principal

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Home : 2002 : September : 14

principal
By not this time

Laurie--

So sorry to hear about your situation. I totally empathize. and I will tell you to do what someone already has--DOCUMENT everything!

Now I will tell you about my experience:

I had been at my school for 4
years when we got a new principal--rumors abounded about how terrible he was and how he was being punished--I forget the correct terminology--so was being sent to our school to shape up. (What did we do to deserve that??!) We heard horror stories from his old school. I decided to let him show us what he was like. Well, he quickly did. He picked on the more timid teachers. He asked

our opinions, put us on committees.....and then vetoed our ideas. (Can you imagine--no, I don't think you should give out tiny candies as a reward--let's give them cupcakes instead.) He yelled at teachers in front of students--and he treated some parents horribly, yelling at them and threatening when he felt he could get away with it. and his big thing was cleaning his fingernails in meetings (when he wasn't the one talking!) and I mean meetings with parents, too!

We documented--we went to our union MANY TIMES--important people in the district knew what we were going through. We requested an in-house review--a BIG, BIG, BIG deal. We spent an inservice day with a mediator that would help us get along with him--an inservice day that we could have spent learning new and better ways to teach our students! We wrote a letter to his supervisor listing everything we could remember that he had done that was detrimental to our school. He lasted 4 years (yeah, a long time, but in the scheme of things....not so bad.) Anyway, he was sent away--where he caused problems--and was again, sent away.

Keep your chin up. Don't let the turkey drag you down. Be happy to be there in spite of him! (You know who you're there for.) Remember that old saying--Kill them with kindness. Do it and know you're a better person. Don't say disparaging things to students, parents, and teachers(unless you know you can trust them.) We did have a couple staff members who were the principal's buddies--yikes! and if you absolutely feel like you need to say something to someone and you're on school grounds--make sure you are in a room and SHUT THE DOOR.

GOOD, GOOD LUCK to you! and please let us know how the year goes!