What is the name of your state? Minnesota
My son's high school bans cell phones and electronic devices during school hours. My son is caught reading a text message on his $200 cell phone during class, and it's confiscated by the teacher. Rather than putting the phone in a secure place, the teacher instead places it on a podium in the classroom, where the entire class can see it. This particular class is a two hour class, that is split in the middle with lunch hour, and the cell phone is gone after the class returns from lunch. After I request that the school reimburse me for the phone, the assistant principal quotes a sentence from the school's student manual, that says, "The staff and administration are not responsible for lost or stolen items." I respond by quoting another sentence from the same paragraph, that states, "Electronic devices may be confiscated by staff members and turned in to the attendance office until a parent or guardian retrieves them for the student." Since the item was confiscated before being lost, and the teacher was the last person in possession of the phone, I requested that the school either return the cell phone to me, or provide reimbursement. The assistant principal said he would discuss the issue further with the principal and call me back, but he pretty much said that it's not likely that they'll reimburse me for the phone. Assuming that's the case, what should my next course of action be? Would a school buckle under if I indicated I was considering going to the investigative units of one of our 4 local television stations? What about small claims court?
My son's high school bans cell phones and electronic devices during school hours. My son is caught reading a text message on his $200 cell phone during class, and it's confiscated by the teacher. Rather than putting the phone in a secure place, the teacher instead places it on a podium in the classroom, where the entire class can see it. This particular class is a two hour class, that is split in the middle with lunch hour, and the cell phone is gone after the class returns from lunch. After I request that the school reimburse me for the phone, the assistant principal quotes a sentence from the school's student manual, that says, "The staff and administration are not responsible for lost or stolen items." I respond by quoting another sentence from the same paragraph, that states, "Electronic devices may be confiscated by staff members and turned in to the attendance office until a parent or guardian retrieves them for the student." Since the item was confiscated before being lost, and the teacher was the last person in possession of the phone, I requested that the school either return the cell phone to me, or provide reimbursement. The assistant principal said he would discuss the issue further with the principal and call me back, but he pretty much said that it's not likely that they'll reimburse me for the phone. Assuming that's the case, what should my next course of action be? Would a school buckle under if I indicated I was considering going to the investigative units of one of our 4 local television stations? What about small claims court?
