This is the message that the Pacific Palisades High School (California) Staff voted unanimously to record on their school telephone answering machine. This came about because they implemented a policy requiring students and parents to be responsible for their children’s absences and missing homework.

The school and teachers are being sued by parents who want their children’s failing grades changed to passing grades even though those children were absent 15-30 times during the semester and did not complete enough school work to pass their classes.

This is the actual answering machine message for the school:

"Hello! You have reached the automated answering service of your school. In order to assist you in connecting the right staff member, please listen to all your options before making a selection:

"To lie about why your child is absent – Press 1

"To make excuses for why your child did not do his work- Press 2

"To complain about what we do – Press 3

"To swear at staff members – Press 4

"To ask why you didn’t get information that was already enclosed in your newsletter and several flyers mailed to you – Press 5

"If you want us to raise your child – Press 6

"If you want to reach out and touch, slap or hit someone – Press 7

"To request another teacher for the third time this year- Press 8

"To complain about bus transportation – Press 9

"To complain about school lunches – Press 0

"If you realize this is the real world and your child must be accountable and responsible for his/her own behavior, class work, homework, and that it’s not the teachers’ fault for your child’s lack of effort: Hang up and have a nice day!"

I love you so much!!

    It’s been 1 week and 4 days since I was home, and it feels as if it’s been forever.  This week has been very busy, as Trav would put it "I’m a junior now and things are different."  After 2 papers and a test this week and barely having time breath, let alone get out of the building for a while, I’m starting to feel like a  prisoner in my own room!  I was actually excited about getting to sit desk tonight, it meant I was staring at my ceiling for once!  I get out of prison tomorrow morning at 8 and I’m excited about meeting Travis for lunch in Jackson at 11!  It’s going to be a busy, but hopefully fun, weekend.  We have all kinds of plans made and it will be interesting to see which ones actually pan out!  I’m off to pretend like I work hard…but everyone knows I don’t! 

Check out our wedding matchbooks! The only trick is that they are not really matches at all! They are little booklets of paper.  We have matching pens that our guests can use to write in them until their hearts delight!  Besides, would we actually be crazy enough to turn our families loose with live flames during our wedding?  Absolutely not!

Jerry and Lucille Smith of Wooton, would like to announce the engagement of their son, Travis Smith to Rebecca Kim Gross, daughter of Claude Gross and Ella McIntosh of Jackson, to be married on May 27, 2006 at Living Waters Church in Hazard, KY. Travis is an Office Technology Instructor at the Breathitt County Area Technology Center. Rebecca currently attends the University of Kentucky where she is majoring in social work.