WashPost Flame-Bait on Loudoun County Tardy Policy

[Anonymous]

i find petula dvorak's column irritating and am totally mystified how she made it as a columnist. Her writing is nothing special and her opinions are not interesting. I have friends who write much wittier emails and christmas letters about parenting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The Denicore children have been tardy about 30 times so far this year. Last year at one was tardy 68 times and absent 15 says.

(From WUSA)

I am looking forward to the parents going to court. I hope they get a judge that throws them in jail.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:http://www.washingtonpost.com/local

Petula Dvorak also wrote about them and her comment section is open. She also spoke with them in person at some point.

Wow. Petula disappoints me with this column. She's sharper than that usually.

No, she's really not. She's the bottom of the Post opinion barrel that has itself significantly declined in recent years. Plus, as someone else said, she's a shitty writer. I agree with about 2% of what George Will writes (and that 2% generally deals with baseball), but that guy can write. Sadly, a dying breed. Now, it's all about getting online columns up quickly, with little attention to quality prose or thoughtfully considered opinions.

Sorry for the digression.

[Anonymous]

ITA 9:28. It is shocking how many typos and grammatical errors show up in the online copy (and how long they remain).

[Anonymous]

These kids are going to be GREAT in the workforce . Being on time is an option. Who cares if I am disrupting the class? It's all about ME.

Our elementary school hands out 'tardy passes' if you walk through the door a minute past 9am. They will track them. By the grace of g*d we haven't had one yet. I am always telling my K child how important it is to show up on time. If we are in a bad stretch of running late---we reassess our nighttime and morning routine. Throw in the monkey wrench of an unpredictable younger brother and a DH that is long gone for work and it is tricky some mornings, but we are establishing good habits.

I also will not take vacations during school. Our prinicpal is cracking down on this as well. As kids, we never missed school for vacations. We were taught school is important.

People today

[Anonymous]

"I agree with about 2% of what George Will writes (and that 2% generally deals with baseball), but that guy can write. "

agree!! I like petula though - although perhaps it's because i'm just a sucker for parenting columns, no matter how they're written.

What amazes me is the virtual 100% replies on this thread that the family is the one in the wrong here. That type of unanimity is never seen on DCUM! count me as another vote for the family being chronic flouters and in need of something to wake them up.

[Anonymous]

sets a dangerous precedent

[Anonymous]

Sounds like mommy Denicore needs to get her sh*t together! I am stunned they are going to court. They should be ashamed. I have zero sympathy for the egomaniacs!

[Anonymous]

What slays me is they no doubt thought they could sway public opinion to their side by "alerting the media."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What slays me is they no doubt thought they could sway public opinion to their side by "alerting the media."

It's this year's non-potty-trained kid in program requiring potty training story.

The overlap is a sense of entitlement.

[Anonymous]

I have never been a fan of Petula Dvorak, but I've had it with her now. Claiming that anyone who disagrees with Loudon's policy is holier than thou?!?! It just doesn't compute. We do everything for our kids, want everything for our kids, but now that we have the tardy gene, we can relax the system for them? We will do ANYTHING to get our kids ahead, but when it comes to getting our kids to school on time, forget it. I think Dvorak and the Denicore's are just looking for a fight; they're the ones who think they're hot shit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My child goes to school with Petula's. When late- we head on into class. I have seen her late many, many times (I was late too!) but have never seen her child made to wait outside the classroom crying.

But that doesn't sell newspapers, to tell the truth.

[Anonymous]

I still suspect that the most likely reason Mrs. Denicore can't get the kids out the door and in school prior to the tardy bell is because she may have a substance abuse problem (alcohol is my first pick).

Neither Denicore exhibits the slightest bit of contrition for their excessive tardies. Nor do they consider that maybe THEIR little darlings tardies may affect their classmates ability to learn.

I can't find that Mr. Denicore's charity (Shelter4Haiti) is registered in Virginia. It's weird that he wants another charity's name written on the check but the money is sent to his Waterford, VA PO Box. CCH has its own PO Box - and CCH is registered with the state of Virginia. Maybe it's perfectly legitimate, but it's still weird.

Dvorak can't possibly accept that the Denicore family is in the wrong. She and Mrs. Denicore are now best buddies (she mentioned exchanging e-mails at 5 a.m.) and she just can't imagine that people she identifies with are irresponsible and rude. Time and again. Not just occasionally and working on it.

Now that we know Mrs. Denicore is awake at 5 a.m., why in the world can't she get the kids to the bus stop, or out the door (they can and do walk the route occasionally - I saw that somewhere) or driven to the school and arriving NO LATER than 7.45 a.m.? That's almost 3 hours from when she WOKE UP.

[Anonymous]

Ugh, what losers. If this were a family that had no car and no school bus option and had to get the kids to school by relying on mass transit or friends, I would feel some sympathy. If this were a rare occurrence brought on by emergencies, I would also feel more sympathy. However, regularly arriving ~5 min late when you live around the corner just means you think your comfort always comes first. If you want to live that way, fine, but hire private tutors, because no school, public or private, should run at the mercy of one lazy family.
I hope this gets even more press, just so prospective employers/clients see exactly what they'd be getting when they research hiring either Denicore.

[Anonymous]

So everyone agrees that they should be in trouble, but do you all realize that they were charged with three counts of contributing to the delinquency to a minor -- as in their own kids? So when you all annoy your fellow parents, maybe those of you who don't volunteer much and expect all of us to carry your load, I guess it's okay for you to be arrested and charged with a crime against your own children?