The ADAP Saga Wraps Up

The ADAP saga is a wrap! Yay! 

Friday morning I received a phone call from a gentleman named Roy, official in charge of the eADAP for the state of Georgia.  He receives upwards of twenty calls per hour, countless messages and a ridiculous  number of emails.  He juggles all of that with the activities and duties associated with managing a program mandated by the state.  Roy is a busy guy.

In spite of that, Roy walked me though eADAP application submission.  Understanding our time constraint and the circumstances that created it, he went further out of his way to immediately assign a log-in and password in order to avoid the requisite 5-business-day wait. 

This was not a life and death situation.  Susan, Mike (see previous posts), and Roy were under no obligation to spend hours researching this problem and unearthing a fix.   They at any point could have told my daughter, "Sorry you fell through the cracks, kid. Better luck next time."  Instead, they cared enough about the situation of one girl, whose dilemma affected no one but herself, to work through the red tape.

As of 7:00 this evening, my daughter passed the final test for the eADAP online and has in her hot little hands a certificate of completion. Hallelujah! Driver's license testing will commence on schedule.

This is one bump in the road I am glad to have behind me. All that is left now is to mail thank you notes and deliver fresh baked goods to Susan, Mike and Roy, because nothing says, "I appreciate you!" like something good and fattening.


Til next time -
Lisa

Cluelessness Doesn't Have to be Incurable!

I promised an update to the ADAP saga.  Here it is!

My natural optimism won the day, though it started out iffy. After a runaround from the high school counselor whose cluelessness was surpassed only by her lack of motivation to help, we were fortunate to meet Susan in the curriculum department who, initially clueless, desired to upgrade her status to "informed". Susan jumped into our dilemma and started from scratch, making phone calls and sending emails to anyone who might help resolve the situation.

In the course of Susan's investigation, she involved a gentleman named Mike, a driver's ed administrator from the community school (not the high school, though they are affiliated). Mike, like Susan, started out clueless and invested time to learn about the online ADAP program.  He phoned me at 4:00 to fill me in.

The eADAP, as it is called, is a new program, rolled out by the state of Georgia earlier this year to attend to special circumstances like my daughter's.  Because it is new, the high school has yet to assign an administrator to, um, administrate.  Simply put, they dropped the ball.

Mike is now on a mission to make this course available through the high school and community school, something that should have occurred months ago.  He contacted the state official in charge of the eADAP program who agreed to help me set up my young 'un for the online course.

So all's well that end's well, though it hasn't ended yet.  This techno-dweeb must be talked through administration sign-up and password acquisition for the eADAP, and my daughter must complete the course modules.  My optimism continues to reign, though.  We'll git 'er done.

I offer a giant thank you to Susan and Mike, two people who didn't have to care or take the time to research and solve a problem they were not responsible for, but did.

All without me having to grovel or provide a tiramisu bribe. Some people just rock.

Til next time -
Lisa

Driving Me Crazy!

Courtesy of dreamstime.com.

Today I intended to write about my daughter's scare with appendicitis, but I've tossed that into the backseat in favor of grumbling about administrative mess-ups.

My daughter, Christina, (she of the appendicitis scare) is scheduled to test for her driver's license on the 26th of this month. Appointments are scheduled two months out, so if you miss one, you're plumb out of luck for at least sixty days. That's, like, a kajillion in teen years.

In preparation for her test, she acquired her Driver's Ed certificate from the main office at her high school and trekked over to the attendance office to obtain her certificate of attendance.  She is also required to have an ADAP (Alcohol and Drug Awareness Program) card, proof that she completed the ADAP course.  That was when the trouble started.  It seems that the ADAP course has nothing to do with driver's ed, but is typically acquired through completion of the high school's health class.  Except, buttercup, the high school neglected to include health in Christina's curriculum.

As you might imagine, I received a frantic phone call from my young 'un, complete with copious tears, informing me that because the school never assigned the health class she never received the ADAP curriculum and would not, therefore, be able to get her license as scheduled.  Horrors!

I did my mommy duty and contacted the school administrator who directed me to the Georgia Department of Driver Services' website for ADAP info.  Hallelujah! A class was being offered---this very night!---through a local police department and, according to the online information, my kidlet could attend. Not so. We arrived at the PD and were told, uh-uh, the class is only for homeschoolers and private school students.  Kids enrolled in public education must either complete the ADAP through their high school health class or take the course online.  The online class may only be accessed through application by a high school administrator, so you know who I'll be bribing/begging/meeting with tomorrow.  I wonder which is more appropriate for groveling before a high school administrator? Cookies or tiramisu?

Will this be an easy fix or a head-on collision? Why did the school neglect to assign a mandatory class (three years running), causing this whole kerfluffle? Why did the DDS website omit the information that the evening class was not available to public school students, causing yours truly to drive all over creation looking for the blasted police department, only to be turned away? Why, oh, why, am I out of Peanut M&Ms when I need them the most? Why?

Scintillating questions with no answers forthcoming.  I will, however, footnote this tomorrow with a blurb about my upcoming adventures with the high school administrators.  If all the stars align and the moon is in Jupiter with Neptune rising...or whatever...I'll be able to applaud the prompt and cheerful assistance to this matter by a government employee.  A natural optimist, I really believe it will happen. 

Really.

Til tomorrow -
Lisa