher, and a parent.  At the bottom of the email was a letter that parent had written to the district superintendent.  In it, she complained about the principal at Reagan's elementary school.

I couldn't believe the teacher's lack of discretion.  She shouldn't have shared that information with me.  Even if she felt like it would justify her actions.

My biggest complaint about her was that she didn't behave professionally.  And this was just more proof of that.  Holy cow.  If the situation had been reversed, I wouldn't have wanted Reagan's teacher to share confidential information with other parents!

So, I wrote another email.  This time I responded to Reagan's teacher.  And I CC'ed the principal.  I sternly requested that her teacher stop trying to contact me.

Considering her track record of indiscretion, I am fairly certain Reagan's old teacher is not speaking highly of me to others.  How she still has a job, is beyond me?

One of the reasons Nick didn't want me to write any letters was because this teacher's livelihood was at stake. 

And to tell you the truth, I didn't want her to loose her job- at first... 

But from the beginning, I had been encouraging her to seek employment elsewhere.  She never did, and I think it's because she has this massive vendetta against the principal, and her goal has been to get rid of the principal.  It's a slippery situation all around.

I'm not a fan of Reagan's old teacher.  And if she is still at our elementary school when Elsa is heading in to Kindergarten; I will do everything to ensure that Elsa does not have her; up to, and including: sending Elsa to another school.

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And that's where I finished the post.

Since that time, Reagan's old teacher lost any mental health that she had.

I would say that Mrs. Olsen is one of my least favorite people on this earth.  And Reagan's new teacher, Mrs. Carr is one of my favorites.  It's amazing how things can change.

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And that's where I finished more of the post (back in May).

Since that time, the drama has continued.  Nearly every day, I ask myself, "when can I FINALLY be rid of this woman?!".

In April, Reagan's old teacher continued her downward spiral, and it sickened me to see, firsthand, how difficult it is to fire an incompetent public educator.

Mrs. Olsen spread the most vile rumors about the principal (harping on her insane belief that the principal doesn't really have breast cancer).  She blatantly disregarded instructions from her superiors; on how to conduct herself professionally.

She engaged in shouting matches with the administration; in front of other parents, and the students.

The final straw came when she pulled the Kindergartners aside and told them that, "the principal was a bad lady, the principal was a bully.   The Principal was going to hurt them.  And that she was going to barricade them in the room so that they could be protected".

After that incident, they put her on paid administrative leave.

They had a long-term substitute come in, to teach the class for the last six weeks of the school year.  And from what I've heard; it was the best six weeks of the school year for many of the kids in that class.

Of course, it wasn't the end of things.  Mrs. Olsen violated the order the Davis County School District put in place, that barred her from being on Davis County School District property.

She showed up at the Elementary school, ten minutes before school was going to be dismissed, and made a HUGE scene.

The police were called.

And the only reason I even knew about this, was because Mrs. Olsen sent the police report out to the parents.  How crazy, is that?!

Mrs. Olsen sent A LOT of downright insane emails out to parents.  The content became increasingly rambling, and incompetent; as time passed- and Mrs. Olsen realized that she had no support.

The Secretary at the school told me that Mrs. Olsen had hired two different lawyers, and both of them had quit on her; because they couldn't work with her.  The ACLU wouldn't take her case, and neither would the ULC.

Truly, during the months of April, May, and part of June, I would read what Mrs. Olsen was writing and I would just roll my eyes.  It was apparent that she believed "she was above the rules"; but that she also believed everyone else should be held to the letter of the law.

I am still drawing comparisons between her, and Raskalnikov, from Crime and Punishment...

Anyway, I felt like I had said my piece.  I had informed Mrs. Olsen of my distaste for her actions.  And I thought I had washed my hands of her.

But, as time passed she became more shrill.  I'd imagine it's because she was realizing that people were becoming aware of the fact that she was full of shit.

So, she took it upon herself to write a grievance.  AND to send it out to any, and every email address that she had in her contacts.  This meant that more than just the 25-ish parents with children in her class during the 2013-2014 school year were recipients of this email.  A lot more.  Try, most of the parents in my neighborhood.

It was a ridiculously long, rambling document.  Most of it didn't make sense.

But I took the time to read it, in it's entirety.  And within that document she brings up Reagan's situation to bolster her false claim that the principal is a child abuser.

Even worse, Mrs. Olsen "outs" Reagan's condition.

I was seeing red, after I read that passage!  How dare she!  On so many levels.

Not only did she grossly misrepresent the terms under which Reagan left her class; but she had no right to make public, Reagan's diagnosis.

That woman has made the past year of my life a living hell.  And I just wish she would go away.

But since she won't...  I did contact a lawyer.  And I've found out that she is in violation of FERPA (the privacy law that governs the information teachers are privy to).

Now, I am just weighing my options.

To Be Continued...

Although, I wish it weren't.