The Crosby Chronicles: Back to school means back to forms
One thing I like about Burbank schools is that the district distributes the parent packet of forms to be filled out at least one week before the start of school.
In the past, students would bring home the 2-inch thick manila folder of forms on the first day of school, giving parents 24 hours to fill all of them out and return them.
The forms include:
- Acknowledgement of Parent Rights
- Student Health History
- 2 student emergency cards (why this can’t be a duplicate form parents sign once, I don’t know)
- Application for free & reduced-price meals
- Discipline rules
- Student technology user agreement
- Parent worksheet
- Photo form
- PTA membership form
- e-rate form
Of course, why can’t the district simply include an “information is same as last year” check-off box that would take care of the whole thing in a few seconds instead of having parents handwrite in the same information year after year for every child? No, that would be too efficient for a bureaucracy.
Brian Crosby is a teacher at Hoover High School and the author of Smart Kids, Bad Schools and The $100,000 Teacher. He can be reached at brian-crosby.com.
