SUPERIOR, Wis. - An extra two letters cost the Superior Middle School administration a little embarrassment when report cards were mailed out last week. But fixing the mistake won't cost much from the school's pocketbook.
Parents were surprised to read the mission statement printed at the bottom of the SMS first grading period report cards: Superior Middle School "Providing all irrelevant tools to develop a foundation for living, learning and working successfully."
Elise Meys of Superior missed the error the first time around. All she saw were her daughter's grades - A's and B's. But a friend of hers told her to look at the phrase again. It gave Meys a chuckle.
"It's funny," she said, but it was no big deal. The important part - the grades - were there.
The district received a couple parent complaints about the phrase, according to Superior School District Superintendent Janna Stevens. They thought the district was making a joke.
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"It wasn't a joke," Stevens said. "Certainly we didn't think it was funny."
The mistake occurred when the school mission was typed into the PowerSchool computer program prior to printing the records, the superintendent said.
Monday, SMS Principal Rick Flaherty sent out an e-mail to parents to let them know the quote was wrong. It should have read "Providing all children with the relevant tools to develop a foundation for living, learning and working successfully." At the bottom of the e-mail, Flaherty noted that report cards would be reprinted and mailed out Tuesday.
"We wanted to acknowledge the fact that it did happen," the principal said in a Wednesday telephone interview. "We wanted to fix it as quickly as we could."
By reissuing the report cards, Stevens said, parents will have clean, correct copies for scrapbooks or momento boxes.
According to Flaherty, there are approximately 1,015 students at Superior Middle School - some of whom have report cards sent to more than one address. He estimated the cost to mail the report cards would be more than $500.
Meys was flabbergasted when she got the e-mail.
"It's a huge waste," she said. While students were launching fundraisers to pay for class trips, Meys said, the district shouldn't spend that kind of money to fix a grammar error.
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Many parents felt the same way. Flaherty said about half a dozen parents e-mailed back to protest the expense of mailing the corrected report cards.
"Some were pretty adamant about the fact," he said.
Having parents step up to encourage the school district to save money was a positive outcome to the snafu, Stevens said.
The district changed its plan. "New and improved" report cards have already been printed out and stuffed in envelopes, Flaherty said. Instead of paying 44 cents each to mail them, the corrected copies will be sent home with students by today.
"If someone wants us to mail them we certainly will," the principal said, but most will arrive home in a more cost-friendly manner.
