Working with the School Principal to Resolve a Conflict

What do you do when you have a conflict with your child's principal? The principal is supposed to know your child and how your child is performing, but you are the parent. It is time to learn a few tips on how to work the educational system.

Tip #1

Remember you are the parent

You know the child best. You are the child's voice. You need to stand up for them. The child is only a kid. The principal must understand that you are the one who is responsible for the education of your child.

Tip #2

Go in with a plan on what you want to talk about

You need to plan out ahead of time what you want to talk about. Do not just go in with a random jumble of thoughts. Remember that the principal is responsible for the smooth running of the school and there are hundreds of other parents with similar problems as your own. Therefore, you must make a list of things you want to talk about and make suggestions on how to solve them. The principal might have other suggestions.to help you solve the problem.

Tip #3

Remain calm

One sure fire way not to make any changes is to get upset while you are working through the conflict. Do not yell. Do not even raise your voice. You need to ensure you walk the principal through your issue and how you want to resolve it.

Tip #4

There is always a way

If the principal refuses to take your reasonable request into account, you may need to escalate to the school board or the superintendent of the school district. There is always a way to get your conflict resolved to your satisfaction.

Tip #5

It is the principal's job to work with you to find a solution. If the principal does not take any of your suggestions, make sure you ask the principal for a solution.

Let me give you an example. When my daughter was a senior in high school she had a teacher that would never give her more than a D on an graded english paper no matter how hard she worked. Unbeknownst to me, she had my son who was a senior majoring in philosophy at the University of Minnesota write one of her papers. That one came back with a D as well. Then both of them came to me.

Something fishy was going on so I took the paper to the principal without a grade as well as the written assignment description. I asked him to read and grade the paper right then. He hemmed and hawed a little bit, but I persisted because I knew what I wanted out of the meeting. Once he read it and graded it he said he thought it deserved an A minus. When I presented the paper with the D on top, he immediately paged the teacher in question and had her come down to the office with me to explain the paper. It turns out that the teacher gave my daughter a D because that is what she had scored on the first paper she had ever turned in. The teacher was only grading the first paper from every student!

So remember, the principal is there to help you resolve problems. When you meet with the principal, you need to remember you are the parent, to come in with a plan, remain calm, and that there is always a solution to your conflict.