A few days ago
gsal

My child has a hyphenated last name. Can public school force him to use both names?

My first graders school is making him use his full last name for class room purposes. The same school where he attended kindergarten and learned to read and write his last name we (as parents) chose to use.

Top 5 Answers
A few days ago
hoptoad

Favorite Answer

This may be different in different school districts, but in my district, a student’s “official” name (Matthew Ames-Smith) is entered into the computer, but students are allowed to use whatever version they want (e.g., Matt Smith) on work they do and eventually on their diplomas.

However, we teachers do not have the same privilege–were he a teacher instead of a student, Matt Smith above would have Matthew Ames-Smith on his e-mail address, even though all his students called him Mr. Smith.

Go figure.

0

A few days ago
Anonymous
Well yeah because that is his last name. My sister’s name is Leighannah but she can’t just go my Leigh. It’s not her legal name. I have a hyphenated last name to it’s Gray-Kensington and I must use both
0

A few days ago
HePunksMeNot
I’m confused. You chose to hyphenate his last name right? Why wouldn’t you want to use both last names?
5

A few days ago
jdeekdee
Ask to see a policy stating that your child has to use both names. If there is no policy, then they can’t do it.
0

A few days ago
elims4ever
They probably want to be “politically correct”. Have you talked with the teacher about your preference in names?
0