That seems pretty tame to me. I was expecting some F bombs.

i dont think the issue is whether he should have gone to school (which i think they should have, i went to a school where we pretty much never got snow days, because there was no busing), but whether she was inappropriate in calling him. i'm pretty confident that she WAS inappropriate...she just should have ignored the kid. by reacting that was she is just as dumb as the kid is. and i'm sure the snotty nosed brat things will be pretty damaging to her husband.

Wow. What. A. Bitch.

I'd be a bit peeved if some kid called my house, but it comes with the territory. Kids can be smart and can use the phone book just like anyone else. If she didn't want phone calls from students, their number should be unlisted.

Her words and demeanor indicate a larger problem at home as she expresses displeasure with the fact her husband is out every night for school business. It sounds like she's not too happy with his work schedule.

I dunno. If I'm a school administrator (or any other public figure, for that matter) who doesn't want people calling my house, I'd be pretty sure my number isn't made public, or in the phone book, whitepages.com, or whatever.

That's just my two cents. Otherwise, realize kids are going to get your home number and take it worth a grain of salt (pun intended).

I would've done the same thing as Mrs. Tistadt. Sure, she probably should've kept her cool, but that kid was way out of line calling their home, and then posting this a private voicemail on youtube. There is absoslutely NO excuse for the kind of rudeness he is displaying here. He had only one purpose in mind and that is to shame and ridicule the Tistadts. He's just a straight out punk, and should be suspended!

If that kid really had a legitimate issue with having to go to school in snow, he should've called the OFFICE not the administrator's home. What that kid did was the same as making a harassing phone call. No wonder the wife was angry. She was NOT being a bitch...she was being protective of her husband. Nothing wrong with that.

More power to her, frankly...

Demonfafa, I totally agree with you. I mean, the kid called a phone number that was listed in the phone book. Big deal. And it did sound like Mrs. Tistadt was a little more angry than she needed to be, so maybe she is bothered by her husband's work schedule and the message from the kid set her over the top.

I mean the age breakdown, not ago breakdown.

"I mean, the kid called a phone number that was listed in the phone book. Big deal."

Absolutely. No law was broken. But a code of conduct was. So, by the same token as it's OK for him to call her and harass their family at home, she had just as much right to call him back, and tell him what's what. I don't make any judgment as to whether it was the best response, but it was well within her rights if you think it was within his to call them.

Do you really think the only reason we shouldn't bug people at home about professional matters is because their number's not listed? Why should the code of social conduct depend only on how easily a number is available? That's crap. He crossed the line.

Candy Tistadt: You're my hero.

As for the kid: Posting a video on YouTube of an angry phone message. How subversive and clever. Really. I mean it.

And the other kids quoted in the Post article yapping about how someone finally stuck up for them and their right to free speech. i'm still laughing at that one.

(And the most annoying part is that the kid's parents are probably BESIDE themselves that someone would dare yell at their poor defenseless child, who was only expressing his disappointment that he couldn't spend the day sitting on his ass playing video games and updating his myspace page. and now he'll never ever ever get over his new-found fear of leaving voice messages. boo hoo.)

"That made her seem like the 17 year old in the siutation."

Like you said, we don't know what he actually said. But I don't even think it matters. You think she seems like the 17-year old? She didn't post his message on youtube.

The kid called their home. She called her back. Fine, that was a personal matter. The only reason anyone cares about this is because the kid decided to take a PERSONAL voice mail message and publish it on the internet. That is WAY worse than whatever either of them might have said.

"Seriously, why are kids so derided these days for raging against the machine or defying authority?"

Let's not go overboard here. The kid wasn't complaining about an unfair dress code or having his article censored from the school paper. He was getting bent out of shape about not getting a snow day when there was three inches of snow on the ground. That's not raging against the machine, that's being a whiny brat.

You want to know why so many kids are derided for defying authority? Because of kids like this, who make the ones with legitimate beefs look like spoiled whiners. Defiance isn't an end, it's a means.

Was she out of line? Sure, she should have hit delete and moved on with her life. But that doesn't mean the kid didn't have it coming to him.

Mrs. Tisdadt's real crime here was being stupid enough to leave her rant on a voice mail; that's like sending your boss/co-worker/subordinate an angry e-mail, you're just asking for trouble because that thing will quickly develop legs. If you don't want people posting your angry ramblings on YouTube, then don't allow your angry ramblings to be recorded.

The kid was a whiny brat for complaining about not getting a snow day, but he was working within the system and used the tools at his disposal to fight back as he saw fit. Tisdadt was correct for giving the kid some credit for not taking the easy road and posting anonymously.

I call this a draw.

I've worked for a public official before, and I'd have to say that one person calling a local public official's listed home phone number after not being able to reach them at the office is at worst a minor breach of propriety.

What's more, if I were working for a public official, and a constituent had called me at home and there was a recording of me responding like Mrs. Tisdale, I would have been reprimanded or fired. It wouldn't matter how much the other person deserved it, and in this case we don't even know what Kori's message for Tisdale said, or how it sounded.

That said, Kori should not have posted the Tisdales' home number, even if it was a matter of public record. Posting the work number would have been sufficient to make the point; posting the home number just encouraged harassment.

MAJOR *yawn*age. You guys really care that much about this? Pretty silly stuff.

I'd like to hear exactly what the kid said. I've read what he says he said on their machine, but I'd like to hear it/read a transcript. My guess is the kid wasn't as calm and innocent as he's saying he was.

Looks like we have a tie in this, the 127th Annual Upper Class Twit of the Year Show. There certainly will be a lot of car door slamming in Burke tonight!

The rudeness, pettyness, and ignorance of people will never cease to amaze me. Any day now, I expect to walk into work and see people pooping in the sink and wiping their butts on the drapes.

Any day now, I expect to walk into work and see people pooping in the sink and wiping their butts on the drapes.

It's going on, but you probably just haven't been there early or late enough to see it.

And now it's on CNN's main page:

Wife's angry voicemail becomes Internet hit

Yeah, a-goddamn-men to that. College admissions officers or potential future employers.

I have a feeling that Kori's 3.977 GPA and extracurriculars will go a long way toward allaying the concerns of college admissions officers, and nobody will care about what he did in high school when he gets around to applying for jobs post-college.

Perhaps its because I grew up in small suburb in the Midwest, but calling the administrators at home is pretty much par for the course. Most administrators home telephone numbers were listed in the school directory. We regularly called our doctors at home as well. Of course, we knew each other. We went to the same churches and shopped at the same grocery stores. We took swim lessons with their kids. Many of our teachers and administrators were products of the same school district. As we got older and into high school, more of the teachers lived in other towns in order to make running into their students a little bit more difficult. But still, it wasn't impossible to get their phone numbers.

And from what the post said, he wasn't sneaky about it. He left his full name and number on his message. That seems completely above the board to me.

We used to have this cranky old man in my hometown that would lead the coalition against any increase in taxes or money spent on schools. He just didn't think we needed anything more than we had. At one point, I got tired of it. And called him at home, we had a civil conversation about what the high school needed and why I thought he was wrong.

He didn't accuse me of harassing him that's for damn sure. She's the one here that sounds like the brat.

mobycat: As I understand, disclosure is only a crime when the recording was unlawfully obtained. And it looks like it would be a Class 6 felony.

I have a feeling that Kori's 3.977 GPA and extracurriculars will go a long way toward allaying the concerns of college admissions officers, and nobody will care about what he did in high school when he gets around to applying for jobs post-college.

You may be absolutely right. He may be such a catch that everything, from this point forward, will be a waltz for him, and all will be handed to him on a silver platter.

All I'm saying is, sometimes behaving like an asshole can have unexpected repercussions (as I have learned from personal experience).

Then again, there are plenty of people who act like assholes doing perfectly well for themselves.

This kid's a little too clever for my tastes. Some fed up adults ought to get togther and call his house at 4:00 AM. Shouldn't be too hard. There are only three Kori families listed in Burke.

Virginia is a one party consent state:

Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-62: Despite the fact that it is generally a felony to intercept or disclose the contents of any wire, oral or electronic communication under state law, the recording or disclosing of communications by a party, or with the consent of a party, is specifically permitted.

Under the statute, consent is not required for the taping of a non-electronic communication uttered by a person who does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy in that communication. See definition of "oral communication," Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-61; Belmer v. Commonwealth, 553 S.E.2d 123 (Va. App. 2001).

Criminal penalties for violations of the law include imprisonment of not less than one year, but not more than five years, or imprisonment for not more than 12 months and a fine of up to $2,500. Va. Code ann. § 18.2-10. Civil actions are authorized for recovery of actual damages, $100 for each day of violation or $1,000 — whichever is greater. Punitive damages, attorney fees and litigation costs can be recovered as well. Va. Code Ann. § 19.2-69.

Yes the student shouldn't have called the home. But as a public official they shouldn't have their phone number listed. I would hope that Mrs. Tistadt remembers its because of those "Snot nosed Brats" that her husband HAS a job. And as a libraian at a Fairfax School I sure hope she doesn't take her rage out daily on students who may ask a question she doesn't deem approiate!!!!!

"Poor Candy" is a FCPS employee at Eagle View Elementary School -- not some ignorant wife of a COO whose buttons got pushed. Anyone with an inkling of sensibility should have known better, but for a school employee to show a complete lack of common sense and self-control is UNACCEPTABLE -- period. She should not be allowed anywhere near the "snotty nosed brats" she so abhors.

If I had said anything close to this when I taught school, and I wouldn't have, I have no doubt that I would (and should) have been fired. She should not be working with kids -- period!

It IS interesting that she was not at work on the snow day, but I am guessing that she was taking a "mental health day" :)

$152,145 = Dean Tistadt's Salary (as of 11/1/04)
As a former public school teacher, whose compensation was less than 20% of Mr. Tistadt’s, here are my thoughts...

First of all, please pause for a moment and answer this question:
Have you or your spouse / significant other EVER chosen to respond to a message that a client/boss left for the other party and then decided to leave a RECORDED irate tirade referring to the other party's client base in derogatory terms, e.g. "snotty-nosed little brats"?

This wasn't an impulsive *69 reaction to a 2 a.m. prank phone call. Mrs. Tistadt took the time to listen to the message. She got Mr. Kori’s name and phone number. She then decided to call a student -- a minor, and when she reached a voice mail box, she made the decision to RECORD an abusive rant on an underage minor's voicemail. This is not the behavior of a rational adult – period!

If Mrs.Tistadt doesn't want to receive calls from her husband's clients a.k.a. the "snotty-nosed little brats" that are keeping him out late at night (???), then I highly recommend that she:
#1 Encourage her poor, tortured husband to resign from his position as a public official making in excess of $152,145. I feel confident that there are plenty of highly qualified individuals who, along with their family members, have enough commonsense a) not to respond to work related messages at home if that is too unbearable or b) to get an unlisted number.

#2 Seek Professional Help ASAP for rage / anger management, destructive / inappropriate behavior (lack of impulse control), apparent general misery / unhappiness, &/or whatever other issues she has. Since she is now a celebrity, she may want to follow the usual “out of control celebrity” process of issuing an apologetic statement explaining her psychotic breakdown and immediately entering rehab.

Seriously though, if you or your spouse make less than $150,000 per year & have ever received a call from a client/boss outside of the office and handled it without having a psychotic meltdown, then you should be taking young Mr. Kori's side, too.

The snow is a moot point. However, for those non-D.C. area people please know that it is not the amount of snow so much as the fact that even when it rains here; people completely forget how to drive, and the roads are truly dangerous. There were many valid concerns from rational adults as to the safety issues involved in having kids, parents, and buses on the roads given the weather we ended up with that day.

Young Mr. Kori took some (perhaps naive / misguided) initiative and determined the specific individual responsible for a decision that he disagreed with, which was Mr. Tistadt. Mr. Kori then attempted to contact Mr. Tistadt at his office and got no answer. Mr. Kori then chose to call the HIGHLY COMPENSATED public employee, Mr. Tistadt, at a published number, where Mr. Kori then left both his full name and his phone number. This was NOT a prank call, but a call made to a published number during acceptable calling hours. Mr. Kori left a message for Mr. Tistadt, not Mrs. Tistadt. Mrs. Tistadt chose to sieze her 15 minutes of fame.

People who refer to students as "clients" or "customers" of public schools sound ... a little stupid.
For a variety of reasons.

Oh-no, you did NOT just post his home phone and address! HA!

The kid's a brat. He could not wait for the Tistatd to call him back? How many of us have to wait a few hours for our bosses to reply to us? They are in meetings or attending to more urgent matters- that's life.

Candy is a brat too. Her voice mail was so very angry. Not just annoyed, or peeved, but raging. Seriously lady, take a chill pill.

They raised the kid, they are not innocent.

Guilt by association? All I can say is that I strongly disagree...

I would like to claim the same right accorded to both original parties in this dispute, that is to react immediately and without any forethought whatever to what I, personally, consider a desperately important matter.

And here it is: 3 inches of snow? My own mother would have laughed out loud and then pushed me down the stairs and chased me all the way to school with a wooden spoon. And on foot!

The kid is 17 years old. He's old enough to drive and take responsibility for the lives of every other person he meets on the road. But he's too sensitive to drive in inclement weather. (Lamer.)

Had he gotten the "snow day" he was after, would he have driven to the nearest ski hill and spent the day productively skiing and having fun? Perhaps. That's his right as a responsible adult with a driver's license and access to someone else's car and gas card.

Instead, that evil woman expects him risk his precious life driving all the way to school to get an education. What a cow, eh?

And her husband had the nerve not to drop everything and handle poor little Davey's crisis right away. Shame on you Mr Administrator. You're a meanie.

This boy's parents have obviously taught him about his rights. What a shame they didn't teach him some other grown up words - like respect, responsibility, and consideration.

All the blame in this lies squarely at the feet of Little Davey's 'alleged' parents. They have failed to raise a responsible child, and now he will probably drop out of school and become a crack whore or a terrorist because the system isn't working for him personally. Oh the humanity!

So what else can he do but try to shame the wicked people responsible for his unhappiness by showing the whole world that they are bad people who think they have a right not to be held accountable 24/7 by those whose lives are being ruined, ruined I say, by their failure to shut down the system when millions of dangerous six-pointed Ninja Death Stars are dropping out of the sky willy nilly onto the heads of poor little children all over Virginia?

Little Davey is a spoiled brat. Whether or not he is snotty-nosed, well, I'd bet his Mommy still wipes his nose before she sees him off to school each morning with a cookie and a kiss and pat on the head.

Devraj Kori, you are indeed a spoiled little brat. but that's not your fault. Clearly, your parents are pitiably under skilled in the art of parenting.

The obvious solution here is to fire the school administrator and put his wife in charge. Then, there might be some vestige of hope for America's future leaders.

Until then, at least you have another little George W. Bush in the making, so you won't lack for the kind of leadership that these apparent values deserve.

In closing, your honour, I'd like to quote my old friend Confucius who said 5000 years ago, "If you love your son give him plenty of the cudgel. If you hate him, cram him with dainties."

P.S. I thought this rant would clear away the bad feelings and inner turmoil engendered by this major tragedy, but it hasn't.

Would someone in Fairfax County please just nip across the street to Davey's house and give Davey's parents a good swift kick in the ass for me? And while you're at it, could you give Davey himself a smack with a wooden spoon and a shove down the stairs? Do it for America.

Thanks.

sircur: When will you be defending your dissertation?

My parents were teachers and my father was later an administrator. It wasn't uncommon for him to get calls at home and they were handled in a far more civil manner. That was when teaching was a profession.

I live in the plains region which gets buckets of snow and know what it is like to drive my son miles to school in blizzard conditions. I remember driving into a town 25 miles away to get him to school in bad weather and later finding out school was called off. This was largely because we started far earlier than the administration's announcements. I religiously watched the television in the morning and turned on the radio on the way to determine if we should continue. Often those decisions weren't made until 30 minutes prior to the start of school. Those situations in the plains states can be deadly and when it was clear even I shouldn't be out on the road in frigid and dangerous weather, as a parent I would simply call off school for the day.
There were no calls to the house of the administrator. On the other hand, I made it a point to talk to my school administrators during their working hours noting my disapproval of their tardiness in making such decisions at an earlier hour.
My parents never turned down calls from parents or students. And neither of them would have ever left such a horrible voice message for a student.
I was very offended because this sounded like a woman who certainly enjoys her husband's salary for her lifestyle and the status his position provides her, but isn't willing to handle the issues that go along with it with a little grace.
Although the administrator didn't make the call, I think he should be held accountable because clearly he isn't doing his job in counseling his family about the demands of his position and how they should respond. Schools are for students. They weren't created solely for administrators, teachers and their dependents.
As for posting the message on the internet, I have no problem with that since it was a response to school-rated business. Unfortunately, the student wasn't given a response from the person he originally left the message for and things went way too far too fast. The public does have the right to know when officials and their families behave poorly hence why it was considered a news story in the first place.

lbell807, please learn how to spell if you want to rage against real adults. Prove to me that kids today are smarter. My generation and the one before invented TV and the computer, split the atom, went to the moon among other things. Todays students have been dumbed down by the coddling of the public school system that cares more about lawsuits than about real education.

And it seems that you can't count either. I have it Adult-1, Snot-nosed Kid-0. He deserved to be told off for being so stupid. Did he really believe that the administration would change its mind because he complained. If he didn't want to go to school, why didn't he ditch school and stay home. Did his mommy make him go and he wanted to stay home and play video games. Boo-Hoo!!! He doesn't have balls, disrespect and stupidity maybe, but no balls.

If I, as a parent thought that it was too dangerous for my son to go to school, he would have stayed home regardless. If he wants to be mad at someone, maybe it should be his parents for making him go when he didn't want to go.

I agree with sircur "If you love your son give him plenty of the cudgel. If you hate him, cram him with dainties."

mj1728 Opps sorry about the spelling ( sic )
should have been snot not snut..........LOL

Sweet. The kid got detention because he made the call during school hours. Cell phone use is prohibited during the school day. He made the call during lunch.

Seriously, 75+ comments about this non-issue?