leadership in high schools

We can all agree that hiring staff in any organization is both a tedious and expensive task, an improper science especially when the tools to make decisions are only an interview, telephone references and written references, prior work history, a resume, a cover letter, a formal apllication and perhaps a writing sample.  In days past this process may have been sufficient.  Days of yore.  Today, anything can go wrong and I understand the Rodney Dangerfield analogy of folks going “postal” (reference the spat of postal worker rage in the US a few years ago that led to several deaths in post offices)  after a time.  When the “reporters” aka supervisors, directors etc come around to ask what went wrong, there is sometimes little to be said.

Is it better to terminate or loose staff while they were temporary or probationary rather than wait 5 or 10 years and go through more costly litigation to get rid of them?

If the employees are unionized and things go wrong is it more prudent to rehabiltate rather than seek flat out termination when you know costly litigation will follow anyway?

Whose fault is it when employees go wrong – supervisors, program leaders, interview committees?

Are schools also beginning to feel the effects of a poorly trained workforce, the same workforce that for profit business and industry have screamed is not ready for a competitive wage market?

Can the best formulated School Board policies prevent attrition of staff and again when this happens whose fault is it anyway? 

Are staff losses for whatever reason not par for the course in any organization?  Is this not about the burden of doing business or the cost of doing business in today’s job market? 

Lets get some commentary going on this hot topic which I have felt personally these past 2 weeks as a school leader and program supervisor. 

There is still no teacher for the new high school classroom.  I am discouraged.   To admit this is both disappointing and disheartening.  One candidate, a hopeful, may get an interview with head office, if this applicant cuts muster, the class will finally get a teacher.  The end of the first quarter is this week.  Report cards need to be completed for students registered in this class – they cannot unless the students have a home room teacher, a web based computer program over-ride.  We do our report cards electronically………This Thursday, November 6, we have a CSE meeting, 30 day program review for a student in this new class, explaining why there is no teacher will be tricky.

What are other school districts experiencing in terms of teacher candidate pools?  Is this a regional problem as in Western New York or is this a national problem?  The issue here cannot be one of wages because our school rates are most competetive. 

For potential school leaders what glitches do you view in the above scenario?   Focus on the fact that for almost a month now, we have had 6 registered students in a classroom with no appointed qualified teacher.  This is a leadership lesson for both profit and non-profit schools.  What can educational leaders do at a school building level?  Is the responsiblity of recruitment one for the leader, head office, human resources?  Feedback is greatly appreciated. 

The new 1:6:1 high school classroom at Hewes collaborated with other students to produce a high  school newspaper.  A three page missive that once available I will post to this blog.  Students in this class grades 9-11 are learning about printing and different computer programs that can be applied to running newsprint.  The newspaper will be published monthly.  The students will be inviting Jared Lindall, Public Relations Specialist of Erie 2 CC BOCES to the classroom to discuss and teach them 2 easy print and newsletter formats that can accomodate their needs.  The newspaper is called “The Tiger’s Tale” after the mascot of the Hewes Center.  Articles of interest were written by students – an untitled poem was submitted, a football game was written up, politics were discussed, riddles were shared and a Halloween puzzle was published among other small stories. 

On 10/31 students partiscipated in the Prinicipal’s Best Dressed Competition.  This is the traditional Halloween celebration where folks dress up.  4 students grades 9-12 have been selected by their teachers as the best dressed in their grade level and will eat a catered lunch this Friday with myself and Kevin Bourgoine, the Alt. Ed principal who himself has 4 students in grades 9-12 that were selected for this honor. 

We have completed the first quater, 10 weeks of this school year and report cards will be mailed next week.  Already we can feel that the school year is taking off – students are coming in with stories about pills being sold on campus, students buying illicit pills, small cafeteria tensions are brewing and cliques are definately forming.  We have to stay on top of the negative student behaviors and keep plugging away at the positives. 

Can I  receive more positive student referrals?  I am beginning to see a disproportionate number of negative discipline incidents being reported and we as teachers need to turn this trend around.