BS: My son is expelled from school forever

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Donuel
Date: 09 Oct 05 - 08:35 AM

Dean bounced back with our outing to see Wallace and Grommit and the Curse of the Were Rabbit.

For the principal to work so hard to establish injustice and cruelty toward one child, makes a mockery of the Montgomery County school mission statements regarding the concern and care for each individual child.

Now that she has mis stated the facts to supervisors and underlings repeatedly, I have no confidence in her ability to rationaly access her own behavior or Dean's welfare.

People who aspire to authoratative jobs are often ego driven and choose their battles wisely to display their victory with pride.

I do not wish to advance her personal career at the expense of silently submiting to her mis statements about my child and our supposed non compliance to the law.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: jacqui.c
Date: 08 Oct 05 - 11:22 PM

These people obviously have no idea or interest in the harm that they might be doing to a small child.

Do you really want your son to go to a school with such a lack of feeling for their pupils.

I'm sure that Dean would be an asset to any decent school - why not try somewhere that has some idea of the worth of such a child, not the art of covering their own backs.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Irish sergeant
Date: 08 Oct 05 - 10:02 PM

Call a lawyer and the news papers etc. O.K. that's my sereious speil. The flip side is that you might have a strong case in court if you can stand being with lawyers that long. Neil

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: M.Ted
Date: 08 Oct 05 - 02:11 AM

Sorry about this, Don--and very upset, as well. The fact that one administrator told you to come in when the other didn't want you there shows that the school is severely disfunctional--about this point, I'd be thinking about the possibility of going to another school--

I think I'd call a lawyer that has worked with this kind of stuff before, to figure out what your options are--I am a bit concerned about how all this hysteria is going to affect Dean--

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Donuel
Date: 07 Oct 05 - 01:29 PM

Dean attended school today with the permission of the assistent principal.
When the head principal found out about this she called me regarding her shock and dismay for endangering the students of her school.

Dean was quarantined in the health office.

When I arrived they had their beefiest teacher stand 18 inches away from me with her back turned while it took 10 minutes to gather Dean's belongings. (this was the same teacher that yelled my name out loud to hurry up and get out of the bathroom while I was giving Dean a change)

In the office the principal was 10 feet away on the phone but did not speak to me.
She was on the phone discussing Dean's exact 3 vaccinations in question.
As she spoke she never mentioned that his first 4 months of records were being reconstructed but rather that Dean never received those 3 vaccinations.

So far we have accounted for all but one shot and should have that in the mail or fax shortly.

It is still the decision of the principal that we as Dean's parents have been non compliant and that he remains the only child on the 'no progress' catagory while all the children without their shots remain in the 'in progress' catagory.

This is even after our doctor's office called her and told her of Dean's appointment to get another HepB shot even though it is not due for another 2 years.

I wonder why she is doing this?

My wife says after she made a federal case of this, she now following precise lawyer instructions even if it involves lieing and doing everything except the right thing.

Her latest twist is that Dean is the only child without complete documentation and that it is a greater risk than students who actually do not have all thier shots.

Dean has been very quiet.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: M.Ted
Date: 07 Oct 05 - 01:15 PM

LadyJean,

You must not ever resolve anything, if you believe that the last person you should talk to is the person who you have a problem with. That's the first person that you talk to--then you move up the ladder--as it happens, it is also the official MCPS policy on conflict resolution that first, that you try to resolve it at the lower levels first--so if Don goes to the top first, they'll just send him back down --

The other thing is, teachers and other school staff really appreciate it when you try to work things out with them, rather than trying to get intervention from above--his son is just starting out at the school, and will have to deal with these same people, every day, for the next five or six years--and teachers talk, a lot!!!!

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: CarolC
Date: 07 Oct 05 - 11:50 AM

Interesting idea, Jeri. Things must be very boring lately wherever he/she lives.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Jeri
Date: 07 Oct 05 - 07:40 AM

Carol, it appears to me that GUEST,H is attempting to argue with you by agreeing with you. Pretty tricky.

Donuel, good luck to you and may the principle decide to help instead of block the way

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: CarolC
Date: 07 Oct 05 - 12:01 AM

BTW, the only reason the under two months of age factoid is even a part of this discussion is because Donuel has said that all records of his son's immunizations prior to the age of two months have disappeared. Donuel never brought up the under two month age thing in reference to anything the school said it requires.

What he was saying is that he doesn't have records for some of the immunizations that are required by the school system for a child his son's age. From the perspective of the Montgomery County school system, Donuel's son has not received the full series of immunizations required for a five year old child, and they will not accept Donuel's claim that his son has received the full series until he provides documentation of this.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: LadyJean
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 11:49 PM

The school health technician is a large part of the problem. I've dealt with people like her. The SCA is full of them. They use rules as a weapon, not a tool. You can't reason with them. The last thing you should do is sit down and try to talk to someone like that. They don't want to hear your side. They want you to do what they say. They need validation and they find it by making people do what they tell them to and punishing people who don't obey them. As I said, talk to other parents. Chances are she's played the same game with other people's kids.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: CarolC
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 11:42 PM

...which, by the way, some of us have decided to do without the need to make fun of someone for asking for help with a perfectly legitimate concern.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: CarolC
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 11:39 PM

"requirements from the school system with regard to immunizations in the first 2 months of life"

What this means, Guest,H, is that it isn't required that Donuel's son should have received any immunizations during the first 2 months of life. But it doesn't mean that if his son did receive, prior to the age of 2 months some of the immunizations that are required by the age of 5, that he would be exempt from having to provide documentation of those immunizations.

Donuel's son did receive some of the immunizations that are required by the age of 5 before he was 2 months old, so Donuel must provide proof of those immunizations.

The requirement isn't before age 2 months... the requirement is by the age of 5 years (for the immunizations in question). But since Donuel's son received some of those immunizations before he was 2 months old, and the records for those immunizations have gone missing, Donuel started this thread to find out what other people might have to say about how he might be able to solve his problem.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Pauline L
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 09:52 PM

Donuel, what happened is simply awful. I agree with the people on this thread who said to try to get records from your health insurance companyman. Also, I strongly recommend contacting the office of your Congress. I live in Montgomery County, as you do, although I don't think I know you. About two yrars ago, I contacted our Rep's office about some screw up in the federal govt bureaucracy that was terrible in its effects on me, and I got the matter resolved FAST. The people in HR at the federal agency I used to work for called me after the matter was cleared up and told me a bunch of lies. They also blocked me from talking to anyone else in their HR office. They wanted me to send them something in writing saying that they did everything they were supposed to and that I was completely satisfied. Ha!

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: M.Ted
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 09:39 PM

Good luck. I suggest that you listen carefully, and, as I said, record everything--it is amazing how much detail you miss--And a tape makes it much easier for the attorney to get a handle on what is going on-and for the judge to get a handle on it after that. A tape also nips all of that "I never said that" stuff in the bud, since "I never said that" really means "It's your word against mine."

This is a simple problem to resolve--and it never should have gotten to this point--so I am wondering why the principal, who ultimately has control of what is going on, let it go so far--

Anyway, best of luck.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Mr Happy
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 09:09 PM

'her decision has been supported by the principle'



So it's a matter of pincipal?

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 08:04 PM

Ted, I can't argue with that.
I am as much a political cartoonist as the principal is a principal even on Sundays.
I don't think the principal knows what I do. I am hoping she is not the primary dispenser of psychological abuse.

If things go south tommorrow I feel comfortable turning it all over to our lawyer.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: M.Ted
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 01:14 PM

Donuel is correct about the requirements--having been through them, and under the same pressures as D, I can say that he is on point--

When reading and interpreting Donuel's posts, remember that he is a cartoonist, and tends to emphasize by means of caricature--

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: GUEST,H
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 01:04 PM

PRECISELY!

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 12:56 PM

There are 2 DPT shots and 2 polio shots that were done in infancy and are required as part of the required series. They could just as easily been done at age 1,,, but why wait.

I have the vaccination sheet that Montgomery Co Schools follow.

The whole issue of whether shots begin at infancy or age 1 is a red herring. It is the series that counts.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: GUEST,H
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 12:50 PM

By the way, whatever response appears fom now on, I am finished.
G can comment further if he so desires. But, if he does, I will have some doubts about him.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: GUEST,H
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 12:46 PM

Jeffp, another clue as to the authenticity of this thread or Donuel needs serious help.

CarolC, I don't have to call anyone. #1. We all know no enrollment is available without the required immunizations. Secondly, go to their website and you will see that there are no "requirements from the school system with regard to immunizations in the first 2 months of life" It is on the official form. As 'G' said, "zip, notta, zilch" or whatever.
What is so difficult about this?

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: jeffp
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 12:04 PM

The vaccination requirements for children 6-9 years of age are exactly the same as those for 5-year-olds. In fact, there are no additional vaccination requirements after the age of 5.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: CarolC
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 12:02 PM

I think Jeri is correct, Guest,H. Go back and read the pdf yourself. Better yet, why don't you call the Montgomery County Board of Ed and ask them if you can enroll your child in one of their schools with fewer than the required number of inoculations?

I know a little bit about the Montgomery County schools, having attended them myself from the ages of 9 and a half to 17, and also having raised a child who attended Montgomery County schools from the ages of 10 to 18. I don't find it at all difficult to believe what Donuels says about his son's experiences there.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Jeri
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 11:42 AM

But Alphabet, what if one shot in the required series was received in the first 2 months? The SERIES is required.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: GUEST,H
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 11:22 AM

CarolC, it is very apparent to me that GuestG is correct.
Go back and check the Maryland school requirements for immunizations in the first two months of life. Like he said, zip, notta, zero.

Read carefully, "School requirements for immunizations in the first two months of life".

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Donuel
Date: 06 Oct 05 - 10:45 AM

The comparison to the Simpsons is both correct and amusing.
I admit I took artistic license when I said I whispered the word "religion". It was something I would have liked to say but at the time I did think better of it.

I expect the principal to call off the dogs today.

If not we are armed with the truth, video and a very cute plaintiff.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: CarolC
Date: 05 Oct 05 - 10:25 PM

The megalopolis that Montgomery County is a part of stretches all the way from Boston, Massachusettes to northern Virginia.

( ...notice how neither M.Ted or I disagreed with the Simpsons comparison, though, just the size of the city?)

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 05 Oct 05 - 10:03 PM

A metropolis is just a small country town grown large, with actually many of them coexisting with each other on the same patch of ground.

I know - I live in Brisbane - which only officially stopped being a large country town due to Expo 1988.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: CarolC
Date: 05 Oct 05 - 09:39 PM

Oops... crossposted, M.Ted.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: CarolC
Date: 05 Oct 05 - 09:38 PM

McGrath, Donuel lives in one of the world's major megalopolises.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: M.Ted
Date: 05 Oct 05 - 09:21 PM

Kevin--Montgomery County is hardly small town America--it is an affluent area adjacent to Washington DC with a population that is actually greater than either Washington or Baltimore-it has the17th largest school system in the US--

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 05 Oct 05 - 09:19 PM

Requiring to child to have shots in advance of those required for his age does have me scratching my head...

McGrath, you may be right...

QUOTE
One thing more, which I hope you won't take the wrong way, but don't talk about "religion", or the fact that the nurse is Asian-American, or about any dubious motives that you think she might have, and don't play any other head games.

None of that stuff will help you. If you bring it up, it will just make things worse. And the one who will suffer is your kid.
UNQUOTE

I'd tend to agree with that from personal experience.

Robin

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: M.Ted
Date: 05 Oct 05 - 08:56 PM

Donuel,

If you feel the nurse is being unreasonable, the first person you should talk to is the nurse. If you feel that she is in error as to what is appropriate, you need to talk to her about it. Part of this is so imply a matter of form--"the right thing to do"--but the other part of it is that it gives you the only real opportunity you will have to hear her arguments against you-- take a little recorder--make sure you put it on the table so she can see it.

Before you talk to the nurse, though, you need to get the MCPS policy on expulsions and suspensions, and determine what their formal appeal procedure is. You need to do this so that when you talk to the nurse, you are aware of what your options are. The more you know, the more power you have.

After you talk to the nurse, you should talk to the principal again, and ask why your son hasn't been admitted, and ask when, and under what circumstances, he will be admitted.

The schools have a legal obligation to provide a free education, and they have to have a very good arguement if they decide not to accept your son(in which case, they generally have to pay for a private one). As a general principle, this would be either because he was a threat to public safety, or a threat to public health. They can't apply a different standard to him than they use for other kids--The principal knows this, and ought to have a nice, clear explanation that makes perfect sense, and satisfies you--

If he doesn't , it's probably time to go forward with the formal complaint process--at the same time, it wouldn't hurt to start telling your story to a few attorneys, because you may need at least one.


One thing more, which I hope you won't take the wrong way, but don't talk about "religion", or the fact that the nurse is Asian-American, or about any dubious motives that you think she might have, and don't play any other head games.

None of that stuff will help you. If you bring it up, it will just make things worse. And the one who will suffer is your kid.

This stuff is just a suggestion, not legal advice, I am not a lawyer. I am a neighbor, though,and a parent with a kid in MCPS--Weast and company are tough customers, and you've got to stand tall and shoot straight if you want to win--

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 05 Oct 05 - 07:49 PM

I really hadn't realised till reading this thread that The Simpsons is actually an accurate portrayal of small town America.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Donuel
Date: 05 Oct 05 - 06:01 PM

Ted I would agree with you but in our case, it is the nurse.
Well, she is not really a nurse, she is a health technician.

This morning I requested a written explaination for Dean's expulsion.

The principal called me today and revealed that Dean is in fact the only child expelled regarding vaccination records. She went on to reveal that there are many children (more than a few dozen) who do not even have all of thier shots and they are not expelled. Again - Dean is completely up to date.

What makes Dean special is that the nurse placed him in the "no progress" catagory while all the children who do not have their shots were placed in the "in progress" catagory and still allowed to attend school.

That makes Dean, again - who has all his shots the ony one expelled.

The reason most likly is that the nurse was over ruled by the principal regarding Dean's brothers use of the health room bathroom, and that I critisized her in front of her supervisor for calling me into the school to pull up Dean's underewear, which she was supposedly not allowed to do. Those 2 incidents are the only interaction I had with the overly literal and high strung Asian American school health technician.


The principal is calling in the nurse supervisor to see if the additional charges that the health technician are medically valid.

What the health technician has done now is to require that Dean get ALL the shots required between the age of 5 through 7 to be done before he is allowed back in public school. That could mean giving him some shots a couple years before they are due since he only just turned 5.

I will seek the doctor's advice regarding giving Dean innoculations that are not yet due.

I told the principal the 3 reasons for any dispute can fall into 3 catagories: Economic and personal which is probably the reason due to the 2 interactions we had with the "nurse".

The principal asked in an up beat way what the 3rd reason of dispute was. I said it is the most dangerous reason of all and should not even be mentioned out loud...(I whispered) "religion".

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: M.Ted
Date: 05 Oct 05 - 02:01 PM

Anyone who thinks that Donuel's son was the victim of an overzealous school nurse hasn't been reading the papers for the last couple of years. The business about not accepting kids in school until they provide proof of complete vaccinations is a fairly new initiative, and is being agressively pursued by a lot of school systems because it has been discovered that large numbers of kids never received the required vaccinations, an there had been outbreaks of the diseases in school populations.

When I lived in Philadelphia, there was an outbreak of Rubella among school kids who were not vaccinated for religious reasons--a number of children died, and the school was closed for a period of time.   

Do you really think that school administrators will respond to blustering and threats of petty legal action(legal action which they are perfectly able to handle) when they are afraid that children will die? Wake up and smell the coffee--

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 11:04 PM

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: GUEST,G - PM
Date: 03 Oct 05 - 02:45 PM

...No one here has yet to catch on that there is zip, notta, zero school requirements for Immunization records for the first 2 months of life.

This is incorrect. Jeri did a good job of explaining how it works in her 03 Oct 05 - 04:02 PM post. Maybe you missed it. Maybe you didn't understand it. Or maybe you understood it, but you're still trying to make it look like Donuel was not sincere in his initial post for some other weird reasons of your own.

Here's part of Jeri's post...

The chart gives the shots required for pre-school and kindergarten. I don't think there are many pre-schools accepting kids under 2 months old.

Anyway, what the charts AREN'T is a list of what shots are required when. The kindergarten kids need, for example, the complete series of 3 hepatits B shots. If Dean received the first shot before he was 2 months old, the series will appear incomplete.

What this means is that if Donuel's son was under two months old right now, and Donuel wanted to put him in a day care facility, he would be able to do so without providing any proof of innoculations until his son is two months old.

But since Donuel's son is not under two months old right now, he is in fact five years old, he is required to have the full series of shots according to the innoculation schedule for a child his age. If some of those shots were administered to Donuel's son when he was younger than two months old, those shots still need to be documented and the documentation must still be shown to the school authorities in order for the son to be allowed to attend public school.

Donuel has stated that two of the scheduled innoculations were administered when the son was under two months old. Donuel must present proof of this in order for his son to attend public school.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: GUEST,G
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 10:15 PM

CarolC, at 11:42 AM today - I have not a clue as to what you are speaking of nor do I think it is my fault that I do not.
And, pray tell what "you have already been proven wrong about at least one thing in this thread" means, both grammtically and factually.
I myself am not here for the purpose of proving anyone "wrong". If I should see an error in statement, I shall bring it to the attention of that person as I would expect anyone to do the same with me.

I am in need of an extended sabbtical due both to my strenous schedule of work as well as the effort required on the Mud Vein.

Again, please show me the error of my ways with regard to this thread as I would find it astonishing that any right/wrong differential could be established in this particular thread as it has been based on ambiguity.
I will leave in the wee hours of Wednesday CDST and will return around the 22nd of this month. I will, with great anticipation, look forward to your response. It is unfortunate (not really) that my destination has no provision for the world of the Internet.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Sorcha
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 03:20 PM

And Don, yes there is a vaccine for TB.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 02:54 PM

Talk about a W.O.M.B.A.T.

I can see that's an acronym for "Clinton Hammond, Sword For Hire". What a T.I.T.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Janie
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 01:09 PM

Don--Glad your insurance co. had records.

However--it gave me the willies to hear that the school did not want you observing in the classroom. It is your kid, and your tax dollars, and it seems to me that any school should welcome as much parental involvement as they can get. The public elementary school attended by my son embraced parents--in fact, especially in K thru 2nd grade, there was nearly always at least one parent volunteer working in each classroom--tutoring, reading to kids, etc. My husband is a stay-at-home dad, and they were particularly delighted to have a male parent there. Through 4th grade, parents were truly viewed as partners. Then a new principal/beaurocrat came. Not interested in education, but in administration/control/turf. His last year of elementary school was pretty unjoyful.

Now, the middle schools in our area sound much more similar to what you have experienced with your son's elementary school. Thanks to the largesse of a family member, our son started middle school at Carolina Friends School this fall. So far, he and we are thrilled with it, in the FWIW department (I saw Carol's links to Friends schools in your area so thought I would mention it.)

Janie

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: open mike
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 11:44 AM

i think there may be an exemption for religions reasons..
but if 99 kids have shots and one doesn't. the one may
catch someting, but then the 09ther 99 are protected....


find your cancelled cahck....check....if insurance did not
pay maybe you did.
the local health dept, may have records...
i think here they have to keep track of shots

and they usually give them in their cloinic.
and give you a card that tehy stamp at the time//
perhaps you had a card??/

good luck.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: CarolC
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 11:42 AM

Not really, Guest,G. I've experienced much stranger things at the hands of my local school officials. You've already been proven wrong about at least one thing in this thread.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 11:08 AM

1 year is harsh.
We have heard about kids expelled for biting a graham craker in the shape of a hand gun or pointing a finger and saying bang.

zero tolerence is similar to mandatory sentencing. It removes any common sense and human judgement from society.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: jaze
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 10:56 AM

Just to clarify, I'm in no way excusing what my son did. It was beyond stupid and could have been very dangerous. This he has been made to realize. However, I think expulsion for the remainder of that year -6 months would have sufficed. Keeping him out the first half of the 2nd year caused him to want to give up and not go back.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Donuel
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 09:43 AM

Like the UK, 3/4 of the new TB cases in CA are from immigrants.
..........

If schools are not required to have those first 2 vaccine records, then the unilateral action made by the nurse and backed by the principal is one of ignorance or possibly petty revenge for my challenge of the school policy of no classroom visits for parents.

...........

I remember being shocked that the hospital was anxious to give our infant vaccines for sexually transmitted diseases and Hep C.
I suspect that Pharmaceutical lobbies are making decisions for us that are not in our health's best interests but rather for thier profit.

Organizing records is indeed important and probably my Achilles heel.

ladyjean,
I have yet to organize:
our marriage certificates (our birth certificates
Photocopies of all our financial account numbers & Customer service #s
Photocopies of all our other IDs
Life insurance & medical insurance
Investment records & banking info
Car registration & insurance
and about 20 other things

I assume my wife does this and she probably keeps thinking we'll get around to it.

...........

Meeting me in person is no picnic: I interrupt nervously, get flustered and can't concentrate effectively to recall people's names.
Making pictures, sculpture, inventions and writing are the few times I can focus my attention with satisfaction.
Unless an interaction is scripted (such as work) I tend to be a silly flibertygibit. My attempts at live humor is a dead pan sarcasm which if gotten at all is usually taken as some kind wise ass comment. All in all Larry David's character has more social grace than me.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: jeffp
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 09:24 AM

Another idea I saw was to scan all of your important papers, burn it onto a CD, and keep the CD in your "go bag" (the emergency kit you will definitely take with you in an emergency evacuation, fire, whatever). Easily portable and easy to stash multiple copies for backup.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Bunnahabhain
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 09:05 AM

I rather prefer the idea of a fire-resistant strong box, than the red file.

A file like that has rather a 'steal me' air about it, especially if lots of them are about. I don't know if that's just me being paranoid, but...

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: GUEST,G
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 08:56 AM

I also was 'expelled' from a girls school one night.
Strollin - Lets' just consider it one of those American made mysteries that will never be solve which will ultimately be to everyone's adavantage. Humor is to the beholder.

Subject: RE: BS: My son is expelled from school forever
From: Strollin' Johnny
Date: 04 Oct 05 - 08:14 AM

Please tell me it's all a Strange-American-Humour joke. :-)