In the stack of papers parents at Salt Lake City’s Hawthorne Elementary sign at the start of the school year, the one labeled “Parent/Adult Volunteer Confidentiality Agreement” didn’t seem likely to set off alarm bells.
However, a few parents did raise objections, arguing the form amounted to a gag order to keep them from learning about bad behavior classmates might direct at their children. And, after a discussion between two parents and the school’s principal, the form will be rewritten to address those fears.
The “communication between parents,” said Megan Buhler, a mother of three Hawthorne students, “is one of the real strengths” of the school, and this form “is specifically designed to squash that, and I’m concerned about that.