A running incident

Got a phone call today at work today - around 3:45 - from the school principal. We have call display at work, and it was a number I didn't recognize, and it was a local call. It is very rare that a local call is not one I know.

Anyway, it was the principal calling me from her cell phone. S had exchanged words with another student from his van - there are only two others in the van - and had 'run' from the school. She told me that Mrs. M went to try and talk to him, and she had called from her cell phone so that she could take the phone outside and allow me to talk to him, and maybe calm him. (SERT had left school early today due to an appointment.)

While, by the time she had called me, and brought me up to speed with the situation, Mrs. M had returned to the office and said all was fine - he was back on the bus and on his way home. I was assured by the principal that she would address what the other student "must have said to upset S" in the morning. She was so concerned and caring. (yes, that is major sarcasm there.)

At first I thought it odd that she had sent another teacher to deal with the situation, rather than attend to it herself, but after a bit of thinking on it, I think she has come to realize that neither S nor I beleive she is a caring and concerned person, and has realized it is best to send someone that we actually have a bit of respect for. The A-man had Mrs. M in Grade 3, and she is a lovely woman.

When I got home from work, I didn't indicate to S that I knew anything about the after-school incident - I wanted to see if he would share with me without any prompting. Well, share he did! Right from the moment I arrived home. Apparently he thinks he should be taking the regular bus again, because this other boy (B) is a big "pain in the butt, and always getting in his face." B is known to be a behaviourally-challenged child - which is why he has a full time EA and specialized bussing. Somewhat like S.

Since all three children that ride in the mini-van have EA's, there actually was one AT the van when everything occurred. (It just so happens that this fine young lady is the daughter of S's Godparents - I have known this EA since she was a baby.) So, S's story went that B was getting 'in his face' and bugging him, so he decided that he couldn't take it anymore, and he would simply walk to his Gramma's rather than deal with B's nonsense for the ride. He thought this would be a better option than the action he wanted to take, which would have involved a bit of bodily harm to B's genitalia... (sigh)

Truly, getting out of the van was a better option...it's just that, the thing is, when you are a flight risk, and you suddenly start walking away, all of the policies and procedures that have been established to ensure your safety have to be followed. And, when you lack the social skills to simply explain that you need to take a break from someone, you tend to act a smidge irrationally. I understand where S is coming from, but I also know why the staff members had to react the way they did, too. Rock....hard place....hmmmm.....

The EA that was on hand, dealt with the situation by simply following S and talking to him. When angry there are very few people that could do this successfully - she is one of them, simply because he has known her since he was born. She was able to nip it off quite quickly - at least from what I gather from S. By the time Mrs. M had arrived on the scene, S was calmed and ready to get back in the van. This was probably an incident that I did not need to be made aware of until after the fact, and had the SERT been at school, I am sure I wouldn't have been made aware of it. It seems to me that this principal always wants to either phone the police or call in the parents whenever something happens that she isn't comfortable dealing with. "Let someone else deal..."

I'm just shaking my head....