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Teacher's Response To Coloring Assignment Upsets Citrus Heights Mom

CITRUS HEIGHTS (CBS13) — A Citrus Heights mother is outraged over a coloring project assigned to her kindergarten student at Oakview Community Elementary in Orangevale.

The problem isn't with the assignment itself, but instead with what the teacher wrote on it.

Like the drawings they create, learning is part of the beauty of being a kindergartner.

Mother Elise Perkins said, "That's what school is about, learning and feeling good about learning."

And as for those that teach them, Perkins said, "You expect them to be nurturing and understanding."

That's why Perkins was shocked when her daughter's in-class coloring assignment was criticized by her teacher. In black marker, the teacher commented on the drawing asking, "Directions or color blind?"

At first, Perkins says she was confused.

"What are you supposed to take away from that?"

And then she became angry.

"The comment is just so unmerited and especially for someone being five."

She says it's clear her daughter understood not only the directions but her colors as well.

"There's only five colors here, and at some point in the picture she identified all five correctly."

The little girl did confuse a few sections, but she matched 28 of 32 of them with the right color. Perkins called a meeting with school officials to complain about the comment. San Juan Unified School District told CBS13 the teacher said she did have a legitimate concern about the child.

On Friday, the teacher sent a letter of apology to the family saying in part, "In retrospect, I acknowledge that a short message written on an assignment was not the appropriate way to share the issue."

"That's malarky," said Perkins.

Perkins says the only issue is with the teacher, because the picture in her eyes, is perfect.

'I love the picture, I love it. I mean, she got most of it right, and it's beautiful. It's a butterfly, how could you not love it?"

Perkins says she was so upset she even tried to change her daughter's classroom but was not successful.

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