Guest guest Posted August 2, 2005 Report Share Posted August 2, 2005 Following up on a previous topic a while back, the school that fed my son meat on 2 occassions won in local small claims court. Unfortunately, I could not get a chance to represent my case, since I just had knee surgery, recovering from a car accident and the director spoke with me and said she'd reschedule the date and never did. (Needless to say it hasn't been a great year, but in trying to keep things on the bright side I'll continue). I was thinking of you all today and just wanted to put a reminder out how important it is to document in writing anything that happens and any special requirements for your children in school. I did have things in writing on the application, and had additional back-up, which I didn't get to present in person, since I was denied an adjournment. But when the school director brought the case, she brought a blank form for the one page that had " any special requirements " on it, instead of the filled out one I had that had vegetarian on it. I do not regret that I had pulled my son from the school, even though I was forced to pay for the full year's tuition. Being out of work, I was really stressing over it. Since then, I got back to work, and the school didn't delay one day in cashing the check. Which for me, puts me at peace. The whole thing is over. But, even though I thought I had a great connection with the director when I went ahead to check out the school. She not only lied to me about looking out for my soon, she falsified documents, and lied to me about helping grant an adjournment. Aside from being a regular old skeptic, I just would like to say that when it comes to money, people can really change their song. And I even had an extra hope since they are affiliated with the church. So, I'm glad that I got extra time with my son. I had to pay more for it, but in a way, maybe I appreciate that even more. Thanks for everyone's support through all of this. And please be sure to document on every page any concerns that you have, vegetarian, allergies, etc,..., even if you think you have written it and discussed it sufficiently. Janeen Start your day with - make it your home page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 Hello - I mostly lurk here and don't post too often, but I wanted to suggest that you check with the court to see if you have any recourse. I used to be an attorney. It has been a few years since I practiced, state laws vary and small claims court often has its own set of procedures. However, if she lied to you about changing the court date you may have recourse. I would contact the court ASAP - your best opportunity to get a judgement set aside is within 30 days. After that, it becomes more difficult. In general, the rules allow it only for fraud, mistake or irregularity, and those are all carefully defined. I believe, however, that fraud refers to extrinsic fraud (vs. intrinsic fraud such as perjury), such as what seems to have happened here. The court may say that it was up to you to confirm any postponements and not rely on her word, but it's worth checking. Karen (Baltimore, Md) -------------- Original message -------------- Following up on a previous topic a while back, the school that fed my son meat on 2 occassions won in local small claims court. Unfortunately, I could not get a chance to represent my case, since I just had knee surgery, recovering from a car accident and the director spoke with me and said she'd reschedule the date and never did. (Needless to say it hasn't been a great year, but in trying to keep things on the bright side I'll continue). I was thinking of you all today and just wanted to put a reminder out how important it is to document in writing anything that happens and any special requirements for your children in school. I did have things in writing on the application, and had additional back-up, which I didn't get to present in person, since I was denied an adjournment. But when the school director brought the case, she brought a blank form for the one page that had " any special requirements " on it, instead of the filled out one I had that had vegetarian on it. I do not regret that I had pulled my son from the school, even though I was forced to pay for the full year's tuition. Being out of work, I was really stressing over it. Since then, I got back to work, and the school didn't delay one day in cashing the check. Which for me, puts me at peace. The whole thing is over. But, even though I thought I had a great connection with the director when I went ahead to check out the school. She not only lied to me about looking out for my soon, she falsified documents, and lied to me about helping grant an adjournment. Aside from being a regular old skeptic, I just would like to say that when it comes to money, people can really change their song. And I even had an extra hope since they are affiliated with the church. So, I'm glad that I got extra time with my son. I had to pay more for it, but in a way, maybe I appreciate that even more. Thanks for everyone's support through all of this. And please be sure to document on every page any concerns that you have, vegetarian, allergies, etc,..., even if you think you have written it and discussed it sufficiently. Janeen Start your day with - make it your home page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 3, 2005 Report Share Posted August 3, 2005 What a nightmare for you! Where was it? This is my worst fear, and I am scared to put my young toddler in daycare because he always tries to get what others are eating and I am sure he will end up eating non-vegan things. I can't believe you couldn't even send in your filled-out form to the judge if you were disabled and could not attend. Take care, Sharon , janeen minguillo <jminshan> wrote: > > > Following up on a previous topic a while back, the school that fed my son meat on 2 occassions won in local small claims court. Unfortunately, I could not get a chance to represent my case, since I just had knee surgery, recovering from a car accident and the director spoke with me and said she'd reschedule the date and never did. > > (Needless to say it hasn't been a great year, but in trying to keep things on the bright side I'll continue). > > I was thinking of you all today and just wanted to put a reminder out how important it is to document in writing anything that happens and any special requirements for your children in school. I did have things in writing on the application, and had additional back-up, which I didn't get to present in person, since I was denied an adjournment. But when the school director brought the case, she brought a blank form for the one page that had " any special requirements " on it, instead of the filled out one I had that had vegetarian on it. I do not regret that I had pulled my son from the school, even though I was forced to pay for the full year's tuition. Being out of work, I was really stressing over it. Since then, I got back to work, and the school didn't delay one day in cashing the check. Which for me, puts me at peace. The whole thing is over. But, even though I thought I had a great connection with the director when I went ahead to check out the school. She not only lied to me > about looking out for my soon, she falsified documents, and lied to me about helping grant an adjournment. Aside from being a regular old skeptic, I just would like to say that when it comes to money, people can really change their song. And I even had an extra hope since they are affiliated with the church. > > So, I'm glad that I got extra time with my son. I had to pay more for it, but in a way, maybe I appreciate that even more. Thanks for everyone's support through all of this. And please be sure to document on every page any concerns that you have, vegetarian, allergies, etc,..., even if you think you have written it and discussed it sufficiently. > > Janeen > > > > > Start your day with - make it your home page > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted August 4, 2005 Report Share Posted August 4, 2005 Hi Karen, Thanks for your advice. It's true, the court clerk on the phone told me that I could appeal it. This is the same person who said to send a representative for myself to get an adjournment since the other party never reset the court date. I had spoken with this person on 2 accounts prior to my knee surgery to get it rescheduled and she told me that only the person who filed the claim could change the date. She gave me 3 dates, which I called the director of the pre-school with. The director Beth Byrnes, in New Rochelle, told me that she would look at her calendar to reschedule, at the same time she tried to convince me to go to the " People's Court " instead. I told her if we could reschedule it, I could think about it, since I was going away to my sister just before my surgery to recover so my sister and mother could help with the kids, as I wouldn't be able to walk for a little bit. Upon my return home, the day before the court date (I stayed at my sister's for almost a week), I called the court again, since I had not heard from Beth. The same clerk I had spoken with in person the week before said to send someone to get it rescheduled due to the situation. I sent my husband, and they denied any requests. So, he told me he had to state the case as best he could (despite that I had a whole folder with documentation), and was confident that we'd be fine. The following week, (a delay in judgement since it had not been heard by a judge, but an arbitrator instead) we got a letter in the mail that we owed the school the 6 months worth of tuition. I was just fuming and seeing red for about a week. I had 30 days to fight it, but in that time, I realized that I could get myself aggrevated all over about it (since the incident happened in January and the court papers came in mid May), and still have a chance at losing. Mind you, I have a 2yr old and a 4yr old, I'm trying to get to physical therapy for my knee to recover walking, and my mind was about to explode. I had no cash, and was scraping together to get babysitters just so I could get in once or twice of my 3x a week perscription. Auggh, frustrating is putting it mildly. So, I put it aside, decided to try to get well, start my new job, pay our rent and other overdue bills. Then when I had enough to cover it, I'd pay her. I'm actually proud that I put it behind me, because when I first got the paper for the lawsuit, I thought that I would have to file bankruptcy on top of it all. This has been quite a year, and we are still working on getting everything better. Life has drama, no doubt about it. My friend, who is also my babysitter (She's vegan!! ) just told me this morning that she is having a hard time watching my children for so many hours. And I was just feeling that it wasn't enough hours to get my work done and keep going for physical therapy. You know, one time while I was laying in bed, that I could barely walk and had my knee in a bending machine (CPM) to prevent scar tissue from forming and speed recovery, my kids were all over the place, jumping on my bed, and with all the demands of normal kids, just about to drive me crazy. But in a way that I really honestly considered if I would die on impact if I jumped out of my window on the 5th floor. That image brought me to the image of people jumping from the twin towers, and I just kept crying. Surely things would get better. This is not the worst that could be. Every day there are orphans left due to violence and war. Ignorance and drugs. I couldn't even imagine leaving my kids without me because I couldn't ask for help. But there are some days, when I'm so overwhelmed. Then I think, what do I have just enough of to change this. There has got to be just a little something that can make things just a little better. This may have led to a few extra pounds during the winter, since I found myself eating dessert as a special treat for myself when the kids went to bed. But not so much, that I haven't taken it back off since sweating like crazy this summer. Everything has a fine balance. And I wish I didn't have such a tortured conscience about every decision I make. Sometimes I'm a little jealous of people going through all of this life not thinking of the consequences. But then, I come back to myself and proud for any little bit that I can do. This is life and here we are. My children are my future and they are what I think of constantly, so I know I've got to teach them the right things, the best that I know. Even if it'd be easier another way. This went way long, so thanks for reading this far. I feel way better and am ready to figure out today's dilema. Peace and Love, Janeen kdetling wrote: Hello - I mostly lurk here and don't post too often, but I wanted to suggest that you check with the court to see if you have any recourse. I used to be an attorney. It has been a few years since I practiced, state laws vary and small claims court often has its own set of procedures. However, if she lied to you about changing the court date you may have recourse. I would contact the court ASAP - your best opportunity to get a judgement set aside is within 30 days. After that, it becomes more difficult. In general, the rules allow it only for fraud, mistake or irregularity, and those are all carefully defined. I believe, however, that fraud refers to extrinsic fraud (vs. intrinsic fraud such as perjury), such as what seems to have happened here. The court may say that it was up to you to confirm any postponements and not rely on her word, but it's worth checking. Karen (Baltimore, Md) -------------- Original message -------------- Following up on a previous topic a while back, the school that fed my son meat on 2 occassions won in local small claims court. Unfortunately, I could not get a chance to represent my case, since I just had knee surgery, recovering from a car accident and the director spoke with me and said she'd reschedule the date and never did. (Needless to say it hasn't been a great year, but in trying to keep things on the bright side I'll continue). I was thinking of you all today and just wanted to put a reminder out how important it is to document in writing anything that happens and any special requirements for your children in school. I did have things in writing on the application, and had additional back-up, which I didn't get to present in person, since I was denied an adjournment. But when the school director brought the case, she brought a blank form for the one page that had " any special requirements " on it, instead of the filled out one I had that had vegetarian on it. I do not regret that I had pulled my son from the school, even though I was forced to pay for the full year's tuition. Being out of work, I was really stressing over it. Since then, I got back to work, and the school didn't delay one day in cashing the check. Which for me, puts me at peace. The whole thing is over. But, even though I thought I had a great connection with the director when I went ahead to check out the school. She not only lied to me about looking out for my soon, she falsified documents, and lied to me about helping grant an adjournment. Aside from being a regular old skeptic, I just would like to say that when it comes to money, people can really change their song. And I even had an extra hope since they are affiliated with the church. So, I'm glad that I got extra time with my son. I had to pay more for it, but in a way, maybe I appreciate that even more. Thanks for everyone's support through all of this. And please be sure to document on every page any concerns that you have, vegetarian, allergies, etc,..., even if you think you have written it and discussed it sufficiently. Janeen Start your day with - make it your home page Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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