My First Principal Position

It was my first shot at being an elementary principal. I was fresh out of school, with a new license for a new career; in a new town, with no familiar faces. I was ready to take on this exciting journey. I had worked hard in my doctoral program in educational leadership and while I hadn’t started my dissertation yet, I was excited about trying on my wings with school administration. My leadership style comes from a heart of integrity—doing what is right, even when it might cause a jolt to long-held traditions and to those who hold them ever so tightly.

 I was passionate.

I was ready to change the world, one school at a time.

That is until the very first time my boss, the superintendent walked into my office.

I had rearranged the furniture because the previous principal did not use what I considered to be an efficient design for a smooth flow of traffic; nor one that would allow for some discretion. The building secretary also shared this office space, and although we got along well, I knew that some conversations needed a better sense of privacy.  It was an easy fix, using the large computer desks to create a wall between the areas, and flipping my side of the room. However, when Mr. Superintendent walked into the room, he kept saying, “Oh my, what have you done here?” and, “Oh, this is quite a change!” and, “You will need to be careful, because change doesn’t come easily around here.”

I knew I was in trouble from that first encounter, but it went downhill from there. To start with, there were some extremely difficult behavior concerns that had been hidden from the superintendent for many years. When I brought them to light, and worked with him to secure resources, somehow, these problems were seen to be my fault. He kept asking me that if these issues had been happening for years, why he didn’t know about them. I reminded him that I was new to the district and I couldn’t answer for those before me, however, they were long-ingrained problems that needed to be resolved.

As the messenger and whistle-blower, I took the heat while trying to make things better.  The real reason he didn’t know was his son was in this grade level, and the school personnel had made sure all through the years that the Superintendent remained unaware as to how out of control things really were in his son’s class.

A teacher on staff had made it her goal to make sure I got fired. She sent messages to board members about how poorly I was handling the behaviors that were causing disruption to student learning. One day, an incumbent board member came to observe how I was handling one particular student causing a lot of issues. I informed the soon-to-be board member that the student was not available since I had just emergency-removed him for the day due to his outbursts.  The newly-elected board member was quite shocked. His information was that I was afraid to discipline this fourth grader.

The reality was, I had engaged in a very positive relationship with this young lad’s family. He was a black student attending school in an almost entirely white environment. He was being raised by grandparents with a strong faith, with whom I had built a very positive relationship.  I had good communication almost daily with this family, and they respected the way that I was handling the behaviors of their misguided grandson. They wanted him to make better choices, and worked very well with me to build strategies to help him.

One day, this boy told another student to keep his m***f** hands off of his basketball. When he was sent to the office for using profanity, he and I discussed how that language was not going to ever be acceptable at school.  His response was that the other kid should have kept his m***f*** hands off of his ball. It was his private property.  I asked him, if it was private property and not to be shared with others, then why did he bring it to a public school?  He smiled and said, “good point.” He promised he would try harder to curb his language, and I thought the situation was over.

The next day, I was called to the superintendent’s office. I was interrogated about the profanity situation, and asked for how many days I suspended the student. A suspension is the highest level of punishment available to a building principal. I had no idea why I would suspend a student for using bad language with a peer. What if he had used that language toward an adult? What if he had been physically aggressive? Why would I pull out the biggest gun available for words alone? As these thoughts were scrambling through my brain, the superintendent told me that he was rethinking his decision to hire me, as it was quite obvious to him that I did not share the same values as their district. Obviously I didn’t. It was quite clear to me that this street-wise black kid was not welcome in their mostly white school.

The students with special needs were also not treated appropriately. This district had the children with IEPs on the high school schedule to accommodate some bussing concerns. This meant that the unit with special education students ate separately and at a different time; had a different recess; lined up in their own line, separate from their classmates; and often missed end-of-the-day activities and assemblies as they left an hour earlier than the rest of the school. Even to those unfamiliar with special education law, it was quite obvious the school was out of compliance. When I asked about the bussing situation, I was told there was nothing that could be done. I suggested reconvening and looking at the geographical concerns once again, but I was told to leave it alone.

A few weeks later, a new family with two school-age students arrived. One was on an IEP and the other, in the next grade above, was in a regular setting. The mother was told that her younger child would board the bus an hour before her other child and would come home an hour sooner. This mom was distressed that her two children were attending the same school and had different schedules. I shared my concern as well, and I told this parent that I had tried to address this situation (a blatant disregard for inclusive practices) but that my hands were tied. I suggested that she speak with the director of special education about her concerns.

The next day, once again I was called to central office. This time I was interrogated by three administrators. I was told I was not a team player. I was told that my loyalties were in question, and that it was obvious I was not a good fit for the district. I was told I was on probation and that my salary was frozen at the entry level for the second year of my contract.

Knowing that I was not in the right place to use my leadership skills, I applied to multiple other districts to no avail. I was the second place candidate for three positions, but nothing panned out. I was going back to a place where I was not valued, and not looking forward to it.

When I arrived back at the helm the following August, I was informed that some teachers had been moved. A teacher from another school in the district had come to fill an open position. After the second week of school, this teacher, John, stopped in my office after school and asked if I had some time to speak with him. He shut the door, and for the next few hours told me that he had been involuntarily transferred to my school to “clean up the mess” that I had supposedly made. He had been working on his administrative certification, and the superintendent thought that by bringing John to my school, he could gather information to prove how unfit I was for the principalship in this district. John then proceeded to tell me that he valued me as a leader, and saw nothing at all to report to the superintendent, except that he thought I was doing an excellent job. He wondered why he had been transferred, and asked me if I could shed some light.

I really couldn’t, except I knew that my relationship with one of the teachers had drastically changed. At first, she tried to be my best friend, and then she abruptly became cold and distant.  She was the one that was in contact with the board member about my supposed inability to handle student discipline, and often seemed to try to rally the rest of the staff to be in opposition to whatever direction I proposed. John told me that this teacher had a long history of stirring up trouble. He wasn’t sure why. She had been caught three separate times shoplifting in town. Because it was a small community and she came from an established family, the shop owners were willing to settle out of court so that she would not lose her teaching certification. John figured that her goal was to get the limelight off of herself, and she had already done a pretty good job of it.

As John and I discussed the timing of the change, I suddenly realized when it happened. It was the day after I had shared with her during a meal break during parent teacher conferences that I had been raised in a Jewish home and then became a Christian in college. It started to make sense that things began changing rapidly after that casual conversation.  I later found out that this community had very strong ties to an anti-Semitic group, but of course I couldn’t prove anything. I just had John’s affirmation that I was not the problem, and the timing was undeniable.

In February, I informed the superintendent that I was pregnant. Two days later I was given my notice that my contract would not be renewed once the school year had finished. I found this timing to be uncanny as well, but had nothing substantial to prove my suspicions of discrimination.

John was a great support and became a good friend and confidant. I somehow made it through the school year, and continued to provide the best leadership that I knew. At the end of the school year, I encouraged the staff to try some multi-age cross-content learning by allowing students to choose a country for in-depth study.

The students moved to the study of their choice for an entire week of cultural immersion. We held a special event for families to participate as their students demonstrated their learning. Special food was prepared representing each locale. Costumes were made, art created, items displayed, and students shared the results of all that they had learned. It was truly a spectacular event. However, it didn’t happen without a battle. That teacher did everything in her power to not allow this to take place. She used every trick in the book, but this time the rest of the staff did not allow the squeaky wheel to get her way. Everyone else was on board, and they told her to give it a try. It was interesting, but at the end of the unit of study, this teacher had changed her tune about project-based learning.  I couldn’t help smiling when I overheard her explaining to the school board members about the value of multiage and cross-content learning.

My teacher-friend, John had chosen to lead the learning on the country of Israel. The students made flags and Stars of David to display in the windows facing the road. When I had gotten near the end of the year, I decided that it was time to exit gracefully. I had enough sick leave to go a few weeks early, and the High School assistant principal had already been hired to fill my position. He came the day before I left so that he and I could tie up loose ends. As I walked out the front door, I noticed that John’s students had made a banner that said they would miss me, but on either side, there were still the Stars of David and the Israeli flag. A fitting send-off for me, no doubt.

When I was hired in my last position (which I held for seventeen years until I retired), the superintendent in this district asked me if he were to speak with my former superintendent what would he say? I took a deep breath and said that I didn’t think it was a good fit for me there. My new boss thanked me for being honest and said that he was looking for someone with integrity. He had already been in contact with my former boss, and knew things had not gone well there. He said that he knew that not every job was a good fit, and that everyone deserved another chance to prove themselves. I will always be grateful for that opportunity to try my wings again as a building principal. I might have been let go from my first experience, but what I learned was that integrity matters. No matter what!