In Defense of Rochelle Marbury

A school principal gets skewered for sending a form letter to a family that took their kids to Boston for a week.  The parent's response letter in Facebook is held up as an atta boy because the parents thought the trip was more important than going to school and that they could learn a lot from the trip as well by going on the trip.

I for one was a little confused about the reason for the family trip to Boston. Was it to see Dad run in the Boston Marathon and visit Boston, and attend a funeral. On one hand it is clear that Mr. Rossi would have had a once in a lifetime experience qualifying for the Boston Marathon and running in the Marathon. A Grandmother's death was also mentioned but it is unclear where that death took place and if it had anything to do with the planned trip to Boston, the response letter written by Mr. Rossi is at best unclear on this matter.

I get the idea that qualifying for the Boston Marathon is a big deal. For marathon runners it is sort of like going to Mecca. In Massachusetts, Patriot's Day is a legal holiday.

School officials having to enforce attendance policies have a thankless job and if it was a week in Miami after a snowy winter that might also qualify as a good reason for a family trip.

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