School Warns Parents Dead Daughter Can't Go To Prom

[JerryNumbers]

School Warns Parents Dead Daughter Can't Go to Prom

:15huh:

[John81]

I couldn't get anything at the link but it sure sounds strange.

There was a big fuss here a few years ago when a 15 year old girl wanted to bring her 20-something year old boyfriend to prom even though the schools rules for proms specifically forbids anyone over 20 attending. I think the guy was 22, so a 7 year difference here, and this girls family tried to raise a fit with the school board but the board refused to back down and said they would stand by the rules.

There was an attempt to form a boycott of the prom and start an alternate prom but nothing ever came of it.

Why is that so many think they would be able to force their out of bound ways upon everyone else?

[JerryNumbers]

The link worked for me just now, & it seems to have worked for HappyChristian.

So I will try & give some helpful hints for when a link does not work.

Sometimes when clicking on a link in a post on a forum, things just do not work properly for what ever reason, I have notice that when this happen, sometimes I can click on it a 2nd time, & it will work just fine.

Another thing one can do, is right click on the link, them left click on 'copy link address,' Them paste it into your browser, them click on enter on your key board.

Or, copy & paste the title of the article in to the address bar & do a search, usually they fill find the article.

That is what I do when a link fails to open up, & usually them I will post the link in a reply, for many times the link refuses to work for no fault of the one that posted it.

I saying all of this only to try & be helpful.

I refuse to copy & paste complete articles, for that does violate copyright laws from my understanding, & I as a Christian should try in ever manner possible not to violate such a law. I know it makes it easier for everyone, but easier is not always the right way.

Most articles I post usually has something like this written on the page somewhere.

This is copyrighted, & is not to be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

And that clearly states its against the law for me to copy & paste this article in any manner. And I fail to understand why so many Christians ignore this doing exactly what it states you are not to do.

And yes, I know few people pay any attention to such a thing & most people post complete articles all the time, but I refuse to follow the crowd & do as they do.

[John81]

John, the parents in this article aren't trying to force anything on anyone....here's the body of the article:

Thank you. My comment regarding those trying to force stuff was in regards to what I posted and others like that. Not being able to read the news story, I couldn't comment upon that. Now that you have helped me in that regard, all I can say is that it's a sad situation but we all make mistakes and to make a big deal of this only seems to make it worse.

[HappyChristian]

Well, since I'm the one that posted part of the article, I'm sure your rebuke was aimed at me, Jerry. FWIW, I didn't know that they had posted the copyright warning. I don't usually search the page of a news broadcast to see if it's copyrighted (because it's news...). I did go to Fox and read the whole page; found what you were referring to at the very bottom - most people don't scroll to the bottom of the page. So, perhaps that's why "so many Christians" ignore things like that. They don't see it. I realize that ignorance of something is inexcusable, but there it is. Thank you for letting us know that Fox has that notice on their page. I deleted my mistake.

John - it is a sad mistake. I think the saddest thing to me is that the school had never bothered to check to see why she hadn't been in attendance. I would think that, since she was a student there, they would have seen the news about it!

[John81]

John - it is a sad mistake. I think the saddest thing to me is that the school had never bothered to check to see why she hadn't been in attendance. I would think that, since she was a student there, they would have seen the news about it!

Agreed. It bothered me to think this girl had been dead, and of course not in school, for so long and yet the people at the school didn't seem to know she had died and had never bothered trying to contact her or her parents in all that time.

[Salyan]

Agreed. It bothered me to think this girl had been dead, and of course not in school, for so long and yet the people at the school didn't seem to know she had died and had never bothered trying to contact her or her parents in all that time.

I'm sure the school knew she had died! If you read through the links, it becomes apparent that they did. The problem was with the software system which probably didn't have built-in controls for marking a student deceased. An auto-generated report compared current attendance reports with the roll from back in September (which she would still be on - for funding purposes, once a student is enrolled they are enrolled for the year, even if they move, change schools or die. At least that's how it works here.). The auto-report printed letters which would probably have been folded and sent out by a receptionist - that's where someone should have caught it. However, if the poor receptionist was folding & mailing letters for all the kids in the school, I don't wonder she didn't notice! That's a lot of letters! (Speaking as a one-time homeschool board receptionist myself. ) And who knows - maybe the school was so big or the staffer so new she didn't even recognize the name or know the student had died.

It's a terrible thing for the parents to have happen to them, but let's not cast blame where none is due.

[John81]

I'm sure the school knew she had died! If you read through the links, it becomes apparent that they did. The problem was with the software system which probably didn't have built-in controls for marking a student deceased. An auto-generated report compared current attendance reports with the roll from back in September (which she would still be on - for funding purposes, once a student is enrolled they are enrolled for the year, even if they move, change schools or die. At least that's how it works here.). The auto-report printed letters which would probably have been folded and sent out by a receptionist - that's where someone should have caught it. However, if the poor receptionist was folding & mailing letters for all the kids in the school, I don't wonder she didn't notice! That's a lot of letters! (Speaking as a one-time homeschool board receptionist myself. ) And who knows - maybe the school was so big or the staffer so new she didn't even recognize the name or know the student had died.

It's a terrible thing for the parents to have happen to them, but let's not cast blame where none is due.

If that is the case, someone should have updated the system so such automated letters would never be generated. That said, accidents and mistakes do happen in this world. Hopefully, if it was system issue, they will now address it so such can't occur again.

I spent several years working in a university admissions office so I know how much paperwork is generated and how time consuming it can be to keep everything updated; yet such needs to be done. Over the years I spent countless hours updating our database and paper files along with my other duties. This was before automation.

One problem I've noticed in many offices since automation as become so widespread is the office workers tend to expect the automation to do everything so they rarely, if ever, think to update the system.

[JerryNumbers]

I'm sure the school knew she had died! If you read through the links, it becomes apparent that they did. The problem was with the software system which probably didn't have built-in controls for marking a student deceased. An auto-generated report compared current attendance reports with the roll from back in September (which she would still be on - for funding purposes, once a student is enrolled they are enrolled for the year, even if they move, change schools or die. At least that's how it works here.). The auto-report printed letters which would probably have been folded and sent out by a receptionist - that's where someone should have caught it. However, if the poor receptionist was folding & mailing letters for all the kids in the school, I don't wonder she didn't notice! That's a lot of letters! (Speaking as a one-time homeschool board receptionist myself. ) And who knows - maybe the school was so big or the staffer so new she didn't even recognize the name or know the student had died.

It's a terrible thing for the parents to have happen to them, but let's not cast blame where none is due.

Perhaps, yet it depends, In a small school district probably everyone would be aware, in a larger school district it would be less likely, yet in either one the one sending out the letter could have easily not known.

[JerryNumbers]

Well, since I'm the one that posted part of the article, I'm sure your rebuke was aimed at me, Jerry. FWIW, I didn't know that they had posted the copyright warning. I don't usually search the page of a news broadcast to see if it's copyrighted (because it's news...). I did go to Fox and read the whole page; found what you were referring to at the very bottom - most people don't scroll to the bottom of the page. So, perhaps that's why "so many Christians" ignore things like that. They don't see it. I realize that ignorance of something is inexcusable, but there it is. Thank you for letting us know that Fox has that notice on their page. I deleted my mistake.

John - it is a sad mistake. I think the saddest thing to me is that the school had never bothered to check to see why she hadn't been in attendance. I would think that, since she was a student there, they would have seen the news about it!

You miss read my post, there was no rebuke in my post, & if you thought it was rebuke, I apologize to all for not making my point much clearer.

As stated in my post, I was trying to give helpful hints when a link in post, posted by anyone, & does not work, & I stated why I do not copy & paste the whole article, them went on to explain why I don't. I'm not trying to make the articles much harder for everyone to read, only trying to do what is right & posted what most of these copyrighted articles has written on the page somewhere, which is this, "“This is copyrighted, & is not to be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed,” or something similar.

[Oldtimer]

If that is the case, someone should have updated the system so such automated letters would never be generated. That said, accidents and mistakes do happen in this world. Hopefully, if it was system issue, they will now address it so such can't occur again.

I spent several years working in a university admissions office so I know how much paperwork is generated and how time consuming it can be to keep everything updated; yet such needs to be done. Over the years I spent countless hours updating our database and paper files along with my other duties. This was before automation.

One problem I've noticed in many offices since automation as become so widespread is the office workers tend to expect the automation to do everything so they rarely, if ever, think to update the system.

I, also, spent many years in data processing.

In database design, it's the exception situations that cause the most grief. While the attempt is made to incorporate handling of exception situations, it's almost impossible to identify all of them upfront in design. Often, it's only after an unfortunate situation, like the one in the OP, comes to light, can additional coding be done to prevent it in the future.

On another note, when sending mass mailings, often all free hands are called upon to stuff envelopes. People doing the stuffing are only interested in finishing the job on time. Thus, these free hands don't take the time to review what's on the individual pieces of paper. And, take it one step further, if the operation is large enough, machines do the stuffing envelopes, sealing, and apply postage. Thus, no one actually reviews the output for exceptions.

Finally, data entry errors and omissions can't be completely removed from the picture. That's despite controls and cross checks incorporated into database management programs. It's similar to combating computer virus. Regardless of how many guards are put on the accuracy of the data, there's always something else that can crop up to corrupt it. (Funny, Macfee, just gave me notice they've updated my virus protection, as I was typing this.)

I'm sorry the parents experienced this failure in the "system". It isn't any different from similar ones that happened to me when I closed the estates of my parents. When things like this happen, we have two choices. Recognize it as an error and move on, or capitalize on it for our own purposes (agenda). We see it over and over again, in our society that demands perfection on one hand while demanding acceptance (condoning) of imperfection on so many other levels. For example, defining marriage is on the ballot for NC's May primary vote.

[HappyChristian]

You miss read my post, there was no rebuke in my post, & if you thought it was rebuke, I apologize to all for not making my point much clearer.

As stated in my post, I was trying to give helpful hints when a link in post, posted by anyone, & does not work, & I stated why I do not copy & paste the whole article, them went on to explain why I don't. I'm not trying to make the articles much harder for everyone to read, only trying to do what is right & posted what most of these copyrighted articles has written on the page somewhere, which is this, "“This is copyrighted, & is not to be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed,” or something similar.

Oops - sorry for the misunderstanding! But thanks again for mentioning the copyright.