Parent Claims School Cancelled Graduation Over alleged “lack of respect for teachers”

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Title: Concerned Parent Questions Graduation Decision at Cedar Grove Primary

A concerned parent from Cedar Grove Primary School has raised alarm over a recent decision regarding the graduation ceremony for grade 6 students.

The parent, who wishes to remain anonymous, received a letter on April 30th from the school administration stating that there would be no graduation for grade 6 students due to their alleged lack of respect for teachers.

While acknowledging the importance of discipline and respect in schools, the parent expressed deep concern over the manner in which this decision was made and its impact on students who have excelled academically and behaved responsibly throughout their time at the school.

In the letter, the parent highlighted that alternatives to outright cancellation of the graduation ceremony could have been explored. Suggestions such as banning disruptive students from activities, implementing suspensions, or engaging them in community service activities were proposed as more constructive measures.

The parent emphasized the hurt and disappointment felt by supportive parents who have contributed to the school community for six years. Some students, the letter noted, have maintained honor roll and principal list status without any disciplinary issues, making the decision to cancel graduation particularly distressing for them and their families.

Furthermore, the parent questioned the lack of a formal meeting with parents to discuss the alleged incident and the abrupt nature of the decision. There are concerns that underlying issues may have been overlooked, leading to the students being unfairly targeted as scapegoats.

“This is a right of passage that our children are being robbed of because of a bully in authority!” the parent stated, calling for transparency and fairness in handling disciplinary matters at the school.

The parent has expressed a desire to bring attention to what they perceive as an injustice and has invited further investigation into the decision-making process surrounding the cancellation of the graduation ceremony.

The school administration has yet to respond to these concerns, and parents are eagerly awaiting clarification and resolution on this matter.

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25 COMMENTS

  1. Parents are always concerned about the wrong thing. Do teachers not deserve to take a stand? Why is it that the students always come first? Teachers don’t matter? Lack of a graduation isn’t going to kill anyone. Get them prepared for secondary school and stop worrying about “no graduation.” Some of them are going to secondary school and didn’t even work for it.

    • Why would u say some students going to secondary school and dont deserve it. Alot of kuds have been working hard for 5 years and this is what the school has to offer. The teachers knows the disrespectful kids that should not be graduating PUT THEM OUT, NOT EVERYONE…..

    • @annoyed; So you are okay with the students who have worked hard and have no discipline concerns they should be paying for the rude disruptive students?

      Would you appreciate if your job gave the person next to you a raise who is not a team player, who is not coming to work on a regular basis which now have you doing extra work and the rest of the department wasn’t given one.

      Why shouldn’t they be allowed to graduate? How is getting a certificate / diploma, a time to celebrate one’s achievement be so trivial?

      Preparing them for secondary school is part of recognizing their achievements, that encourage them to continue work hard to become a sound person in our community. It is also teaching them it is ok to recognize the good in others, a co-worker, a class mate etc.

      In the same breathe you stated “” Some of them are going to secondary school and didn’t even work for it.” LOL That was funny.

    • @Annoyed. The words of someone who has very little knowledge of anything. Typical Antiguan, all you can do is find the negative to speak about. What evidence do you have to state that the students didn’t work for it.

    • Schools are fr children and always they must come first. The damage done at this first graduation will follow them through life wondering if the will ever graduate again. One child from Academy, which refuses to permit the walk across the stage to receive the certificate if one book is not returned, wept openly.

  2. Graduation is not a right. Graduation is a privilege. One cares about schools and teachers until they feel like they have been somehow wronged. It’s not the first school to cancel graduation over the lack of discipline and likely will not be the last. The same parents that does be cuss bout graduation and willing to spend all the money on graduation, will refuse to spend a cent to advance their child’s learning. After the primary school graduation, many parents determine that the children are “old enough” to look after themselves and no longer check in on their learning. You see most parents only 2 times in their child’s schooling, first day and graduation. Outside of that many of them do not care.

    • Graduation is a right to anyone that has completed the requirements to graduate. Only is a backwards country like Antigua and Barbuda inhabited by persons like you who thinks that it is ok for a principle to cancel a graduation because she fells disrespected.

      • What has the writter done in working with the school to bring order snd respect ?
        Education is a right. Not graduation.
        When I attended All Saints School I took exams to get into Grammer School it was about getting a score which would enable me to go to Grammar School, which my parents could not afford.
        Graduation was the village wide chatter and being informed of the number of course and at what level of achievement of each village kid.
        I have since attended 4 four universities in the UK and US.
        I have not attended any graduation.
        While I have attended High School graduation for my three children. I have not attended any college graduation ceremonies for the anesthesiologist, the Data Scientist or the Advertising Director.
        Blame the disrespectful and disrespectful people: parents and kids.

  3. as a parent let me just say “dem right” sorry for the well behaved students, but actions must be taken for children to understand that respect takes u places as well as good behavior. they school sent out previous letters asking parents to talk to our children about their behavior whilst also stating some of the issues they are having with students. how many of u actually took the time to read the letters and follow tru? look at the problems with which we are faced with our secondary schoolers and this set is about to go over. come on man “TRAIN UP A CHILD IN THE WAY HE SHOULD GO AND WHEN HE IS OLD HE WILL NOT DEPART FROM IT, WHO NAH HEAR WILL FEEL CAUSE I BELIEVE THIS WAS A THREAT TO THE STUDENTS BEFORE IT BECAME A REALITY” but I guess they just don’t care.
    ps I hope they stand firm with their decision.

    • That’s stupid,! You all should not punish innocent children for the guilty children. It is wrong. The students that are disrespectful should be the ones not to graduate. How do you think the children who work very hard with discipline is going to feel. I believe that is going to break their spirits and they will go into secondary school feeling very bad. Some of them will loose interest in their school work, maybe even start to misbehave. I think the respectful children should get their graduation.

    • @neither red nor blue, and I can assure you, as a parent you child is going achieve very little in life with a parent like you. You think with that mindset you helping your child, you are only teaching your child to be a masa dog. Good Behavior and respect take you no where, show us or tell us one person that reach anywhere because the had utmost respect. Typical slave mentally given to you by you masa.

  4. chupz so wat if they no graduation the certificate is important even if the child dnt go graduation they get there certificate kmt lot a unruly kids out there doesn’t matter how bright a student is they must have discipline they too darn disrespectful you out here defending your child yh I understand maybe ur child is a innocent one who doesn’t give trouble but if the teachers feel this way dnt blame them
    no teachers deprive no kids of there education the child did that to themselves

  5. So what really is the problem?

    So if its only five good students out of say 30 should an expensive graduation be held? I finished my primary education over almost three decades ago and did not graduate. It was no excuse like disrespectful students. But for some reason it never happened. Did it bother me?…not really because I was going to a “Big School” now and felt proud I had passed Common Entrance while a few did not make it. A graduation does not add or take away from anyone. It’s a formality. Will they die without one? hmmmm? Sometimes its the parents of the same disruptive ones making the most noise. Much ado about nothing. Think doth protest too much….

    • A graduation adds to some persons memory. A graduation is a part of every first class institution if not every institution. Yes it may be expensive for some and mean nothing to others such as you.
      From your comment, it can be said that you have achieved very little in life, I doubt you even finish secondary school, so the little underachieving memories that you have means nothing to you. SAD SAD SAD

  6. All of the students deserve to graduate. The teachers need to act like adults. The conversation of disciplinary action should have been rendered before the students even dreamed to graduate and parents should have been communicated with in writing.

  7. The letter was gi en the same day of the incident BUT she received hers on the 30th. I wonder why. When suspensions were given, parents felt it was too harsh. Meeting was called to speak about the “behaviour and blatant disrespect of students”, THAT parent DIDN’T show up. Parents are making a big fuss about this cancellation of graduation while their children are blatantly saying “me nuh kay, me jus war cum out ah dem school”. If there are no consequences to negative behaviour, it continues to fester to the point where it infects the entire school plant. We NEED parental involvement from day one and NOT only when something liike this happens. When parents openly cuss and undermind teachers and say all manner if evil, these students REPEAT it so we already know how you feel about us. A graduation ceremony IS NOT MANDATORY, that is why people don’t show up for their own ceremony. Very disappointed that Antigua Newsroom decided to run with the words of ONE person without proper investigative journalism. Why not get a copy of the letter and see for yourself if there is/was any truth? I guess you sitting on a jackpot to pay people for libel or you just want to be famous for sensationalizing instead of journalism? It won’t be the last time this is happening, so ensure you instill in your children the fear of God and the consequences if they display certain behaviour. With that being said #Istandwiithmyprincipal.

  8. The letter was given the same day of the incident BUT she received hers on the 30th. I wonder why. When suspensions were given, parents felt it was too harsh. Meeting was called to speak about the “behaviour and blatant disrespect of students”, THAT parent DIDN’T show up. Parents are making a big fuss about this cancellation of graduation while their children are blatantly saying “me nuh kay, me jus war cum out ah dem school”. If there are no consequences to negative behaviour, it continues to fester to the point where it infects the entire school plant. We NEED parental involvement from day one and NOT only when something liike this happens. When parents openly cuss and undermind teachers and say all manner if evil, these students REPEAT it so we already know how you feel about us. A graduation ceremony IS NOT MANDATORY, that is why people don’t show up for their own ceremony. Very disappointed that Antigua Newsroom decided to run with the words of ONE person without proper investigative journalism. Why not get a copy of the letter and see for yourself if there is/was any truth? I guess you sitting on a jackpot to pay people for libel or you just want to be famous for sensationalizing instead of journalism? It won’t be the last time this is happening, so ensure you instill in your children the fear of God and the consequences if they display certain behaviour. With that being said #Istandwiithmyprincipal.

    • @In the kitchen, You would stand with your principal because you are just as she is. Negative behavior infects nothing. Someone can only be undermined when they are fragile on the merit on which the stand. True integrity and merit can never be broken. Some of you teachers come to school everyday as though you are saints of the almighty when in fact your children living lives Satan would not want to associate with. No one has to pretend to fear god, because it is a must. God does not demand that anyone fear him. Go and read about what libel is. Thanks for letting persons know what are the intentions of you and your principal.

      • From the USA… from all your submissions here, you clearly don’t reason too well. Respect and integrity takes you places. You can be intelligent as a bulb but have behavioural problems such as being disrespectful, you won’t get too far. The children will be fine, they won’t die because they didn’t have graduation. To make such a decision, their behaviour overall had to be really horrible. Also, the only how this cancelled graduation will become an ongoing issue for these kids, is if their parents sensationalize it with constant negative conversations. Dont underestimate how much parents behavior rubs off on their kids.

  9. For all those who think the school is wrong are you an educator. Do you know the woes of teaching a disruptive and disrespectful class day in day out? Yes their are innocent ones but how innocent are those students who sit in the classroom and laugh when student/s misbehave and distrust the class session. Students today are very rude, disrespectful and disobedient.

  10. First thing first them teachers at cgps are HORRIBLE!!!! I had to move my child because of them… sending home my child without informing me and when I called they telling me “arguing with me won’t solve anything me done send she home”.. after that my child comes home everyday day saying that the teacher is speaking to her badly and picking on her , up until she doesn’t even want to go to school. They not nice there to begin with

  11. THE STUDENTS WILL REMEMBER THE PRINCIPAL AND IN THE KITCHEN AS THE TWO WORST TEACHERS IN THE SCHOOL.
    THEY ARE FAMOUS FOR RAISING FUNDS. WHICH IS STRANGE FOR SUCH A SMALL PUBLIC SCHOOL.

    THE PUBLIC WOULD BE AMAZED AT WHAT THE CONTENTION IS. IT IS ALLEDGED THAT THE STUDENTS WERE PLAYING AND IGNORED THE BELL?

  12. ONE THOUGHT OR TWO
    The Council of native, noble Centenarians say to the Cedar Grove community, parents of ALL the primary students, they must have an open-air celebration for the “MOVING FORWARD” of ALL the parents and students!
    The “MOVING FORWARD” celebration will include student performances – drama, drawings, paintings, craft; book/computer fair; local foods (CG vendors); music to include steelpan, calypso, soca; an invitation to a CG past, respected, motivational teacher to speak and an invitation to a special guest speaker, retired teacher, motivational seniorpreneur, author of her book: Marie’s Magic Recipe: Living, Leading, Legacy, Mrs. Miriam Samuel.
    The sub-title of the book can be the theme of the “MOVING FORWARD” celebration: Living, Leading, Legacy.
    Also, the students must plant a tree at an appropriate site in Cedar Grove.

    Suggestions for your reading and listening:
    https://antiguanewsroom.com/harnessing -the-talents-of-the-extended-family-to-create-a-business-and-build-generational-wealth/
    and:
    https://www.youtube.com/live/AzjpdX53GXE? si=477BGFL4v3D16_Bf

    Let us interact with Humility, Grace, Honesty, good Intentions!….Be nice to each other!

    Save our Humanity, Save our Youths, Save our Environment, Save our Soil!!!

    Respect

  13. I am a parent of a grade six student and I’m very disappointed with such harsh decision. My child is very hard working, respectful, Well spoken, well mannered, and Gets excellent grades!! I thought my child to do good and good will be rewarded back. Now i feel like i was telling my child lies. My child was very qexcited about graduation day.. it is not fair To my child and to t 11amhe other children who are well behaved. The same day the letters were issued the principal posted in the group chat to remind the parents abouts their upcoming mod day the the Thursday of that same week.
    can someone please explain to me if the children are so disrespectful to the point that the principal had to cancel graduation so how mod day is ok.. i think the teacher’s and principal is very petty and unkind to the innocent children who they have no issues with they should have just filtered the disrespectful children simple!

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