How Do Principals Get Picked?
Many here have asked, how are principals placed? That's a difficult question to answer simply because the district does NOT follow a specific path. In the past they have:
In the end, no matter what, the superintendent makes the final decision. (Well, there is one private group representing a school that gets a private interview with candidates after the committee interview and a discussion with the superintendent. Let's all guess together what group that is. )
Naturally, this lack of understanding for how principals are placed is a source of frustration (during regular times) and great worry (during times of crisis). For closures this has a host of questions like:
The Principals' Association of Seattle Schools (PASS), the principals' union, has been fairly quiet here but I'm sure there are rules on what happens in these cases. I can't seem to locate a website for them but on the Association of Washington School Principals website, SPS is advertising for their pool for both principals and assistant principals.
- hired outside principals (that happened last year for Aki and AAA)
- picked ( and shuffled) from within the SPS principal pool
- allowed schools to form a committee usually made up of parents, staff (certificated and non), community members and sometimes (at the high school level) students who interview vetted candidates (vetted by both the committee and SPS Human Resources)
In the end, no matter what, the superintendent makes the final decision. (Well, there is one private group representing a school that gets a private interview with candidates after the committee interview and a discussion with the superintendent. Let's all guess together what group that is. )
Naturally, this lack of understanding for how principals are placed is a source of frustration (during regular times) and great worry (during times of crisis). For closures this has a host of questions like:
- where does a closed program principal go? Is it a reflection on that principal's abilities if the program is closing? Who decides what is best to do to shore up a program?
The Principals' Association of Seattle Schools (PASS), the principals' union, has been fairly quiet here but I'm sure there are rules on what happens in these cases. I can't seem to locate a website for them but on the Association of Washington School Principals website, SPS is advertising for their pool for both principals and assistant principals.
Comments
All I have to say is look out all schools in the district this time around. You may be surprised and disappointed in who you get, and you won't be able to do a thing about it.
I'm a bit troubled by the fact that the principal is leading the design team. If you're looking for change, why have the effort led by the person responsible for the status quo?
If the principal thought things should be done differently, wouldn't they arleady be doing things that way?
"There is an assistant principal at Lowell who may find himself the principal at either Lowell or Thurgood Marshall."
Do you know something the rest of us don't? As far as I know, there IS no "assistant principal" at Lowell, though there is a co-principal, Dewanda Cook-Weaver, who is listed as being the "special-ed principal" on the website. There is no male vice, co, or assistant principal there.
Can you clarify?
Ahem. Herself (assuming you mean DeWanda Cook-Weaver). Ms. Cook-Weaver's title is Special Education Principal, so it might make more sense for her to stay at Lowell, but as the school will be just as big as before, there will presumably be just as much need for two principals.
Helen Schinske
Sorry about my misunderstanding regarding the assistant principal or co-principal at Lowell. I misremembered it and didn't check the facts before I wrote. My bad.
So Lowell currently has two principals? Because it has two programs?
Washington has "two programs" (regular and APP) but it only has one...
Will Hamilton have two? Will the two APP elementaries have two? Is there a reason that a school with special ed and APP gets two, while a school with general ed and APP only gets one?
What about Spectrum? Two principals per school?
Does each "program" get its own principal?
"...said the [silly] [w]abbit."
Helen Schinske
I have been on two principal hiring committees & multiple teacher hiring committees.
I will say that being that the WASL is on the way out, this may give the district incentive to approve principal/teacher selections that aren't clear WASL supporters.
It is an interesting and frustrating process- I feel that it is tightly controlled by union reqs, which restricts the information gathering on both sides, unless you are very experienced in how you word your questions initially.
I have been on committees, that there was a clear majority, but the committee leader decided that wasn't enough, and deferred it to the principal ( who wasn't present)
I have been on committees where it was clear the applicant just wanted into the district and was good at addressing what the committee wanted to hear.
Again it helps to have experienced committees so you are finding out useful information- not just accepting whoever doesn't use stationery with teddy bears on it.
It would be helpful to be able to observe some of these candidates in action, but not an option.
Considering that once they are hired- it seems like it is for life, a little foresight would go a long way.
Naturally, everyone at Whittier would very much like to know that we will get a new principal next year- before parents pick schools and before teachers choose whether to stay or not. What action do you think those at the school should take to help influence the process?
Hard to get rid of a teacher? Even more difficult to change principals. What I would say is a united front from teachers and parents would be good. If you say the principal is not there, document it. Is that a perception or a reality? Does the principal have an illness that may keep him/her out of the building on a regular basis? If the person is abusive, document it. What was said, when and what context? Is it abuse or detachment? Is it abuse or lack of interest? If teachers feel abused, that's a very different thing from the parents as the school is their workplace. Also, has the principal established a working relationship with the PTA? Does he/she go to meetings, be available to the PTA to consult on school activities and have a regular monthly meeting with the PTA president(s)? Have you made contact with the Elementary School director for Whittier and told him or her about these concerns?
If you are to get any traction on this issue, there has to be a timeline, documentation of underperformance and clear unprofessional behavior.
Having said all this, if the principal knows the parents/teachers are trying to get rid of him or her, it could make the situation worse. Of course, if you have reached the total frustration level and some teachers are thinking of leaving, you have nothing to lose. (It saddens me to think of teachers leaving; that's a pretty strong teacher corps there.)
There is a long paper trail but it is not clear where to take it, particularly if you want to stay anonymous. The principal also has an extensive enemies list and it's scary to be on it, as she spends most of her energy focused on her enemies.
If the SPS blog is interested in posting an article on the topic please contact my email and I can send some materials. It doesn't please me to go down a public route but I've heard nothing from the district that offers hope for an appropriate change at the school. It seems like soon after the school reduction plan is published would be a good time to push...
Unfortunate leadership:(Cothron McMillian).
I think that the Whittier school community is strong enough to make it through her tenure, but it is not going to be easy.
Which brings the question-what if all the steps Melissa listed (documentation, etc) have been done, and still nothing happens? What do you do then? It is clear to me that this district will NOT remove a principal, even if they a) Abuse the staff (see Greenwood and many other schools)
b) Know a teacher is abusing students (see Broadview Thompson, and again - many other schools)
It seems that the district acts much like the Catholic Church used too - shuffling bad people from school to school. I suppose the reason is that it is too expensive to pay them off, but it does make me wonder what their priorities are.
She isn't the only one in that cycle- that seems like an expensive process- are we a system to educate children or are we an adult employment agency?
It isn't actually impossible to get rid of a poorly peforming teacher or principal, but it requires a paper trail of a cycle of performance reviews, support, and repeated failure over the course of about two years. The primary break down has been the failure of supervisors, principals and education directors, to complete the reviews, provide the support and file their documents on a timely basis. Miss a deadline and it's back to the start.
Ever wonder why they get two years' pay when they are cut loose? It's the pay they would have recieved during the two years that the District needs to build the case to fire them.
Under the new administration, we're supposed to have real management with real performance reviews. Supervisors, whether principals or education directors, are supposed to be held accountable for conducting their performance reviews and submitting their paperwork on a timely basis.
So if a teacher or principal isn't performing, not only will it go badly for the teacher or the principal, but, starting now, it will go badly for the supervisor who didn't do their job and document the poor performance.
I say that you put the pressure on the education director.
And yes, Cothron McMillian is a nightmare. Her last principal job was at High Point. She is, however, politically connected within the District and, I believe, a former PASS president. Funny how that happens. Joe Drake was also politically connected within the District and a one-time PASS president.
If you read between the lines though, Cothron is in our school and being recycled because of the administration. Out of self preservation they need to defend her, hoping she'll limp forward to retirement rather than having to deal with the kerfuffle of pushing her out. Joe Drake would arguably still be a principal were it not for the press embarrassing the district.
So I hope this topic gets more attention going forward. While school closures are sad and disruptive, they are understandable. The district keeping Cothron is indicative of a complete administrative breakdown. I'm not sure I have faith in the ability of the system to heal itself here, and school closures present a golden opportunity...
Staff at every school she has worked at will tell you that she has her 'favorites' and her motto seems to be 'divide and conquer'.
Parents at Whittier need to rally like the ones at Laurelhurst did several years ago and get this principal out, once and for all. Or be brave like Sanislo and literally refuse to accept her as as a Principal. Of course SPS in their infinite wisdom will probably just pass her on to some other poor undeserving school.