Chasing up Truants

Some parents have received a letter about their daughter's truancy:

The letter, dated 16 March, said "students must have at least 92% attendance and Megan's is currently 60.4%".

And if the daughter doesn't go, then she'll miss out on the prom.

Slight problem though. As the mother explains:

"I screamed when I first saw it. If they want her to attend that much I'll take Megan's remains. It's disgusting. Megan doesn't go to that school anymore. She's been dead for two months now so it's not surprising her attendance is low. I was pulling myself together to go back to work, but receiving the letter has just floored me. Megan would have loved going to the prom. She planned to go with a group of friends, she was really looking forward to it."

In case you can't work out which is the crucial phrase, I've put it in bold for you. As excuses go, it is pretty convincing.

Of course, this is not someone being malicious. It is the result of a systems glitch. And there will be glitches in systems - oversights or system limitations, sometimes the wrong people are going to get the wrong letter. It happens; it is a fact of life - part and parcel of living in a culture dependant on the database. But fuck me, if your system glitch can send grieving parents a letter accusing their tragically dead daughter of being a truant, you need go back to the drawing board pretty fucking quickly.