too little, too late

another 8 days
this time too late
a phone call from the supposed
"advocate" of an advisor
for my little girl

thursday evening
over a week after
the horrible accusation
and scenario
we received a voicemail
from the woman
which said
these exact words

" Yes, Alyson and Jeff, this is Pam G, I haven't had a chance to speak with you, and I just wanted to call to let you know that I think that Lucy is a wonderful young lady. I also wanted to assure you that I will do my best this year in working with her, and, uh, I just wanted to reassure you of that. Thanks so much. Bye Bye."

and
shockingly enough
just that day
she at last spoke to Lucy
alone for the first time
in over a week

my husband and I
thought she was warned
we were going to the big boss man
the headmaster
on friday morning

Friday morning arrives
I am sick to my stomach
what if they don't think about my baby's feelings
what if they decide to keep her in this woman's class
I am practically in tears in the office
My husband explains the family situation
he explains what happened to our eldest
when she was in 9th grade
and had a bad relationship
with her advisor
the year ended horribly
and Karen had to leave the school
we couldn't take that chance again

The headmaster started to talk
and he scared me
he talked about the professionalism
of the team
how they all wanted to work it out
NO
I thought
don't do this
we handed him the letter the psychologist wrote
it was our last chance
for the school to see this
with our daughter's perspective
my husband and I
saw the headmaster's face change
at last
we thought
maybe they will take everything
into consideration

He read the letter
he thought about what we said
and he said he needed time to
think about it
and he would use the weekend
and get back to us on monday
whew
maybe there was a chance

I cried from relief
I cried from exhaustion
I couldn't believe
all that we had to go through
after the position our little girl
had be put in

That day
Karen and I
again spent 45 minutes
playing with the littlest
at school
so she did not have to endure
spanish class with that beast

when Karen and I went to Lucy's locker with her
I saw the middle school head down the hall
he didn't even have the decency to walk past me
I saw him duck into a classroom
apparently he discovered he had done us wrong

The day went on as normal
Karen and I enjoyed each other's company
Bethany came home from school
wanting to get ready for the
night's football game
Lucy stayed after for a carnival

at 6 pm
the headmaster called
I was scared
but I picked up the phone
he said he spoke with the team
and with the administration
and he thought the best answer
was to remove Little Lucy
from spanish class and
that woman's advisory
RELIEF
the ironic piece is that
the only advisory that had room for another child
was none other than
the original accuser of the cheating
neither my husband or I spoke
the headmaster said it was the best he could do
okay
I said
let's meet with him to explain the situation
then
it was over

Lucy was home from the carnival
we went in to tell her
and she was BEAMING
from ear or ear
poor baby
she had been struggling herself
with anxiety for 9 days
worried for her future
and she is only 12

the funny addendum to this
is that the headmaster said
the middle school head
was going to reach out to us
to repair this relationship
but
it has been a week now
and not a word has been said
or emailed
or called
in fact
another time this week
I saw him duck
into a classroom
it was the classroom
of the "advisor"
but
it still was lame