In Irkutsk, the principal of School 72 received a reprimand and lost her bonus after a scandal with a fourth grade student who was stamped for violating the charter because of inappropriate clothing. The story caused wide public outcry, after which the education department called the schools decision unprofessional and apologized to the family. The article tells how the conflict developed and what measures were taken to prevent this from happening again.

The Department of Education of the Irkutsk city administration has decided to issue a reprimand and deprive the principal of School No. 72 of a bonus after investigating the case of unprofessional behavior by employees of this general education institution toward a 4th-grade student who came to school wearing clothes that did not comply with the school charter.
As the principal of School No. 72, Galina Kovalchuk, said, in this educational institution the teacher and duty students checked the classrooms for attendance and for compliance of students’ clothing with the charter. One of the female students, for a valid reason, was wearing a skirt and blouse instead of a pinafore dress. Thus, a stamp noting a violation of the charter of School No. 72 appeared in the student’s diary. This measure had a strong impact on the girl’s emotional state, which her mother wrote about on social media. This caused a strong public outcry.
An emergency meeting was held in the Department of Education with the heads of all educational institutions. “The conclusion and the position of the Department of Education are unequivocal: the issue was handled by the school administration at an unprofessional level,” said Elena Kosenko, Deputy Head of the Department of Education for the Right Bank District. “This is an unacceptable fact, and the harshest disciplinary measures will be applied to the school principal so that such situations do not happen again in the future.”
As the principal of School No. 72 said, the stamp has been confiscated and destroyed. In the child’s diary, the stamp that had been placed was crossed out and the following was written: “The entry was made in error.” The school principal apologized to the student’s parents. The head of the Irkutsk city Department of Education, Valentina Peregudova, also apologized for the unacceptable handling of the school uniform issue. She emphasized that “when resolving any conflict involving a schoolchild, one must, first and foremost, think about the child’s emotional state.”