<p>I’m so annoyed. We just got a letter stating that my d’s report card is being held until we pay $65 for her math book which the teacher claims was not turned in. The problem is, she changed math class and teacher half-way through the year and turned in the book way back in Feb or March. Now he says he didn’t get it ( she handed it directly to him). He was a very disorganized teacher ( only one of his many “wonderful” traits), so it does not surprise me that he may have not logged the book in at the time. I am not sure how we prove to the admin people now that she did turn it in…it seems pretty messed up that he can come back months later and claim he did not get it. If it was $20 I might just suck it up but it’s just so wrong.</p>
<p>I would talk to an administrator and explain it like you have here. Mention that the fact that your D changed classes/teacher part way through the year makes it very likely that at that time, the teacher was not logging in book returns and so it was not recorded, as contrasted to the end of the year procedures. Mention that your D distinctly recalls handing it into the teacher directly. Say that without any official receipt, you can’t prove it but that it is the truth. This story is very believable given the circumstances. If you wish, you can allude to the teacher not being too organized. See what you can do. I would not wish to pay $65 if indeed your D had returned the book!</p>
<p>If soozie’s way does not work, might you be able to find a used copy through someplace like Amazon or Ebay? Perhaps they would accept a replacement in decent shape that might cost a lot less than $65. (We have previously bought copies of some of son’s heavier textbooks to keep at home rather than have him lug 50 pounds of books at a time. We rarely had trouble finding exact replacements for sale and we could pass them along to younger friends or donate them to the school at the end of the year.)</p>
<p>Good idea Bassdad - I’ll remember that if needed.
I will call the school on Monday soozie - hopefully they will work with us. My d specifically remembers going back to his class and handing it to him in front of her previous classmates ( about 2 weeks after switching classes). She even remembers her classmates all saying hello to her and asking her if she was back in their class when she walked in. I suggested she could also get one of them to vouch for her if necessary since the whole class saw her turn it in, but she said they won’t remember.
Unfortunately she did not leave the class on great terms so the teacher will cut her no slack ( definite personality clash - which was part of the reason for the transfer) . She swears this was his last dig at her and that it is intentional - I would like to believe it was an honest mistake…</p>
<p>It can’t hurt to try as you have nothing to lose and in fact, your D is telling the truth. I also think your D could try to ask classmates whom she recalls sat near the front or may have asked if she was returning to the class, if they can write a statement of recalling seeing her return to class to return the book after she was no longer in the class. One very well may recall and be willing to say so. She should not slough that off without trying. I think the fact that the book was returned at a time of year when text books are not normally turned in and recorded is in your favor and could have been a logical error. But it would be better to tell this to someone else besides the teacher if you feel he will automatically be contrary due to past clashes. I would ask the administrator what you can do as your D is telling the truth and it doesn’t seem right to have to pay.</p>
<p>When books are issued, teachers usually have to record the serial number of the book goven to each person. Maybe he didn’t check off D’s book as turned in, but it’s sitting in the book storeroom as we speak. Any chance the school will go look for it? It could be laborious looking at each book for the number, and only works if the teacher had documentation as to which book she received initially. Maybe they’d let D do the legwork…</p>
<p>DS had a similar situation earlier in the year and someone found his book and actually turned it in. (whew!) Younger son misplaced his Spanish text at the end of the year, and the school asked for a check, which they said they’d hold before cashing until they have checked all books against the serial numbers.</p>
<p>love how they do this via mail, and you have little recourse, to say, go through all the mathbooks to verify its really not there, aren’t they #d or something</p>
<p>They do number the books so we may be able to locate the book if they allow us to look in the school. Another problem though, would be that since the book was turned in months ago it was probably sitting in the classroom on a shelf. Anybody could have “borrowed” it when they forgot their own book so we really may not be able to find it. I wish I had thought to tell my d to get a “receipt” when she turned it in.
Next year I am definitely going to have her type a spreadsheet and get all of the teachers to sign it. I am not having her diploma held hostage!!! LOL</p>
<p>PA Mom - are the textbooks scanned when turned in or is this handled manually? If scanned, there may be a silver lining eventually. The same thing happened to ldgirl with a textbook for a one semester class. We ended up paying ($75!) because though she was certain she turned it in to the teacher, we had no receipt or proof. Turns out the book WAS in the teacher’s possession and when she turned it in at the end of the school year, the computer showed our payment for a lost book. By midsummer, the school district had refunded our payment.</p>
<p>Instead of talking to an administrator, call the school’s media director/librarian. It could be sitting on the shelf. If they can’t find it there, then it’s probably in the teacher’s room, at which point you’ll have to get an administrator involved to open the room and look for it. On a similar note, I was cleaning our den yesterday and found a Literature textbook from my 11th grade D’s English class. Sigh. I’m hoping that she didn’t have to turn it in because they will be getting new textbooks for next year, or some GOOD reason, other than the fact that she’s a scatterbrain (and a slob, too, it was under a bunch of papers and classwork… ugh). I may not be seeing a report card this time either, PAmom.</p>
<p>I wish our school was technologically advanced enough to scan books but I am afraid we have to rely on the teacher manually recording it. Hopefully it works out.Of course the letter came on a Friday so I have to wait until Monday to call - meanwhile my d’s anxious to get her grades.
After she changed classes midyear her schedule was completely different. For some reason they kept marking her absent for second period even though she was there. I called the school at least 3 times to try to resolve the issue and got no resolution. I was afraid she was going to get detention for cutting class or something, but nothing was ever said. But everytime we checked her attendance on line it showed her absent that period…that’s the level of competency at our high school with computer systems at this point. LOL</p>
<p>Wow - I didn’t mean for that to sound quite so hostile LOL</p>
<p>THis is where we come to let it all hang out…feel free to share…we have all been there and thought that!</p>
<p>Well, thanks for letting me vent and for all of the great advice and similar stories. It does help : )</p>
<p>Here’s another story,
One year my son’s school decided to charge fees for the changes in book “wear”. About 4 of my son’s books went from “Good” to “Fair” or Excellent to Good, or some such drop. We were charged $25 for a drop. How the heck does any student use a book all year and turn it in in the same condition??? I thought that was so crass.</p>
<p>Doubleplay, only students who barely opened the book would avoid such drops in condition. What a silly policy.</p>