DU parents of school age kids: a rant about school forms

[Shine]

I have just spent the past hour and a half reading and filling out countless, tedious forms for my incoming 7th grader's middle school, along with filling out 5 separate checks for everything from his PE uniform, to his yearbook, to his school pix...blah, blah, blah...

Every year we go through this same damn thing and every year it's just as incredibly annoying and time-consuming as the previous year. WHAT is the deal with all these damn forms and why the hell can't they somehow streamline the system to reduce the paperwork and avoid the yearly duplication??! I just don't get it.

And I've got to go through this all over again next week for my 4th grader...Oh joy. :mad: Thank goodness I "only" have two kids!!

:rant:

Can any of you other DU parents out there relate??

[AlCzervik]

1. i hear ya, i did what i thought were all the forms, i was so wrong

the day is not complete without another letter arriving from the school.

[Shine]

7. LOL! Yeah, really.

that's so true.

It's endless, isn't it? :eyes:

[AlCzervik]

8. after i mailed off what seemed to be an entire giant redwood tree worth

of paper i get 3 more letters--camping trip permission form and that had like 3 other forms attached as well, parking lot forms and finally the pe form, my daughter goes back tomorrow and there is no way she's coming home without something for me to fill out i'm sure.

[Shine]

10. I'm sure they must have some back room committee that is responsible

their entire purpose is to make our lives more difficult.

[femmocrat]

18. Please read my post below..... thanks! n/t

[LeftyMom]

2. We homeschool.

I submit one form to the state (well, I'll have to once he's mandatory school age) but I have to keep a whole ridiculous pile of other stuff on file in my home, including stuff that's really silly in a home setting like shot records and emergency contacts.

A lady I know of in another state is required to inform herself that their homeschool is not accredited and to keep the signed letter on file.

Ah, bureaucracy.

[Shine]

9. There's no way in hell I would EVER homeschool, but hey, more power to ya!

I just don't have the patience....or the interest, frankly. That's just me.

Sounds like you've still gotta deal with some of the stupid forms, though. :eyes:

:hi: LM! :hug: Good to see ya!

[LeftyMom]

15. I don't know if I could do it fundie-style, with 6 kids at the kitchen

table working out of 6 different Bob Jones University textbooks (scary fact: they really do make texts popular in the fundie homeschooling and private christian school markets) but with one bright kid I'd have to fight to get not to learn, it's really not a huge deal. I think having to find and communicate with a school that could handle his specific needs would be a million times more of a headache, at least at this age.

The forms are a joke though. LK has a vaccine exemption because he can't have some of them due to allergy. I have to get the school vaccine form, flip it over, sign that I (Mom) know that I (school administrator of record) will send him home (where he already is) in case of outbreak (since he's the only student, he'd already be sick) and that if his medical condition changes and permits further vaccination, I (Mom) will let me (admin) know immediately. All so I don't have to worry about him spreading contagion in the house he lives in.

Oh, and I have to take attendance. It's his home. He's here. :eyes:

[WritingIsMyReligion]

3. As a student I hate those damned things.

We don't seem to have too many, though; just maybe two. :D

[Shine]

11. LOL! I laugh upon your mere two forms!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

:rofl:

[BelleCarolinaPeridot]

4. By the time I got to the 7th grade I could do my mom's signature well.

All I had to do was tell her about it and sign it myself lol.

[Smudge]

5. Same here.

My parents haven't actually signed anything for years.

[Shine]

14. That's funny....

and a bit disturbing, too. :D

[Shine]

12. My kid better not do that!

Of course, I have a rather unique signature, so that makes it extra hard for him to copy. Plus, I don't think he'd even THINK of forging it at this point.

That will probably change soon, I know. He turns 13 in the fall. :eyes: LOL!

[tinfoil tiaras]

23. At my school that would get you suspended or expelled

Okay, theres like the Honor code and when you enter middle school (or if you're a new student) you have to sign it, and it basically says you can't lie cheat or steal and they consider signature forgery cheating. In middle school they'd just send you to the Dean of Students but in high school theres the Honor Council which is made up of 2 kids from each class (freshman, sophomore, junior and senior) and you have to go before them and they decide your punishment or whatever.

This is what's considered "cheating" at my school:
-Signature forgery
-talking about a test when not everyone's taken it (i.e. "OMG the test was so easy/hard")
-of course the obvious looking on someone else's paper

and some more stuff i just can't think of..

Sorry, i went kinda off on the honor code system... :D :D :D :P

[Kali]

6. and then they STILL can't find your phone number when they need to call

Try filling them out with nonsense and see if anyone even notices? :evilgrin:

[Shine]

13. LOL, good idea!

but I'm too much of a Good Citizen and Follower of the Rules to do THAT! LOL. :evilgrin:

[jmm]

16. I use to lie when the made me fill those out in school

My junior year in high school a friend and I got called to the guidance counselor's office for putting down Ebonics (This was the same year "Ebonics" was making headlines.) was the first language spoken in our homes and English was our second language. Our counselor stuttered alot and questioned us as if he was afraid of offending us and getting the school sued. I wish I could get a hold of my high school records because I think after that I was technically classified as an ESL student.

I figured if I had to fill out boring paperwork I might as well make it interesting for me and whoever had to read it.

[femmocrat]

17. I was a homeroom teacher and responsible for collecting

all of those forms and checks. Please send them in the first week, so your child's teacher doesn't have to call you. He/she probably has 30 kids in homeroom and has to collect about a dozen forms, etc. from each kid!

Why so many? They go to different places: the nurse, the central office, the school office, the bus company, the cafeteria, etc., etc. Don't forget, each of those places is responsible while your child is in their care.

You have to fill them out every year because circumstances change from year to year. Also, please remember to update them if you have a change of address or phone number! I have spend hours trying to track down phone numbers that became "out of service."

[Whoa_Nelly]

19. All previous year forms go to the attendance office of your district

For funding accountability.

New forms are a good thing because it means that all classroom teachers/homeroom teachers have a clean, up-to-date info sheet, as does the school and the district offices, and the accountability begins all over again to ensure that per school population there is funding for your child's school that comes in throughout the school year. Also, the copies that go to the district office have all the pertinent info typed into a computer program that is accessible by your child's school. Some schools allow teacher access, and should there be an emergency, the school nurse, nurse's aide will be able to access the most recent information regarding your child, as well as the school office being able to contact you ASAP.

I know it's a pain, but wouldn't it be a bigger pain if there wasn't enough funding coming into your child's school because projected attendance/enrollment seemed to not increase? What if your child had a serious illness or status change during the time off between school year end and beginning? Don't you think it's a good thing to always be up-to-date? Your child may be healthy, and not likely to move from the district, but that's not always true for many kids.

As a former educator, (and one who filled out reams of documents for special needs children), I feel your pain :hug:

[LibDemAlways]

20. How about the cost of all those things....

My daughter's middle school yearbook cost $40.00. Mandatory assignment notebook $7.00, PE heart moniter strap $5.00, school picture and ID $22.00, and school directory $20.00. Not to mention the list of school supplies that came home earlier. Including backpack, that came to $110.00, and that was cheap because she has some supllies left over from last year. Also, the school insists that each student contribute two reams of paper as well as kleenex and paper towels for the classrooms and office.

During the year projects will be assigned that will set me back at least a hundred more - not including the cost of ink cartridges for the printer. And this is only middle school.

Way back when my parents bought me a notebook,lined paper, pen, pencil, and eraser; and somehow I managed to get an education. Amazing.

[RiffRandell]

21. Totally agree.

My son started kindergarten last week, and when I met the teacher I shelled out about $100.00 for yearbook/headphones/donations. The main reason for bitching, though, is how many families can't afford it. We live paycheck to paycheck and can, but when I came home I told my husband how hard it must be for people that can't.

[Road Scholar]

22. Hi Shine. My wife is a retired school administrator and she said

the administrative staff would meet each year and see just how complicated they could make it for the parents and take bets on how many they could piss off. Just Kidding. We raised two also and I couldn't understand with computers and everything they (staff) could at least speak to each other. LOL:hi: :shrug: :banghead: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[sendero]

24. It's the same ..

... here in Dallas. Fill out forms with the same information over and over and over.

School districts are just so underfunded nowadays they can't even think about doing the IT stuff they should be doing. If they need to make an emergency call, would you rather they dig through endless files for the right piece of paper or just type a name into a browser and get the number instantly.

It's gonna be the former for the foreseeable future.

[skygazer]

25. Hi, Shine - I remember those days

And on top of all the tedious and redundant forms you have to fill out, it seems like every time you turn around, they're asking for money. School photos, field trips, supplies, etc. Probably worse now because it seems schools are even more underfunded ("more underfunded" - there's something wrong with that phrase) than they were when my kids were in 'em.

Nice to see you - how ya been? :loveya: :hi:

[Road Scholar]

26. What really used to piss me off were the magazine sales.

They would get the kids all psyched up and get them all knocking on doors, for nearly nothing.

[tinfoil tiaras]

27. Our textbooks were freaking expensive...

All of mine this year were like $400. They claim it's because they're "college level" textbooks, but I really think that they don't think that $6-9000 a year from each student is enough money...:mad:

And we have the consolated fee which pays for the spirit T-shirt everyone gets at the beginning of the year and the yearbooks and whatnot.