Diane: TM has decided to attend Benigno Malo, the same high school as Calliope. I am both thrilled and amazed at the same time. At this point, TM can barely drag his still-growing body out of bed before 9:00AM. So I am leery about his ability to get to school by 7:00AM.
Since TM has diabetes, I have additional concerns. TM has had quite a few low blood sugars when he wakes up in the morning, so I have told him that he will have to wake up at 5:00AM, in order to have an extra half hour to bring his blood sugar back up to normal if need be. This has gone over like a bowling ball hanging from a flying chipmunk.
I have always made it a policy to notify school officials about TM's diabetes. I give out information packets with his picture to all of his teachers. I meet one-on-one with the school health practitioner to make sure they understand the medical issues. At Benigno Malo, where they didn't even ask for Calliope's name, this strategy may prove useless. Also, without the legal protection afforded those with disabilities in the United States, I'm worried that if I start talking about diabetes, they might just deny him admission.
An interesting twist here is that each class of students stays together throughout the course of the school day, and the teachers change classrooms. With the exception of a couple of electives, there is a good chance that TM will be with the same kids all day. If they knew about his diabetes, they could be an excellent protection system. They would probably be better than members of the administration, who have many other concerns, such as how to keep a school open with insufficient funds. We read in the paper the other day about a school in Quito that had to close down after their electricity was shut off, due to not paying their electric bill for 2 years!
Speaking of finances, the assistant to the Director at the school has indicated that I was supposed to pay an annual registration fee of $50 for each child I send to Benigno Malo, no matter how short nor how long their attendance. Although that sounds fair to me, the payment scheme sounds a bit shady. I pay 40% of the fee to the school directly. Then I go to a bank and deposit the remaining 60% into an account called "Parents Committee". Does that sound like a slush fund or what? These folks even have a plaque on the outside of the building.
Our Spanish teacher at the Abraham Lincoln Center, Raúl, explained that public schools receive insufficient funding and that the corruption within the schools is sufficient enough to warrant parental oversight of school funds. By paying the bulk of the fees to a parent's group, parents can make sure that the basic bills get paid.
Now, in order to make my final payment, I will have to find a bank branch that doesn't have a customer line trailing out the door and around the block. No matter what time of day I look inside any bank building, there is always a long line. It reminds me of the main Post Office in Sarasota; although, thankfully, the Post Office does not have an armed guard standing at the entrance, as do all the banks here. Do you think every city has some local institution that requires long queues no matter what time or day you arrive?
The other primary issue with TM attending Benigno Malo is that it is likely that the Director will put TM in the same class as Calliope, since most of the other classes are full. This is driving Calliope crazy with the potential for social competition. On the other hand, it would be ironic if Calliope's placement with the oldest students leaves TM with a younger group. I am hopeful, no matter the outcome, that they will help each other make friends. And always at the ready with an olive branch, TM has offered Calliope some of his laptop time to help her smooth the transition.
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