So this sounds like it's time to get together with the other parents whose children were targets of Theresa's bullying and start making pointed requests of the principal.
So, maybe starting the year by isolating Theresa from the schoolmates she's bullied in the past is a non-starter with this principal. Okay. So what is the plan if Theresa calls your kid a nasty name? What is the plan if Theresa persists with name-calling? "Persists" would look like any of: stopping one day but resuming the next day, picking a different name for the same student, picking a new student to call names. What is the plan if Theresa makes up mean stories about your kid? What about if she persists? What is the plan if she hits another student in a way that is clearly deliberate and unprovoked? (What is the plan for determining whether Theresa is provoked into a meltdown vs. makes an active choice to use violence outside of a situation where others aren't giving her space that she needs?) And so on for all the specific forms of bullying she's carried out in the past, and a general sense of what's going to happen if she invents new ways to make her classmates miserable. Clearly there will be some details of the plan that will (and should) remain private between the school, Theresa's parents, and Theresa, but as the parents of a student who was a target of Theresa's bad behavior in the past, I think you (and the other parents in your situation) have standing to demand some answers, and you may be able to force the issue by working together.
no subject
So, maybe starting the year by isolating Theresa from the schoolmates she's bullied in the past is a non-starter with this principal. Okay. So what is the plan if Theresa calls your kid a nasty name? What is the plan if Theresa persists with name-calling? "Persists" would look like any of: stopping one day but resuming the next day, picking a different name for the same student, picking a new student to call names. What is the plan if Theresa makes up mean stories about your kid? What about if she persists? What is the plan if she hits another student in a way that is clearly deliberate and unprovoked? (What is the plan for determining whether Theresa is provoked into a meltdown vs. makes an active choice to use violence outside of a situation where others aren't giving her space that she needs?) And so on for all the specific forms of bullying she's carried out in the past, and a general sense of what's going to happen if she invents new ways to make her classmates miserable. Clearly there will be some details of the plan that will (and should) remain private between the school, Theresa's parents, and Theresa, but as the parents of a student who was a target of Theresa's bad behavior in the past, I think you (and the other parents in your situation) have standing to demand some answers, and you may be able to force the issue by working together.