Time frame for communication to resolve concerns (high school, principal, grades)

[Larkspur123]

I've expressed a concern to our school that I would like to see resolved.

Once you have expressed the concern, what do you think is a reasonable time frame to hear back from the school? At what point, if you don't hear back, would you take it to someone else?.

At this point, I'm not looking for the concern to be resolved, but I am expecting at least an acknowledgement of my communication, such as "I received your letter, and I will look into the matter".

I'm not in education, but to the extent there are some parallels to it in my job, it would not be seen as acceptable to completely ignore a concern from a client. Even if it meant working late, there would be an expectation that the letter/phone call etc. was at least acknowledged the day it was received.

[cc0789]

Depends on the nature.

But I wouldn't say the same day, but maybe 24 hours.

[HappyTexan]

I would wait a day. Teachers don't always have instant access to email if they have a full day of classes.
Sometimes they have to play catchup the next evening.

But you should at least have an acknowledgement that your message was received.
That's just common courtesy and I would call if you haven't received anything back within a day or two to make sure they got it.

[Larkspur123]

I probably wasn't clear in my post.

It has been longer than a day, and the person I am actually in contact with is the principal. She did reply back once, gave me a vague answer(that was on Monday), I replied back to her, requesting additional information and clarification, no reply back yet.

At this point if I don't hear back today, I'm guessing the soonest could hear next is Monday, it will be a week.

My own feeling is that they hope I won't be persistent, and will not pursue the matter.

[hypocore]

Originally Posted by Larkspur123

I probably wasn't clear in my post.

It has been longer than a day, and the person I am actually in contact with is the principal. She did reply back once, gave me a vague answer(that was on Monday), I replied back to her, requesting additional information and clarification, no reply back yet.

At this point if I don't hear back today, I'm guessing the soonest could hear next is Monday, it will be a week.

My own feeling is that they hope I won't be persistent, and will not pursue the matter.

Unless the Principal was directly involved with whatever it is you are concerned about, you have to expect them to need time to investigate your concern and consult with whomever they need before they can reach a conclusion or find a solution. Then you have to factor in all the other issues the Principal is dealing with alongside your concern and where yours will land in priority status. It is also quite possible they have passed this concern on to someone better able to handle it and they are the ones you are waiting on for a reply.

You didn't say what level of school, so that will make a difference. For instance, any concern sent to a Principal of a high school will definitely take much longer than one sent to an Elementary Principal due to simple logistics. High schools, in my area for example, are dealing with state standardized tests this week, graduation coming in 2 weeks, 2000+ students day to day issues and so on. I would have expected a response for a concern no sooner than a week.

I have to guess your concern is not relate to safety, abuse or failing grades otherwise you would have been there in person.

As an aside...if it deals with another student being a problem to your child, they legally cannot divulge what they are doing to resolve the issue regarding the other student. If it deals with a teacher being a problem to your student they have red tape they have to deal with and also cannot provide you with anything but a vague answer.