The decidedly unexceptional workplace culture of the Program for Exceptional Children

I have clients. If my clients email me with a question or request, I make it a high priority to answer their emails quickly--but always, always the same business day. No inquiry is so trivial that it doesn't get a comprehensive written response.

This doesn't make me special. This kind of behavior is so fundamental to success in the world of business that to do otherwise just isn't an option.

Let me put it another way: people who don't answer emails from their clients are unprofessional. They are not qualified to hold a job of high importance in, say, a program as critical to thousands of taxpaying Atlanta families as the APS Program for Exceptional Children.

But in the APS Program for Exceptional Children, there is a different ethic. An ethic that says, "we need not answer parent emails at all, but if we do deign to answer your email, you may expect a bureaucratic, ungrammatical non-answer that was typed in a great hurry without the benefit of forethought or, for that matter, spell-check."

Now, that's quite an accusation, so let's back it up with some facts.

Our family has had four permanent (and one very short-term temp) PEC liaisons in the three years we've been in the program.

Let's look at their track records:

LIAISON #1: (2006-2007) HILLARY MILLER, Morningside Elementary School

Claimed to not be able to operate her school-issued laptop. Rarely responded to email inquiries. Terrible follow-through on meeting requests and in general.

LIAISON #2: (2008-'09) CECIL DALTON, Morningside Elementary School

Ignored pointed and extremely important emails about our child's IEP throughout the school year, despite many follow-ups by phone and email. Flat-out refused to answer questions sent via email. When he did reply, this employee seemed unable to compose a single sentence in clear English.

LIAISON #3: (2009-2010) FAUSTINA THOMPSON, Springdale Park Elementary School

Failed to answer most emails, including a number of extremely critical, time-sensitive inquiries that had to do with the placement of our child in the new school. Behaved inappropriately at IEP meeting, and then quickly vanished altogether on medical leave, without bothering to inform any of her parents that she was abandoning their case files.

LIAISON #4: VERNITA BURFORD, Springdale Park Elementary School. Has refused to reply to most emails. When confronted about this at IEP meeting, only shook her head, as if to say, I have no real reason for why I have refused to correspond with you. (I'm not certain if this is what she was trying to tell me with her sad little head-shake; maybe it was more like, "you arrogant, insufferable bastard; how dare you put me on the spot in front of all these other people.")

And our liaisons are not the only people who have refused to answer our emails.

What is the problem with the PEC's workplace culture, that the employees feel emboldened to ignore inquiries from parents?

PEC employees exist to serve special-need children. The advocates for those children are us, the parents. We are the PEC's clients. We are also collaborating partners in the enterprise that is the IEP team.

PEC employees would probably think twice before ignoring emails from their bosses, Constance Goodson and Aaron Fernander.

But they have no problem at all ignoring questions asked by us, the PEC's real constituency.

When you run into this problem (for it certainly cannot just be the case that our family has happened to encounter the only four PEC liaisons who do not meet any sort of professional standard for communicating with their collaborating team members), speak up about it. Constance Goodson's phone number is 404-802-2612 and Mr. Fernander's number is 404-802-2686.

I suggest you telephone, rather than email. Yes, I know it's 2009, and we've had email for 16 years now.

But a workplace culture is a slow ship to turn around. I hope Mr. Fernander is tugging with all his might. He'll need to.