I almost forgot to mention an interesting tidbit.
My department head spoke with the local theatre company who is performing Romeo and Juliet and received an opportunity to have a special performance for all of our 600 freshmen students who read the play during the Spring. We have the funding for the tickets but not for substitute teachers and transportation.
When the Boss Lady was approached about helping get funding for the needed buses, she replied "Why not walk them to the show?"
Let me see...600 freshmen, over two miles, on snowy and icy sidewalks, and then a return trek all uphill. Hmm...I wonder why that might be a bad idea?
Needless to say, instead of trying to help us find a means of creating this awesome event, especially for students who may never have this opportunity again, we're told to "work it out."
Sheesh!
Showing posts with label Boss Lady. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Boss Lady. Show all posts
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Trifecta
This week the leadership team drove me to leave the school at exactly 3:15. Normally I don't get frustrated enough to feel like I had to escape the windowless confines of the school, but this time I'd had it and needed a release.
First, we had a documented case of MRSA. A student in the school had it, but no one was notified until after the fact. We were notified this Wednesday. Initially I was told the admin team first knew on Monday. Then I found out a district office official discussed the issue with them on Friday. Yesterday I learned the Athletic Office knew last Monday.
No one let the staff know of this situation until 9 days after the case was at least suspected. For a week everyone was at risk! One teacher asked the Boss Lady (at a staff meeting Wednesday when we were first notified) why she didn't trust us enough to inform us of a possible contagion in our midst. I thought "why not care enough to let us protect ourselves?"
Secondly, we have a decision-making body in our school consisting of parents, students, teachers, other staff members, and the Boss Lady. For some unknown reason the Boss Lady and her lackey (who got voted in as co-facilitator because the team's teachers wouldn't step up to help lead the group) decided to stop recording who votes what way.
This is our only means of holding our voted-upon leaders accountable! How do we know if our wishes as a constituency are being promoted if we can't see how our leaders vote? The response: we (the royal "we") decided to stop doing it. This means a practice which has existed for over a decade was stopped without a group vote, discussion, or consideration of why it was there.
Thirdly, we no longer receive the meeting agendas and meeting minutes in our e-mail. While this may sound like a small issue when the information is available on a website, it follows the series of actions attempting to hide information and skew information. By making the information less readily accessible, fewer people will see it and hold the decision-makers responsible.
Overall, the leaders in the building continue to want to hide information of paramount importance and desire to decrease accountability for themselves. Grrr!
First, we had a documented case of MRSA. A student in the school had it, but no one was notified until after the fact. We were notified this Wednesday. Initially I was told the admin team first knew on Monday. Then I found out a district office official discussed the issue with them on Friday. Yesterday I learned the Athletic Office knew last Monday.
No one let the staff know of this situation until 9 days after the case was at least suspected. For a week everyone was at risk! One teacher asked the Boss Lady (at a staff meeting Wednesday when we were first notified) why she didn't trust us enough to inform us of a possible contagion in our midst. I thought "why not care enough to let us protect ourselves?"
Secondly, we have a decision-making body in our school consisting of parents, students, teachers, other staff members, and the Boss Lady. For some unknown reason the Boss Lady and her lackey (who got voted in as co-facilitator because the team's teachers wouldn't step up to help lead the group) decided to stop recording who votes what way.
This is our only means of holding our voted-upon leaders accountable! How do we know if our wishes as a constituency are being promoted if we can't see how our leaders vote? The response: we (the royal "we") decided to stop doing it. This means a practice which has existed for over a decade was stopped without a group vote, discussion, or consideration of why it was there.
Thirdly, we no longer receive the meeting agendas and meeting minutes in our e-mail. While this may sound like a small issue when the information is available on a website, it follows the series of actions attempting to hide information and skew information. By making the information less readily accessible, fewer people will see it and hold the decision-makers responsible.
Overall, the leaders in the building continue to want to hide information of paramount importance and desire to decrease accountability for themselves. Grrr!
Thursday, September 27, 2007
PR Disaster
I was at Safeway last week, and a parent approached me with a look of concern. I don't have one of her kids in my classes, but she recognized me and decided to ask me a question: "why did the teachers decide to cancel Open House?"
I was shocked to silence, a rarity for me. I didn't know what to say because I didn't know it was canceled.
I told her the truth: "I didn't know it was canceled. When did this happen?"
She said, "I got a mailing today." She then went on to explain how she enjoys Open House to see who her son's teachers are, the environment in which he learns, and how difficult or easy it is for her son to get to his classes.
Of course, she wanted to know who made the call, but I really didn't know. She said she'd call the school.
By the way, this was one week before the scheduled Open House night.
The cancellation was never mentioned at a staff meeting (we had two last week and one this week), and it still has not been discussed at all.
Apparently the Boss Lady decided to cancel it because of a soccer game and a volleyball match. However, we still have not been provided the opportunity to discuss the way this was handled.
A group of parents went to the school board and complained, and the Boss Lady was grilled for all to see. Ouch!
P.S. I found out yesterday from a parent--after mailings went to the community--that our parent-teacher conferences are now changed as well. I'd say that's 0 for 2 in the communication department.
I was shocked to silence, a rarity for me. I didn't know what to say because I didn't know it was canceled.
I told her the truth: "I didn't know it was canceled. When did this happen?"
She said, "I got a mailing today." She then went on to explain how she enjoys Open House to see who her son's teachers are, the environment in which he learns, and how difficult or easy it is for her son to get to his classes.
Of course, she wanted to know who made the call, but I really didn't know. She said she'd call the school.
By the way, this was one week before the scheduled Open House night.
The cancellation was never mentioned at a staff meeting (we had two last week and one this week), and it still has not been discussed at all.
Apparently the Boss Lady decided to cancel it because of a soccer game and a volleyball match. However, we still have not been provided the opportunity to discuss the way this was handled.
A group of parents went to the school board and complained, and the Boss Lady was grilled for all to see. Ouch!
P.S. I found out yesterday from a parent--after mailings went to the community--that our parent-teacher conferences are now changed as well. I'd say that's 0 for 2 in the communication department.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Explanation
I've mentioned the Boss Lady and my avoidance of her, so I guess I should explain my feelings. We're very different people, and we approach the same issues from opposing viewpoints. Here are my (biased?) perceptions based on my observations and experiences.
First, I believe high school students and staff should be given trust until that trust is broken. I treat everyone as having a clean slate and freely trust until I have a reason to be suspicious. I believe in the inherent goodness of the individual and that giving responsibility to people helps them grow.
However, the Boss Lady seems to begin with a belief that everyone should be viewed as a threat to her power. Questioning a policy for clarification or suggesting an alternate path is seen as a challenge to her authority. I get the sense that she is somewhat insecure, so she has paranoid, defensive responses to questions and suggestions. Her posture becomes aggressive, her countenance hardens, and her answers become terse. She must make all decisions and must be a part of every committee or discussion.
Secondly, I don't believe the Boss Lady understands my job. At all. I teach English, which is a discipline I describe as non-linear. Skills come from many directions at once and are combined and synthesized all at once. English does not work like math, the subject she taught. English does not always work linearly like algebra (to which she compares English). It's just a different way to think.
She wants to restructure English by eliminating the honors classes, ELL courses (non-English speakers), and some special ed courses by putting everyone in the same courses. We would lose everything created--with community support and involvement--in the last 20 years. When the community gets wind of this, they will explode.
Thirdly, the Boss Lady was caught calling our department derogatory names after we explained how her restructuring ideas would destroy our programs. She openly complained to a support staffer in the library that the "whiners" in English are just "selfish." I don't think calling us names to anyone is acceptable, especially to one of the non-teaching staff in the building who must work with us.
I don't believe she respects the vast majority of the staff. I feel patronized by her and feel that she only respects those who follow her without question. Having worked with her one-on-one, in small groups, and with the entire staff, I feel I have a good grasp of how she views us.
I don't think she is evil, the Dark Side using the Force to conquer the universe, but I do think her paranoid defensiveness and callousness make her ineffective. In my nine years here, this is the most divided the staff has ever been, and we are viewed as a dysfunctional school by the district office. It didn't used to be so.
Since I am in a new union position I hope she and I will be able to work together effectively, and I want to believe she will be more effective uniting the staff. She was quite cheery when I ran into her today. Unfortunately, my hope is not the same as confidence.
P.S. Our bond failed.
First, I believe high school students and staff should be given trust until that trust is broken. I treat everyone as having a clean slate and freely trust until I have a reason to be suspicious. I believe in the inherent goodness of the individual and that giving responsibility to people helps them grow.
However, the Boss Lady seems to begin with a belief that everyone should be viewed as a threat to her power. Questioning a policy for clarification or suggesting an alternate path is seen as a challenge to her authority. I get the sense that she is somewhat insecure, so she has paranoid, defensive responses to questions and suggestions. Her posture becomes aggressive, her countenance hardens, and her answers become terse. She must make all decisions and must be a part of every committee or discussion.
Secondly, I don't believe the Boss Lady understands my job. At all. I teach English, which is a discipline I describe as non-linear. Skills come from many directions at once and are combined and synthesized all at once. English does not work like math, the subject she taught. English does not always work linearly like algebra (to which she compares English). It's just a different way to think.
She wants to restructure English by eliminating the honors classes, ELL courses (non-English speakers), and some special ed courses by putting everyone in the same courses. We would lose everything created--with community support and involvement--in the last 20 years. When the community gets wind of this, they will explode.
Thirdly, the Boss Lady was caught calling our department derogatory names after we explained how her restructuring ideas would destroy our programs. She openly complained to a support staffer in the library that the "whiners" in English are just "selfish." I don't think calling us names to anyone is acceptable, especially to one of the non-teaching staff in the building who must work with us.
I don't believe she respects the vast majority of the staff. I feel patronized by her and feel that she only respects those who follow her without question. Having worked with her one-on-one, in small groups, and with the entire staff, I feel I have a good grasp of how she views us.
I don't think she is evil, the Dark Side using the Force to conquer the universe, but I do think her paranoid defensiveness and callousness make her ineffective. In my nine years here, this is the most divided the staff has ever been, and we are viewed as a dysfunctional school by the district office. It didn't used to be so.
Since I am in a new union position I hope she and I will be able to work together effectively, and I want to believe she will be more effective uniting the staff. She was quite cheery when I ran into her today. Unfortunately, my hope is not the same as confidence.
P.S. Our bond failed.
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