sent to the principal's office

Who?
Me???
Yep.

How crazy is this?
One of my students at Savannah Tech mistook something I said.
And you know what that person did?
You would think that person would have come to me and spoken to me about the situation.
After all, that is the chain of command.
It is also what an adult would do.

But, no.
That person sent an email of complaint to the Dean of the department.
At no time did that person approach me about the remark I made.
Not by email, not by phone, not in person.
No way, Jose.
That person chose instead to leapfrog over my head and over the head of my division, straight to the Dean.

That was on Friday.
The Dean contacted me about the situation.
He wanted to hear my side of the story.
I explained what I had said and how I had said it.
I explained, as well, how that person was well aware of my policy about missed labs, as that person had signed off on understanding the policy as written in the syllabus at the beginning of this term.
I explained to him that the email from that person didn't seem to be complaining about the "Zero" for the Lab.
No.
That person wanted me to be reprimanded for what I had said last Monday when I had reminded that person of the Lab policy.

So, here was the scenario.
Last Monday, the class had their first test of the semester.
That person had arrived early and was in the classroom as I entered.
Nothing unusual there.
Then that person waved me over. Handing in the papers which were due for Lab that day, that person informed me that the grandmother was in the hospital and dying and that person had come only to take the test for lecture, but would not be staying.
In a calm and concerned voice, I had said "Are you sure you can't stay for lab? You know you will receive a "zero" if you miss it."
(I know, you can't hear my tone through this flat medium. But, believe me, I spoke with concern in my voice.)
That person told me they needed to see the grandmother.
I told that person "I am sorry about your grandmother."

Then everyone took the lecture test.
All seemed to be well.
That person said nothing more to me as they left.
That person missed the Wednesday lecture, but I had expected as much. I have had plenty of experience with timelines and deaths and funerals. I expected I would not see that person until the Monday lecture.

Instead, I met with that person in the Dean's anteroom this morning.
We were both there for the 10:30 meeting with the Dean.
I had known that person would be there.
Clearly, my presence was a surprise to that person.
Perhaps that person had expected to be able to only tell their side in their complaint of what I had said?
That I do not know.

The Dean spoke to us together the entire time we were in his office.
He talked about school policy on excused absences.
(That person's absence did not fall into the categories listed.)
He talked about compassion toward the special situations which arise in the lives of both students and professors.
That person was allowed to tell of the hurried trip out of town, out of state, reaching the grandmother just hours before her death.
I responded that I had not been told the trip was to be out of town, much less out of state.
I knew that person had been sure to bring the due lab materials.
I knew that person had been sure to come for the lecture test.
I had wanted to make sure that person didn't want to delay their trip for just two more hours to keep from missing lab.
After all, the delay between their lab and the lecture was only fifteen minutes.
The Dean had known nothing of the timeline.
The Dean had known nothing of that person's being sure to bring their lab materials.
The Dean acknowledged that those facts certainly had bearing and that he understood and agreed with the question I had asked the student.
I explained how the "zero" would not have much impact on the student's grade, due to the many graded assignments the students receive in lab. I explained that I would be willing to calculate that person's grade both with and without the "zero" at the end of the semester and evaluate the situation.
I also informed the Dean and that person that I was willing to give that person the data needed for the Post-Lab Report and was willing to accept that PLR late. Because I was willing to make that concession, the grade for the missed lab would not be a "zero" after all, but a possible high of 60 (as that person had missed the actual performance of the experiment to gather the data).
Everyone seemed willing to accept that resolution as fair and amenable.

And after that person left the office, the Dean and I exchanged more thoughts on the matter.
The Dean encouraged me to keep a paper trail (my words, not his) of my dealings with that person.
The Dean also encouraged me to write a document explaining, in very clear terms, the attendance and grading policy about labs...and to have each student sign the document in acceptance.
No matter that they had done so when they signed acceptance of the syllabus.
Have them sign off on the new document, too, and file it.

Two decades of teaching, I have, and I have never had to do such a thing.
Two decades of teaching, I have, and I have never been called in to the Dean's office to explain something I had said.

That's okay.
I've seen the lay of the land now.
I'm aware of the litigious nature of the beasts that roam these halls.
They want everything spelled out and in triplicate?
They want a paper trail?
They'll most certainly have it.
I'll cover them up with paper, if that's what it will take.
They won't like it, but no one said they had to like it.
They just have to know exactly what my rules are...
and then they have to follow them, no complaints.

Sigh.
It's just more work on me.
But at least this work is for me.
CYA, y'all.
The military certainly taught me how to do that.
And in triplicate, too.
(amile)

I went straight from the Dean's office to my work space.
By the time lecture began, I had devised a new contract between the students and myself, explicitly spelling out the rules concerning absence from lab and grading. I strode into the classroom with the copies ready for them to sign.
Then I spent ten minutes of valuable class time reading the rules to them and collecting the signed documents.
D_o_n_e.