babble » blogs » Strollerderby
Strollerderby
Bueller? School Reports Every Child Absent, Parents Freak
Martin Middle School in West Tennessee has a new absence reporting system. When a student is marked absent, the system automatically phones their parents at 9 a.m.
But last Wednesday, every parent in the school received that phone call after the system reported all 475 students in the school absent.At least 20 parents arrived at the school, while the office fielded dozens of phone calls from parents who alarmed that their children weren’t where they were supposed to be.
A second phone call reporting the error went out to parents, and eventually things got sorted out. Principal Nate Holmes said that the new phone system isn’t “user-friendly,” an understatement that made me laugh out loud.
Getting a call that your child isn’t in school — even though you just dropped them off their — has to be anxiety-inducing. But since these were middle school kids, I wonder how many parents though their kids were pulling a Ferris Bueller.
![]()
Go Back To Strollerderby
1 Comment
snarky mama commented on Oct 06 09 at 2:03 pmHah! For the rest of the year the kids can skip school and just tell their parents, “Must’ve been another phone screw-up!”
Add your take:
Note: Babble is a supportive, diverse community. We encourage a range of opinions,
but any unduly hostile comments will be removed.
Comments are delayed up to 15 minutes






Joslyn Gray
Amber Doty
Julianna Miner
Monica Bielanko
Sierra Black
Meredith Carroll
Carolyn Castiglia
Sunny Chanel
Madeline Holler
Wendy Michaels
Rebecca Odes
Danielle Smith
Danielle Sullivan
Katherine Stone
The Walt Disney Company supports Babble as a platform dedicated to honest, engaged, informed, intelligent and open conversation about parenting. However, the opinions expressed on this site are those of individual parents/writers and do not reflect the views of Disney. In addition, content provided on this site is for entertainment or informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or safety advice.

1