Parents are forced to place a whole lot of trust into their children’s classroom teachers.
In fact, sometimes a parent may go months before even meeting the person who supervises their child for roughly eight hours a day.
A recent post on the “Am I the A**hole (AITA)” subReddit illustrated the unnerving possibilities of that dynamic.
The Original Poster (OP), known as Whole_Pattern_5589 on the site, led with a provocative title.
“AITA for getting a teacher fired when she wouldn’t let my daughter eat in class?”
OP kicked off with some important medical facts.
“My (47-year-old female) daughter (13-year-old female) is type 1 diabetic and sometimes hypoglycemic.”
“Due to this, we set up a 504 that says she can eat a snack in class whenever needed, along with other accommodations.”
So she was surprised by what happened next.
“Anyways, at one point one of her teachers, who is apparently a new teacher, denies her a snack while hypoglycemic.”
“She nearly passes out but in the next class she is in, the teacher has enough common sense to let her eat a snack before passing out at school.”
And yes, she was very concerned.
“When she told me, I immediately called the teacher. When she called back, I lectured her and told her that she needed to let my daughter eat a snack when needed.”
“She says snacks aren’t allowed in class but I tell her that due to my daughter’s 504 she is legally required to give my daughter an exception to that rule, and recommended she give it another read.”
“Before hanging up, I tell her that if she does this again I will contact the principal and let him know. I recorded this call on my husband’s phone by the way.”
OP thought that was the end of the ordeal.
“A month goes by and the same thing happens again. I request a meeting with the principal and my husband plays back the call between me and the teacher.”
“I tell him she has done this twice and needs to have a talk with her.”
Then another surprise came along.
“Turns out, he actually fired her for ADA violations.”
“How do I know? I ran into her at publix. She told me that it’s my fault I got her fired over ‘some stupid snacks’ and I need to stop raising an entitled brat.”
“Instead of arguing back I just walked away. Was I really TA? Did I actually go too far?”
Anonymous strangers weighed in by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
- NAH – No A**holes Here
Most Redditors were solidly on OP’s side.
“NTA in a million years. You are advocating for the health and safety of your child, she was in very real danger. Snacks are literally medical care she was being denied. That is never ever acceptable.”
“She’s getting off lightly by just being fired. I would contact the principal again regarding this interaction at the store and ask if there is a formal complaint that can be made against the teacher’s license.” — Simple_Smell6145
“NTA. I studied to be an art teacher for a while, and we talked quite a bit about students having special accommodations (and how to deal with them.) This teacher should have known better, no question about it.” — Graflex1867
“NTA. Seems like that teacher made that restriction up in her head. Also, it’s not about “stupid snacks” it’s about your daughter’s LIFE.” — Lauren34567
“NTA at all, she broke the law and endangered you daughter TWICE. Knowingly putting your students’ health at risk is her fault, not yours. It was far from a ‘stupid snack’ ” — Unknownuser742
“This teacher isn’t a doctor, she doesn’t get to decide if your daughter cant have a snack to keep herself from getting sick. I’m assuming her passing out would be very dangerous. I for one am glad to hear she got fired. Nta.” — Magical_Pancakes1
Others put things into perspective.
“The whole point of things like 504s and IEPs is that they are NOT optional or subject to the whims of petty tyrants. Fu** that lady.”
“NTA, obviously” — smurtzenheimer
“NTA. A 504 is a legally binding agreement that the school HAS to follow. The teacher was actually probably fired because she didn’t follow the 504, and the school could get into trouble for that.” — Forward-Beyond4739
“NTA. As a special education teacher, I can assure you that teacher needed to go. If this teacher, and a BRAND NEW teacher, was violating letting a student eat snacks as stated in her 504, I wouldnt be surprised if the other 504s and IEPs in the class were being violated.”
“Not sure what state you live in. But in my state, all teachers have to sign the IEPs and 504 within the first 2 weeks of school stating they read them for each student in their class. Most states have some kind of similar legal requirement.”
“Either this teacher signed without reading, or she read them and decided to discriminate against students based on medical conditions and disabilities.”
“You did the right thing and protected other students from her.” — kfisch2014
“I have known people who are type 1 diabetic. I also knew one person who died from it.”
“The teacher should have known better. It is their job to ensure not just the safety of their students, but to educate them. I’m glad her a** got fired. She had no business being around children because of her complete lack of care, especially for this situation.”
“Diabetes is an invisible illness, and if the proper care is not taken, a person can die. There is no excuse for this teacher’s behavior.” — FiveNations54
Other people couldn’t help but see some irony in the grocery store confrontation.
“NTA ‘You almost killed my child.’ ‘I dOnT cArE, yoU gOt Me FiReD!’ “
“Talk about an entitled brat.” — TheJostler
“NTA ‘It’s your fault that you threw your career away over ‘some stupid snacks’.’ ” — StAlvis
Looks like OP can rest assured not only that her daughter is safe at school, but that she did nothing wrong.