Dear Judy,
My son’s in second grade. His teacher has breast cancer which I gather has metastasized. So she’s often absent, and when she is in class, she looks like a ghost. I’ve been to a PTA meeting when she was there, so I know.
My son lost a grandfather (my father) in May, so he really is traumatized by all this. I’ve tried to talk to the principal to get her to maybe give this teacher permanent leave – so have a number of other parents – but after one conversation, which ended very badly, she won’t take my calls. Should I keep on calling, anyway, trying to reason with her?
I’m glad the school is sensitive to this teacher’s feelings, but what about the children she’s supposed to instruct? Don’t you think the school should care more about them than the teacher?
Julia in Denver
Dear Julia,
To start with your last question: don’t I think the school should worry more about the children than a very sick teacher?
No.
Should you keep on calling the principal who refuses to speak with you after you tried to get a sick woman fired?
No.
Here’s what you didn’t ask — which I will answer anyway. What should a mother tell a young boy whose teacher is very ill?
That we must be especially thoughtful and kind with that teacher because bad luck can strike anywhere, anyone, any time.
Keep that in mind next time the urge to kick a person when she’s down strikes you.
Thank you for writing
Judy
One thing Julia did not address was whether the teacher was doing a good job in trhe classroom. If she is, that is the the test for the parents and the principal. I had a wonderful teacher who had MS and taught very far along in her battle with the disease. In fact she was in a wheelchair. No one ever thought to ask her to take a leave of absence.
Kendall