Schools responsibility (sorry long)

[casa]

What is the name of your state? California

My husband has sole physical and legal custody of his dd13. Her mother has supervised visits, however has never attended a visit in the 3 years the order has been in place. My husband gave the school copies of the court orders and occassionally when he knows dd's BM is going to be in town he calls the school and asks them to watch for BM to make sure she does not sneak to the school to see dd. (I said all this just to make it clear that the school is aware of the situation.)

Well it finally happened, BM went to the school last Tuesday, went right in to the office, and asked them to get dd out of class. THEY DID! They allowed DD and BM to visit out in front of the office for about 5 minutes, when they decided to check the the file and noticed that BM was not supposed to see her. They ran dd off back to class, and that was it! No one ever contacted my husband to let him know nor did they tell BM she could not come to campus to visit dd anymore. My husband called the school, and left a message for the principal, but he has not returned my husbands call.

Is the school legally obligated in any way to make sure only people who are approved pick up children, or pull them out of class? My husband is pissed and is not really sure what he should do since the school wont return his calls. Has anyone had experiance with this? If so how did you handle it. My friend suggested my husband talk with an attorney. I think it is sort of over-kill, but my husband does have valid concerns that BM might try and take dd one day. At home we keep her protected, and at school my husband expects them to do the same!What is the name of your state?

Dad can speak with the Principal in person (Wisest choice *IMO* As PTA & School Site Rep. in the past...going over his head before you speak with him won't win any 'cooperation' points) Sometimes it just takes a person to person meeting where Dad can explain how serious the situation is.

My opinion...and I realize no one is lining up for it

 

[stealth2]

Yes, I think Dad needs to have the order modified to make it clear that Mom is not to be contacting the child at school.

 

[LdiJ]

Dad can speak with the Principal in person (Wisest choice *IMO* As PTA & School Site Rep. in the past...going over his head before you speak with him won't win any 'cooperation' points) Sometimes it just takes a person to person meeting where Dad can explain how serious the situation is.

My opinion...and I realize no one is lining up for it

Normally I would agree that speaking with the principal first is the best thing to do. It appears however that the principal has been ducking his calls....I agree that a face to face meeting is a good idea and he shouldn't have to speak directly with the principal to make an appointment. As Stealth pointed out several days ago...its really something that he should have done immediately.

That being said.....a good principal doesn't duck a parent's calls....so I suspect that he is going to end up having to contact the superintendent anyway.

 

[LdiJ]

Yes, I think Dad needs to have the order modified to make it clear that Mom is not to be contacting the child at school.

The only possible downside to that is that sometimes that re-opens things. The judge may not remember the details of the case well...or may be having a bad day and mom could end up with unsupervised visitation again. I have seen stranger things happen.

The order is clear enough, in my opinion, that any reasonable school system should honor it. In fact, in my opinion it was clear that they realized their error...and aren't likely to do it again anyway.