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Be polite

Submitted by chrismyers on Sat, 02/20/2010 - 19:01

School districts embroiled in major lawsuits like to say their insurance covers legal expenses. But expensive lawsuits bring higher premiums, and those who've been through such suits say schools pay another cost as well -- in the time, attention, and energy drained away from everything else. Some lawsuits can't be avoided, but others can. Parents who take their school districts to court almost invariably say school officials ignored their complaints or insulted their families. Before Lisa Herdahl filed a lawsuit aimed at stopping prayers in the Pontotoc County, Miss., schools, she tried talking with a teacher, an assistant principal, a principal, the school board, and even the state board of education. Local board members frustrated her by staring at the ceiling and getting up to leave the room while she was talking. Her family never would have filed the suit, she said at the time, if school officials "had listened and made an attempt -- made an attempt -- to solve the problem."http://www.asbj.com/199805/0598coverstory.html