Saturday, April 30, 2022

Upheaval

Thank you all for all the kind, helpful, and encouraging comments on my last post. Physically I feel much better today. I have no shortness of breath, no allergy symptoms, and the general feeling of malaise has lifted. Whew. 

I went back to work yesterday, apprehensive about what the day might bring in terms of the two women I'd had the problems with. Well, I could have saved myself that worry. One of them wasn't there at all, and the other left early. I never even saw her. The rest of the staff were so kind, stopping by my desk to ask if I was feeling better and telling me I'd been missed while I was out. A few students even came to me and said they had missed me and was glad to see me! Then I cried a little when the lead teacher of the Special Ed department presented me with a lovely card from the SPED teachers for Administrative Professionals week. They wrote such nice things to me in it. Knowing I'm appreciated by most of my coworkers is a real comfort when dealing with the few bad apples. Then at lunchtime, a mother showed up and presented me with these



also as a token of appreciation for Administrative Professionals week. How wonderful is that? I was sincerely touched. So everything was going just peachy for awhle.

 Around lunchtime it became apparent that something big was brewing behind the scenes at the school. People were creeping around and acting weird, like they were waiting for something to blow up. And that's exactly what happened.

The principal pretty much got fired and yesterday was his last day. I say he "pretty much" got fired because they offered him a demotion to a classroom teacher at another school, effective immediately, if he wanted to remain employed by the district. He wasn't given a choice. It was a move designed to humiliate him, and of course he turned it down. They refused to even let him finish this year out, and we only have four weeks of school left! Just booted him right out the door! When he called a staff meeting to announce what had happened, the room went silent with shock. Then there were tears and anger and disbelief. For all his faults as a principal, he's a decent and kind man, and we can't imagine why they feel it's necessary to get rid of him in such an ugly fashion.

One of the last things he did before leaving yesterday was send a letter of grievance to  the school board about the situation. He's alleging a hostile work environment, harassment, and civil rights violations from the higher ups. We know all the details of this letter, because the last thing he did yesterday afternoon before they shut down his email account was send it out to the whole staff! The whole situation is just bonkers.

So that's how our Friday afternoon ended. We have no idea who's going to be at the school on Monday morning running it, or if the assistant principals will have to run things for a while, or what's going to happen, or even what to say to the students and parents when they ask about it! 

These next four weeks are going to be interesting. At best. 


16 comments:

  1. We had a similar situation at my school many years ago and it was divisive on every level. There were so many different stories and those who supported the district (most of us didn't) went up against staff who were solidly behind the principal. Although I could see his faults, the principal, like yours, didn't deserve the treatment the district admin meted out. I hope it's not too crazy for the next 4 weeks. Keep your head down.

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  2. Man oh man, sounds like your principal has a wrongful dismissal case! Sounds like a horrible situation. On the bright side, glad you received a lot of love and encouragement from your coworkers and students! Those roses are gorgeous too.

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  3. What a day and week of upheaval. I wonder if staff will ever know the real reasons for the principal being shown the door, since personnel matters are usually strictly secret. How will he ever get another principal job? On another note, wow, those red roses and the card showing how much people care for you. I would have shed a few tears too, to be appreciated like that.

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  4. Uff da - and you'll be at the front lines for it all. Hang in there, one step at a time, deep breaths and all that. Keep that card to read for the tough days!

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  5. HO-LEE CRAP! That's a lot of drama going on. I can't believe they'd just kick him out four weeks before school ends. And it couldn't been anything like child porn on his computer or anything if they offered him a teaching job. Just crazy!
    I'm really glad, however, that you're feeling better and also, that you got a little love and appreciation. You so deserve that.

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  6. Oh gees. Exactly what Sue said: You'll be in the front line. Good heavens. I must say though, as tempting as it was, the principal did not do himself any favors by putting that e-mail out to everyone.

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  7. Oh my! This sounds like there is a lot more behind this than is known at the moment. It also seems a bit funny that one of the hateful women was not there at all and the other one left early. Could they have had anything to do with this like turning in a bad report on him or something? Sorry if that sounds bad but it seems odd they were both gone when that happened.
    Your card and flowers are so wonderful! It means so much when people let you know they appreciate you!



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  8. It seems those in charge thrive on drama.

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  9. Glad you got appreciated during Administrative Professionals week! You deserve it! Hope you find out what happened with your principal. Surprising drama right at the end of the school year?!

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  10. Wow! It’s good to know you’re feeling better physically. I look forward to the stories. Interesting that neither of the stinkers were there when it all came down.

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  11. As Jenn said in comments in your previous post, the principal was not doing his job properly, was my first thought. Good luck and keep working hard and quietly observing what's going on. xx

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  12. As you say, even if someone needs firing because they are not doing their job well, there is no need for humiliating them. And those well known bullies should get the sack, too!
    So nice of the staff, parents and students to express their appreciation of you. It makes such a difference, doesn‘t it!

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  13. Teaching is a funny job. Normally the end of a term is when departures occur and the beginning of a term is when new appointees begin. The fact that your principal has been fired with four weeks to go seems very suspicious to me. Maybe you don't know everything yet. Keep your head down, do your job and keep smiling.

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  14. Well THAT's certainly a dramatic finale to the week, isn't it? (I can relate -- our head of school was fired several months ago amid some controversy in the media and parent backlash. It's a long story and I didn't blog any of it. But yeah, exciting times!)

    I'm glad you got some recognition for administrative professionals week. Which I didn't even know was a thing! (Is there a library assistant's week?)

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  15. Wow! We never know what goes on behind the scenes.

    Love,
    Janie

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  16. Finally I fixed the problem that was barring me from commenting on Blogger. I am late to the scene. Normally I read these in reverse but with this one I dropped down and read upwards. Hang in there; do the right thing always.

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