This is what happened at the school today

I showed up at the school without an appointment and as soon as I gave my name, the secretary asked "is this about what happened last night?" So the principal was summoned and apparently had other obligations which were put on hold for this important matter. She had not been informed until I came about what happened. The secretary told her what happened (from her POV) and then the teacher in question was summoned. He came very quickly. We talked it out and the principal was very surprised that a teacher transported Daniel when that is never done. It came down to several things, the most important issue to me was the fact that my son was transported without permission. Now, the only saving grace that I can say is that the teacher actually knew my father personally and for many years, so he, as a friend of my dad, decided to take a chance and take Daniel to "Pa's" office and that he would not do that with any other student. It was a big chance and thank the LORD nothing happened. I accepted this as a explanation because I, in fact, have known this teacher since he was a child, and know his parents and family, too. The only thing that I would want to be changed was if they could have called and left a last message saying what they decided to do under the circumstances. The principal was really surprised that he decided to do this. And if she had been there or the vice principal would have been there it never would have happened. Another issue that preceeded this was the fact that there was not updated phone numbers in which to call and no "extra" numbers, this was of course my fault. I should have called in and said that since our cell phones are not on for an undetermined period of time, here are some new numbers to call just in case. My brother's number had changed and the only other numbers on there were cell phones that were off at the time. The other main issue that I had was the checks and balances making sure kids get to detention ("D-Hall"). No one ever questioned why he was not there, no one had a list of kids who were supposed to be there. Well, apparently this issue may never be resolved because it was not an unusual situation to have a kid skip d-hall. They USUALLY hop the bus home and then the school's hands are tied and they just give them an extra day of d-hall. MY son had to not only skip but stick around! They had never had this happen before. Usually this would have been resolved quickly because if I would have been available by phone, I would have said "get that kid to detention"! The last issue is Daniel, he just perpetuated this cherade for the secretary and teacher, did not tell them he had d-hall, did not tell them that he KNEW I would be at the library, and it went so far that he got a free ride to "Pa's" work which was a great payoff for him! He got exactly what he wanted. He didn't think it through to the end, though, because this affected a lot of people. The principal was truly concerned for his safety and had not had an incident like this for quite some time. I mean the way an 11 year old can manipulate the system like this? Shouldn't the system be changed if this happens? At least tweaked! She (principal) had Daniel come to the office while I was there and we both talked to him and explained how his actions affected so many people. That he is to never do things like this again. We hugged and sent him on to class. We had talked last night and he was crying as he said he was sorry for scaring me. He will not be going on a camping trip this weekend, he has to do his brother's and sister's chores through the weekend because this effected the whole family in a negative way and he gets Saturday detention for this stunt.
The issues with the school are still there in a way. I feel like they heard me out, they did what they could while I was there, and I got everything out in the open. I voiced my concerns about the detention checking thing and since this was a first for them, and is not a significant problem and is usually resolved with a phone call, I don't think they will change anything. The teacher will be spoken to by the principal, and again since nothing happened, I don't know what I can do more besides address the issue at hand which I did. This is a new and unusual situation, and the last 10 days of school so I understand why they are not jumping to change policies and proceedures, however I would have liked her to say that they would look into their current policies since these are kids who are looking for ways to get away with things!
I think I accomplished what I wanted to and got what I wanted initially. Next school year, the middle school is moving to a new building and it will only be for 6th, 7th and 8th grades. I think that with the 5th grade thrown with the middle school that they forget that they are only 10 and 11 years old. They still need to be checked up on. 12-14 year olds need that too but in a different way. I'm sure this will be an incident that will be remembered and prevented in the future. If my son goes there next year I will look into things and make sure there is some checks in place to keep the kids safer, even the kids who try to get away with things.
So now, you my dear reader, what should I do from here? What more could I have done? I would like to hear different points of view. Not ones that say I should have gone to the school half-cocked and demanded resignations of all involved, that's a little extreme and not respectful and remember my son was the one who knew better and totally did the wrong thing. It would be interesting for me to hear what you have to say, so post and let me know! I'm a little tired right now, only got 3-4 hours sleep within the last 2 days. Maybe I'll be able to get some sleep after work (I'm here now -- midnight job) and think a little more clearly. good bye!