The death of Gabriel Andrews stunned residents in the Bluegrass State’s capital city. The boy was caught in floodwaters early Friday while walking to the bus stop, police said. After an extensive search, his body was found about two hours after police were notified.
Gabriel’s death sparked questions from some who wondered why the Franklin County school district chose not to cancel in-person classes Friday when strong storms produced flash flooding.
He had some pretty terrible elementary school teachers. Two of them ended up fired for being incompetent, in part because I reported their behavior (although in both cases I was only the final straw). His kindergarten teacher, in her first year, was so abusive, he started to develop a stutter, and he was telling us about physical abuse that he and others suffered. Then she refused to let the nurse give him medication for a waning illness hed had, and it was email time, complete with a legal threat. She was on maternity leave (scheduled for a month out) the very next day, and did not get return the following year.
His second grade teacher would hand-pick students from the first grade classes, and she always made sure to pick a few that she knew were Jehovah’s Witnesses. Then she would assign those kids to be table leaders, and those kids would then get after the non-JWs. We are non-religious, so when his table leader started telling him on a daily basis that God hates him for not being a JW, and he’s going to Hell, I took it to the principle. She wasn’t fired, but he was switched a different class where he thrived. Presumably other kids were being treated the same, but their parents didn’t stick up for their kids, so they had to suffer through 2nd grade.
His fourth grade teacher was too engrossed in tracking sports on the internet to teach class (I always figured he was gambling), so the classroom was chaotic, and eventually some kid stabbed my son with a pencil, lodging 2 inches deep in his calf. I didnt even have to ask, the principal (who I liked) just offered to put him in a different class. That teacher was gone at the end of the year.
He also had teachers who were amazing, and I made sure that the principal knew how great they were. His new 4th grade teacher asked for him to be in her class after the stabbing, because she had noticed him, and wanted to give him a proper classroom envir0¹onment to thrive in. She cared about him so much that she came to every play and musical he was in through his senior year.
So I had every reason to be a Parent-zilla, but I wasnt. I just wasn’t going to tolerate abuse against my son. These were normal schools in a good neighborhood, probably better schools than average, and this was our experience.
Christ, that’s unlucky. With an experience like that I wouldn’t even blame you if you had become one.
That’s great that you stood up for your kid like that.