Teacher Bars Student from Party Over Unpaid Fee

The husband of the teacher accused of not allowing a second-grader to attend a New Year«s party due to an unpaid fee of 250 rubles ($3) has explained the situation at the school following the uproar. He told whose side the rest of the teaching staff has taken and what is currently happening with the educator.

It all started at a holiday with entertainers, which was organized for the children before the vacation. The parent committee organized it, and, as citizens claim, money collection began a month and a half earlier. When the time for fun came—one of the schoolgirls was not allowed to join the others, which her mother complained about.

The woman honestly admitted she forgot to pay for the celebration but was outraged by how, she says, her child was demonstratively separated from the group.

«The teacher told her: »If you have money—go to the cafeteria, if you don«t have money—go to the library,» the schoolgirl«s mother claimed. »Zhenya went out into the corridor, sat on a couch on the first floor and waited alone until it was all over.«

The situation caused a scandal very quickly, and an apology was made to the woman. She was, as she states, asked to sign a waiver of claims, but she did not do so.

«I will do that after I am personally provided with documents about the measures taken, because right now I learn about everything only from journalists,» the woman stated.

A journalist initially failed to reach the teacher, but her husband made contact. He explained that the administration strongly recommended not raising the issue again, with which the man partly agreed.

«She is tired of answering all these calls: they call from the school, from well-meaning people, and not only. That second-grader»s grandmother called her out, phoned her: «Come here! I told you!» in a rude tone. Who would like that? I myself am shaken by all this,« he said.

According to the husband, the complainant was indeed asked to «make a retraction,» but how that ended—he does not know. Now, based on the conversation, almost all parents have decisively sided with the teacher, expressing a desire to «deal with the slander.»

«There are 29 of them now. My wife has been working for many years, there were no such problems before. Therefore, the parents want to raise the alarm if everything continues, and I am sure other graduates will support her.»

The issue of various fees for «class needs» has provoked such discourse more than once. On one hand, people want to not wait for help «from above» and please the children themselves; on the other—they fear bullying of a child by teachers or the class if they decide to go against the majority.