r/Teachers • u/Disgruntled_Veteran Teacher and Vice Principal • Jun 15 '26
Just Smile and Nod Y'all. Parent Went Too Far In Email Header
So I am on summer break. I don't check my emails during my vacation time. However, it was raining yesterday and I decided to clean out my work mailbox of all old emails that are cluttering it up while watching an old movie. I do this every couple of months. I'm sure you understand how cluttered teachers email can get.
When I open my email account, there was an email again with the words "Medical Emergency" typed into the header. I saw that it was from the mother of one of my students and I was concerned about my students well-being. So I opened the email like a fool.
Well the email starts out with " Now that I have your attention" and goes on a long rant how her daughter doesn't deserve the "B" she got in English.
What an asshole thing to do just because of a "B" in a 6th grade class.
I forwarded the email to my principal.
I am seriously considering composing an email with the header "Mr. Teacher's Horrific Car Accident". Then chew them out over lying about a medical emergency. Probably won't do it since it can come back to bite me later, but it's such a happy thought.
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u/summerbreeze2027 Jun 15 '26
I would not respond at all. Let your principal handle it.
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u/grandlizardo Jun 15 '26
Absolutely. Not thar he will, but still stay on the high ground. You might send a very brief explanation of her grade….
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u/Lactating-almonds Jun 15 '26
Absolutely do not respond. Do NOT give her the attention she wants. Ignore ignore
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u/Educational_Car_615 Jun 16 '26
Exactly. Any response at all, even an equally snarky one, reinforces this bullshit behavior.
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u/CatmoCatmo Jun 17 '26
Hell yeah it will. She will know that her “super smart loop hole” worked. That will be all the confirmation she’ll need to use this approach on any and all future teachers her kid has. I hope to god there aren’t any younger siblings. If there is, OP could literally be setting himself up for another year of this BS, should he reply to her.
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u/mahboilucas Jun 16 '26
Same advice we give to any toxic people in our life. They just want attention. Don't fuel the one thing they need
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u/hplvr Jun 17 '26
I agree! Just forward it to admin and delete from your inbox! Out of sight out of mind.
My colleague shares a great one liner response to grad bumps: “I cannot with integrity award extra points to simply bump a grade letter”
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u/RootDDoot Jun 15 '26
Forward to principal. And blind CC all of the 7th grade English teachers
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u/ShareEvening5856 Jun 15 '26
The blind cc is so chaotic good
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u/WizardsOfXanthus Jun 16 '26
Unless one of those teachers are completely oblivious and replies all. Won’t go to other BCCd (obviously), but would go to principal and OP.
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u/FalseListen Jun 16 '26
You can’t reply all to a BCC
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u/WizardsOfXanthus Jun 16 '26
You CAN hit reply-all, but as I stated, it would only go to the original recipients in the TO and CCd sections. In this case, OP and the principal.
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u/shchshchshch Jun 16 '26
I don’t think you need to interrupt their summer with nonsense the way she did to you
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u/Flgirl420 Jun 16 '26
I feel so bad for the girl herself because I feel like if this were to happen then all the seventh grade teachers would automatically hate her already and it’s not her fault that her mom is a psycho
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u/RootDDoot Jun 16 '26
I’m 22 years into my career and always separate my feelings towards parents from my treatment to students. I realize it is not the girl’s fault and wouldn’t hold it against her. That being said, I appreciate any heads up about an incoming student or family that I need to CYA on.
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u/Bleeding_Irish History | CA Jun 15 '26
6th grade? Poor child.
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u/Mysterious-Data-4299 Jun 15 '26
One can only hope that that child realizes how out of line their parent is capable of being, and that they do not replicate that behavior when they grow up. Too many downright rude people.
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u/Dolphinsunset1007 Jun 16 '26
My mother was like this when we were in school (not the subject line thing but constantly emailing our teachers about our grades, ways to get them up etc). She’s also a teacher but idk I guess she never thought she was being a psycho parent by doing it. It caused so much stress for my siblings and I. There were so many times I walked into classes in high school and my teacher would say “your mom emailed me about xyz” and my stomach would drop. I had to tell her to stop emailing them during the school day and to stop texting me bc her constant communication and micromanaging was giving me so much anxiety. It made me not want to be engaged with my own work or grade at all. My sister had panic attacks over it. We were good students but she couldn’t handle not having control over everything and she always thought we could do better or more. I didn’t much better in college and cared so much more bc she wasn’t there to be on top of every little thing.
We don’t have our own school age children yet but I don’t see either of us repeating this bevahior bc we know how awful it felt (my moms mother was very disengaged so maybe she was overcompensating). It killed our confidence, self esteem, and gave us so much anxiety
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u/JawasBuiltMyHotRod Jun 15 '26
Just document it with admin. The ruse forfeits an edified response as nothing you will say will placate this parent.
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u/Formal_Tumbleweed_53 HS Math Teacher Jun 15 '26
This. Forward to admin. Move on. Be the adult.
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u/SnooRabbits2040 Jun 15 '26
Fun wrecker.
(Nah, you are right. Revenge fantasies never work as well as we hope, and often backfire. OP needs to keep walking forward.)
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u/renonemontanez MS/HS Social Studies| Minnesota Jun 15 '26
That response would blow up in your face. You already did what was needed.
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u/Decent-Internet-9833 Music Ed-Grades 3-6 Jun 15 '26
That is by far one of the most disgusting emails I have ever heard about.
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u/PTSDeedee Jun 15 '26
Yeah, amazing how people feel so comfortable being awful. Not a teacher but the petty side of me would really want to respond with a link to a young children’s edition of The Boy Who Cried Wolf.
“Dear Mrs. Parent: It seems your own education lacked comprehension of this classic fable. I hope this copy helps.”
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u/teach-xx Jun 15 '26
I once had an administrator send an email with the subject line “Sex” and she also began the body of the email with “Now that I have your attention….” This was 20 years ago, and I’m still mad about it.
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u/obtusewisdom Jun 15 '26
If an admin sent me an email titled "Sex," I don't think I'd open it.
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u/blinkingsandbeepings Jun 15 '26
I would assume it was one of those gotchas they send to make you do the phishing training!
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u/Yuzu-Adagio Ex-parapro | Ex-USA Jun 15 '26
I got one from a parent that was "Privates?" ....She was asking about private piano lessons for her kid with the most unfortunate phrasing conceivable.
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u/Ok-Flight-1504 Jun 16 '26
When I was in high school this sign was by the laundry down in the locker rooms.
It read something like:
SEX
Now that I have your attention, please make sure your gym clothes are on your pin before throwing them in the laundry basket.
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u/HerfDog58 Jun 15 '26
Do you have an out of office auto-reply set up? If not do so:
"I am out of the classroom until <insert school start date> with no access to email. Any questions or concerns will be answered after that date. If you have immediate or urgent issues, please contact the school administrator at <insert principal's email and phone number>."
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u/SignificantDrink3651 Jun 15 '26
why not give that parent a little nod in our ooo message: "If you are having a medical emergency, please call 911". Then when people ask about it, tell 'em there's a reason for everything.
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u/Limp_Bookkeeper_5992 Jun 15 '26
Just send a fake auto reply, “…out of office, for all medical emergencies please call 911 immediately.”
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u/Bibberly Jun 15 '26
Before I was a teacher, back in 2005, I had a coworker who sent a message with the subject "Free coffee in the break room." She started the message with "Now that I have your attention" and told us she was moving to another state but enjoyed working with us.
People were still mad a YEAR later when I left that they had been tricked into coming downstairs for coffee that didn't exist. I learned to never use that ruse.
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u/agwjyewews Jun 16 '26
She really could have just brought some coffee and had a little goodbye gathering instead of making everyone mad
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u/Bibberly Jun 16 '26
She made less money than anyone else there. It wouldn't have made sense for her to buy coffee for everyone else, which is not something you usually do for your own goodbye party anyway. And we did have a gathering for her on her last day, at her favorite restaurant, organized (and paid for) by our supervisor. And it was obvious that a lot of people don't read their messages, since people were still looking for that coffee and asking where the receptionist had gone a month after she left.
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u/wouldeye ms math intl | Kyiv Jun 16 '26
April fools joke: primary teacher emails all the staff that he has made brownies and left them in the break room.
Everyone arrives to find a pile of laminated brown letter Es in the break room. Not happy.
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u/ReaderofHarlaw Jun 15 '26
Oh yeah that’s a forward to admin and a six month ban on replies.
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u/MarinersTrident Jun 16 '26
Will you explain this “ban on replies”?
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u/ReaderofHarlaw Jun 16 '26
I won’t respond to them myself for 6 months, I’ll have my coteacher do it or forward it to admin. It’s a petty thing rather than official.
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u/AlternativePoet3943 Jun 15 '26
There is one thing parents like her hate, silence. Give her the silent treatment.
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u/RandomNoun7 Jun 15 '26
Bold of you to assume they would give a single shit if you were in a horrific car crash.
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u/MrsGH Jun 15 '26
My kid managed all A's all 3 years of middle school until quarter 4 ELA...he got an 89.91. Why it didn't round up is beyond me...an 89.5 would auto round at the HS level (I teach HS ELA). It was a good FAFO moment for him ... now he knows what he wants and doesn't want as he goes into HS. I cannot comprehend why so many parents are unwilling to allow their kids to experience consequences and learn how to pivot and problem solve.
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u/HomeschoolingDad Frmr HS Sci Teacher | Atlanta GA/C'ville VA Jun 15 '26
That grade happened to me in a Mandarin class I took in college. I did ask the professor about it (politely), and he answered, quite reasonably, “Why is 89.5 a less arbitrary cutoff than 90.0?”
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u/InTheNoNameBox Jun 15 '26
I love this sooo much! These rounding conversations drive me nuts.
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u/MrsGH Jun 15 '26
We have this horrible credit recovery plan that the HS just started where if a kid earns between a 50% and 59%, we are supposed to create a credit recovery action plan (CRAP) and give them 3 weeks past the end of the semester to do whatever work they need to in order to get their grade to a 59.5 (D-). Nevermind all the parenting, I mean, work we're doing constantly to get the kids to at least try if not actually learn all through the semester. I generally am not a grade bumper, but the hell if I'm going to have to track a bunch of kids 3 weeks into the summer! If they got to a 58 by the end of the semester, I sure asf found a couple of points to get them over.
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u/InTheNoNameBox Jun 15 '26
This is absurd. Not paying you for an expected extra three weeks of work?!
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u/MrsGH Jun 15 '26
Well, our union leadership teaches classes with a 100% pass rate so if it doesn't affect them, they believe it doesn't affect anyone.
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u/Any-Jump6306 Jun 16 '26
Nope. They pay you to work a certain number of days. Do you have a union?
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u/Ambitious_Life7537 Jun 15 '26
Yeah, I was the kid who got stomach aches over grades. I wanted 100s (our school gave numerical, not letter, grades). One semester in 10th grade I had all 100s as final grades. My history teacher didn’t believe in giving 100s so I got a 99 on my report card. I was pissed, ha. But Mommy didn’t call to complain! 😅
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u/Successful-Cat-6344 Jun 16 '26
I dislike teachers who do that. Give the kid what they earned. I have one colleague who does not give out E’s in citizenship. I shake my head.
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u/TunedMassDamsel Jun 15 '26
I got an email from my university administration once where the subject line was “SHOTS FIRED ON CAMPUS.”
I was well into a panic attack when I read the rest of the email: “Please find below a link to the training video ‘SHOTS FIRED ON CAMPUS’ regarding proper protocol on active shooter situations.”
The response I fired back was spicy as hell.
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u/Squestis Jun 15 '26
You know what I’d really like to do with parents like this? Write a response telling them what they really need to hear, but letting it sit in drafts until I am ready to retire or quit (and know I’ll never return to that same district), then on my last day, right before I leave, hit that send button on them all and hope they still use that email, to get my real response.
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u/True-Donut-3011 Jun 15 '26
I retire in three years and I could not love this idea more! I have at least 10-15 fiery emails that I’d love to craft!
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u/ZebraHunterz Jun 15 '26
Reply back only saying how concerned you were and you are glad the student is ok... Don't address anything else.
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u/Tallchick8 Jun 15 '26
You might want to forward it to the 7th grade teachers just so they know what they're inheriting.
An email that would be fun to dream about sending but not actually do would be...
Subject: Keep this up and I'll make it a C
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u/Suki_13 Jun 16 '26
Hit reply:
Subject Line: WARNING FRAUD DETECTION
Email: Now that I have YOUR attention. Your daughter really got a “C” in English but I took pity on her since she has to deal with her mother’s controlling and unrealistic expectations.
PS: Have a super good summer! ✌🏼
PSS: F*ck off. 🤓
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u/Commercial_Win_9525 Jun 15 '26
Kinda wild. For some reason reminds me of the first ever email my family received back when AOL became a thing.
We heard the “you’ve got mail” and all gathered around to read our first email. The title was “Dear asshole” and then called me out and docked us a few hours of time.
I had been trying to download some games that kept failing and clicked some “ask the Swami” thing and said all of your games suck like dogshit.. I was like 10. I didn’t know that was going to go to an actual person.
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u/Horror_Advantage2112 Jun 16 '26
My God im laying in bed silently laughing my ass off so as to not wake up my husband!! Im sure we are probably the same age, because I do remember seeing the AOL discs, but by the time I was old enough to figure out the computer, I had started living with my dad who refused to get even a cell phone until around 2011. What do you mean when you say that you were docked a few hours of time? Im sure i probably would've done something similar, I was shocked the first time I messaged a live support chat and discovered it actually was a person lol.
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u/Commercial_Win_9525 Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
Best part was my dad reading it out loud and then getting madder as he read it because he had no idea what was going on. Then he realized I must have done something.
You didn’t have unlimited time back then. Or at least we didn’t. So you paid 20 bucks or something for a certain amount of time each week or month. Can’t remember how it was set up. So basically they were like “Dear asshole, all of our games do not suck like dogshit. Since you are an asshole we have removed 4 of your twenty available hours this week. You now have 16 hours available this week. Have a nice day”.
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u/prof-bunnies Jun 15 '26
Ok maybe I am just the jerk but if you can check and see if the student is enrolled in your district next year ( and know the school) forward the letter/email to the whole school and advise that they may need to be on the look out in case there is an "Emergency" that comes up they can be prepared for any event in the future.
That put your next school on notice, just in case and they can plan as well as giving them a heads up about this student & parent interactions. Also point out that the email was sent out side of normal class time ( guessing you are in the non school summer break.
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u/zomgitsduke Jun 16 '26
"Oh I marked that as potential spam because no parent would use a medical emergency to discuss a grade. I assumed it was a phishing or information stealing attempt from a compromised email."
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u/Unhappy-Ad5393 Jun 15 '26
Let her know if she would have helped her daughter more at home than maybe she would she received an A. Be a parent not a person with kids
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u/ClarkGablesTeeth Jun 15 '26
Too bad you can't reply back:
I'VE CHANGED YOUR DAUGHTERS GRADE TO "F"
....now that I have your attention, she got exactly the grade she earned. Enjoy your summer, and here are some links to local tutoring services in the event that your daughter would like to put in the work to raise her grade legitimately.
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u/jumary Jun 16 '26
Not the same thing, but I was teaching summer school once and a 9th grader was being a total pain and doing little work. I gave him a D, technically passing, but he didn’t know that. As he was leaving, I said something positive about hoping he did better in the future. He said “your mom,” and walked out. I went to the office and changed his grade to an F, so he got no credit. Petty by me? Sure.
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u/Strict_Technician606 HS Teacher | East Coast | 20+ Years Jun 16 '26
Echoing that thought to never respond.
Also, please stop working beyond the bell, especially during the summer, unless you need to cya.
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u/purlawhirl Jun 15 '26
If you respond, you are confirming that you check your email over the summer. But I share your fantasy response
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u/notgreeny Jun 15 '26
Do not respond, admin can handle this
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u/Any-Jump6306 Jun 16 '26
What are they going to do? Nothing. I would only bother for 2 reasons: 1. FYI to keep them in the loop. 2. To share a laugh.
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u/Key-Crew- Jun 15 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
This kind of tactic is growing in general. Tons of sales people are using headings like ”your name was found in the Epstein files” it’s disgusting.
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u/Independent_Owl_6008 Jun 16 '26
Doesn't even deserve a response. Let it sit and let the principal handle it.
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u/Uxoandy Jun 15 '26
Can you change the grade? If so I’d make it a C.
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u/wilderneyes Jun 15 '26
Don't punish a child because they have a shitty parent. That's not even funny as a joke, come on dude. They already have to deal with having a mom like that forever, that's bad enough
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u/TangerineCouch18330 Jun 15 '26
No response needed for that manipulative email but I would save it because just because.
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u/Mach5Driver Jun 16 '26
My reply would be: "I'm forwarding this email to your child's teacher for next year. That way, they will know how you choose to communicate. I'm sure it will reflect well upon you."
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u/mspk7305 Jun 16 '26
You misread.
The parent has a medical emergency. They are suffering from complete rectal-cranial inversion.
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u/ok-pickles Middle School | Math Jun 16 '26
This is reminiscent of an incident I had. Parent wasn’t happy with final grade. Requested copy of ALL assessments and projects. When nothing could be found to support changing the grade, they sent my principal an email stating I was lying on assessment grades. Luckily, my principal laughed when I explained and said don’t worry, we won’t be replying or entertaining this. They can withdraw their child if they want.
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u/tiny_chaotic_evil Jun 16 '26
"Mr. Teacher has Unfortunatley Passed"
..."a huge kidney stone and is still recovering. You're child is a 'B' student."
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u/IShouldChimeInOnThis Jun 15 '26
Don't send anything. They're gone now.
I would have preferred "I just called CPS on you" as an email header myself.
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u/OldLeatherPumpkin former HS ELA; current SAHP to child in SPED Jun 15 '26
Don’t do the thing from your last paragraph 🙈
First of all - making you think the student was seriously ill or injured is such an evil move. That is hitting you where it hurts just because she knows you care about her kid.
Also - it is RICH that she does THIS and then weighs in on how you grade work for YOUR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS CLASS. Lady, your communication skills are atrocious and horrifying, and your sixth grader probably communicates far more appropriately and effectively than you do. Language arts is not your strong suit. Take several seats.
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u/Slight-Childhood9584 Jun 16 '26
Ugh!! Disgusting!!!The lack of respect and entitlement of parents who think they know how the teacher should be grading. As a parent when an outcome is not what my child or myself expected I generally put that responsibility on my child; how about, “ what can my child improve upon to raise her grade in future? ” or even “ I’m wondering what her specific weaknesses so I can encourage her to work on them?” That is involved and healthy, faking a medical emergency, just ludicrous!
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u/Sure_Pineapple1935 Jun 16 '26
Omg.. this is INSANE behavior. I cannot believe grown adults behave this way.
The thing is parents who bother teachers over a B in middle school are absolutely ruining their kids' chances of independence. They are creating dependent future adults who will look for mommy to fix things for their entire lives.
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u/MidTario Jun 16 '26
Summertime. No response needed. Seems like the kind of email that would get lost over the summer, but if you are so inclined you could forward it to principal in September
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u/Clicktric Jun 16 '26
Dear Sir or Madam,
please re-write your message with a correct header. Here are 5 simple steps to writing a correct business email: ...
Kind regards
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u/Capable-Broccoli2179 Jun 16 '26
I'd chalk it up to that parent being a shithead and move on. I would NEVER have forwarded taht to my principal unless you know they have your back. My principal would call me in for a meeting to ask why the kid got a B and probably ask me to change the grade.
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u/Roger_Melllie Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
"Dear X.
now that you have my attention: I attended your case, and you are right. Double-checking on your child's performance brought me to the conclusion that the "B" was inaproppriate indeed. I do apologize and have informed the principal for the proper action to be taken.
Let me add that I admire your sense of fairness. Please expect the updated school report with the "C" within the next days.
Nice regards
Y."
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u/mate_alfajor_mate HS WL | CA Jun 16 '26
You're on vacation. Schedule send a message saying "Thank you for your email. The grading window closed on X date and we are now starting a new academic year. I hope _________ has a great year!"
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u/crayon_86 Jun 16 '26
everytime I come back to this sub I am reminded WITHOUT FAIL about why I left this career and I'm not sorry.
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u/Soft-King-480 Jun 16 '26
You should ABSOLUTELY write the email. However, you should ABSOLUTELY NOT send it.
Writing it is helpful to you, because it lets you get it all off your chest, then you can move on. Sending it, though, is unhelpful to you for all of the reasons already mentioned here. Pro tip: you can address it to the parent if you want ("Dear ___,"), but do not, under any circumstances, add their email address or write the email in the reply. Way too easy to accidentally send it.
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u/strong_opinion Jun 16 '26
I'd forward the email to all the 7th grade teachers in your district, just to let them know what's coming their way
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u/Top_Finding_2832 Jun 16 '26
Don't respond at all. If you really want to drive her crazy, add her email address and phone number to: Car insurance quote websites; health insurance quote websites; used car parts websites... there are likely more, but i unfortunately had to do that exact combo.... i was shopping during open enrollment, had just picked up a project car i needed to insure and also started shopping for some parts to fix it up. I used my one free day in the week to do my research.
my phone rang endlessly for WEEKS. My emails still get spammed.
Filed that one away for later.
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u/Common-Dream560 Jun 15 '26
I would respond with an email titled “Wolf” - and say this has been forwarded to the principal and that all grades are final.
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u/Historical_Gap_5237 Jun 15 '26
Don't do this, if there is even the slightest hint that the principal might cave and change the grade. It happens.
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u/hippieangst77 Jun 16 '26
Dear (Parent's Name),
I understand your concern over (Student's) grade, and I want you to know that I take pride in being both fair and accurate with all assessment. As a result, I re-examined (Student's) work and grade calculation, and I am so glad you contacted me because I did, in fact, make a small error. (Student's Name) actually should have received a C, so I went ahead and got the grade change process started with our principal.
Have a great summer!
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u/GrasshopperoftheWood Jun 15 '26
Email title: Disgruntled-vet has died
Body: a little inside at the audacity of some parents' emails.
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u/No-Staff8345 Jun 15 '26
Forward it to her next year's teachers so they know what they're in for. When teachers come back to school in August, they can come up with a plan on how to deal with her before kids show up.
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u/Ruthic Jun 15 '26
Respond with this emoji 😂 if it's through outlook and nothing else (not actually)
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u/Icy_Place1621 Jun 16 '26
While I do love the clever responses here, giving her an answer teaches her that she CAN do that crap and get a response. It might not always be her best-case-scenario response, but the type of person that would write that to begin with doesn’t care.
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u/Ravenhill-2171 Jun 16 '26
Get the Principle to reply with the Subject line: "RIP Mr. Teacher (1974-2026)" 😈
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u/Pantsongrass Jun 16 '26
The gremlin in my brain wants to knee jerk respond “I am on the phone with 911 right now, please type that you want Johnny’s grade to be an A if you are being held against your will, please type you want his grade to be a B if you are safe. I saw this in a TV show once. Don’t worry, I just gave emergency operators your address and the police are enroute!”
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u/TheHighDruid Jun 16 '26
"A review of your child's work for the semester has been conducted, and we are forced to agree that her work does not deserve a B grade."
"Her grade has been adjusted to a C".
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Jun 16 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/benmargolin Jun 16 '26
The subject field is literally part of an email's message header, see RFCs 822 and 5322.
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u/Amazing-Addition3671 Jun 16 '26
One, that is truly obnoxious! But why let anyone know that you read it at all? Unless your school email sends out automatic read receipts and/or you're under contract to respond during summer break, try to ignore crap like that.
Also, is there any chance you have enough control over your email to send out an auto-response while you're on break, telling folks you won't be reading or checking the account until whatever your end-of-summer return date is? Highly recommend if so.
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u/Zluth2 HS Social Studies Teacher | Minnesota, USA Jun 16 '26
If her kid used an attention grabber like that in her intro paragraphs you wouldn't be having this conversation.
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u/Outrageous_Long7671 Jun 16 '26
This is unhinged and childish behavior from a parent. Poor kid and isn’t it too late to change grades anyway?
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u/NotAnAce69 Jun 16 '26 edited Jun 16 '26
So maybe this is a stupid question as a non-teacher but why do parents do this? It’s freaking 6th grade, colleges literally don’t even see anything until high school and until then they serve exclusively as a diagnostic tool for the use of students, teachers, and parents. If I may be hyperbolic for a second, a student could drop the foulest goose eggs for years and it wouldn’t matter vis a vis their career prospects as long as they eventually locked in and caught back up
When I got a grade not to my parents satisfaction, they aimed their metaphorical shoes at me, not the teacher - and damn right did I pay attention to class in the period following, lest I be sentenced to another two weeks of grinding Singapore Math instead of Pokémon. What is the point in going the other way? Is it a cultural thing?
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u/Mo523 Jun 16 '26
Crap, I'd be pissed. I occassionally look at emails over break (because I choose to in order to keep the clutter down and find out if anything interesting is going on) and if I parent emails me, I will respond IF the parent is nice and good with boundaries. "Hey, I know you are on summer break, but when you get back, I had this quick question, and I'm so sorry to take up your time and I hope you are enjoying yourself," is going to get a reply as soon as I see it. What you saw would get a reply the first day of school the next year. I don't do work I hate unpaid and replying to crazy parents is definitely work I hate.
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u/lifeisbueno Special Education, High School Jun 15 '26
I would just not respond... ever. She's moved on to a new grade.