Principal Appointments
I don't know anything about any of these principals, but I thought if I posted this, it would give everyone an opportunity to comment upon them:
Dear Seattle Public Schools staff,
Today I am delighted to announce several principal
appointments. The following interim principals, currently serving at their
schools, have been appointed principals after receiving input from their
schools’ families and staff, and information from their mid-year performance
evaluations:
Graham Hill Elementary: Walter Chen
Maple Elementary: Elena Sanchez
Lawton Elementary: Dorian Manza
Salmon Bay K-8 @ Monroe: Dr. Neil Gerrans
In addition, last week I also transferred and appointed
Treena Sterk into the principalship of Eckstein Middle School, replacing Sherri
Kokx who has taken a position in School Operations. Ms. Sterk’s move to
Eckstein from her current position as principal at Cascade Parent Partnership Project
has created an opening at Cascade. The district’s plan is to post and fill that
position soon. In the meantime, retired principal Dr. Terry Meisenburg is
serving as interim principal.
I also want to take this opportunity to review the principal
appointment process in Seattle Public Schools. There are essentially four ways
principals are appointed. One is to post an announcement and accept
applications. In this case, qualified applicants are presented to the school.
The executive director of schools and the school’s building leadership will
create a committee and steps to screen those candidates down to three
individuals who are presented to the superintendent. The superintendent then
makes a decision and appointment.
Another way a principal is appointed is as a direct
appointment to interim principal. This takes place when there is a need to have
someone in place who can maintain momentum in a school and minimize
disruptions, not allowing time for typical school community input. In these
instances, the superintendent makes an interim appointment.
A third way is to appoint an interim principal as principal.
This is done after building leadership has had sufficient time to review the
interim’s performance, compare their performance to the school community’s
desired attributes in a principal, and gather community input. This feedback is
considered in the superintendent’s decision to make the appointment.
The fourth way is for the superintendent to make a direct
appointment of a principal through transfer. In these cases, the superintendent
appoints a principal based on desired attributes gathered from the school
community.
Please join me in congratulating Mr. Chen, Ms. Sanchez, Mr.
Manza, Dr. Gerrans, Ms. Sterk and Dr. Meisenburg in their appointments. Thank
you for your dedicated professionalism and service to our schools and students.
Sincerely,
Larry Nyland
Superintendent
Seattle Public Schools
Comments
While there are still methods for the Supt to appoint w/o feedback, which is a bit of an equity issue (why do some school communities get hiring committees and others done?), at least there is a little clarity as to how and why this is done.
Under Banda, crickets.
northwesterner
http://blogs.seattletimes.com/today/2015/02/seattle-loses-bid-to-put-downtown-school-in-federal-building/
SBP
Confused
ATW
Cascade Parent
Why are people not more up in arms? Cascade Partnership, which has been through A LOT, gets its principal yanked with no notice THE WEEK BEFORE IT HAS TO MOVE TO NEW QUARTERS?! How is that even defensible? One of the most knocked around constituencies - Eckstein - loses its principal in the first year when it gets back on its feet from the enrollment boundary wars? Salmon Bay K8 gets a principal without the deep community dive that other alternative schools (TOPS) have demanded as is their right?
Graham Hill - multiple turnovers, one year?!
How is this anything but bad business as usual out of downtown? Which leads to the post I just made on the thread below where I give some sympathy to Tomiko-Santos for wanting to throw the book at Central Administration.
DistrictWatcher
Alternative education is an endangered species.
-former Salmon Bay parent
It is ridiculous that we are losing our principal while our entire program is in the process of renovating and moving to a different school. Many of the kids at Cascade have difficulty with processing transitions and stress - far beyond the general population. It is obvious the kids weren't taken into account with this abrupt change. By the time the parents were notified, the principal was slated to not be at school again. There were no goodbyes unless you happened to attend at a particular time.
I heard that the faculty and staff were given just two days notice before the principal departed. What a poorly conceived plan.
Another Cascade Parent
He said, we can do it fairly, with a hiring committee, etc, or, an interim that is 'working out' can stay, or, i just say who and that is that.
Everybody clear?
Good.
Now, it is crystal clear. He can do whatever he wants. At least he owns it. And, at least he makes no apology. He has power, he is saying he will use his power, and that is the end of the conversation.
As I said, good for him. It is refreshing to find someone is Seattle who will bare his teeth to you just to be clear as to the sharpness and strength of those canines.
Of course, the issue is what distinguishes a school from being a golden child, like TOPS, who gets to compose a hiring committee, and therefore avoid objectionable candidates, vs the lesser untouchable, that is merely dictated to.
Is there an equitable framework for defining golden child school from lesser untouchable school?
Equity all the way!
That doesn't tell us how the superintendent decides which of the four to apply at each school?
In any case, that feedback along with other factors have made us confident enough that we'll be sending our kindergartner there next year.
Options 2 and 4 refer to ways to more quickly fill the gap. Directly appointing an interim (opt. 2) could mean moving an Asst Principal or someone else into to the position temporarily. Transferring another principal over from somewhere else (opt. 4) can also be done if they think that's the best bet. With option 2 the placement is interim since that person is not an experienced principal, whereas with option 4 they are simply appointed as the new principal, since you can't really ask them to help out and then demote them to interim status, right? (It's not unheard of for principals in this situation to request the "interim" title, though, allowing the community a chance to gauge the fit.)
Option 3 is somewhat different, as it doesn't address a new vacancy. It's the process by which an interim principal is assessed and potentially offered the position permanently. I don't know how rigorous that assessment process is though, and how bad an interim has to be to not get the job f/t. But at least there's an opportunity for folks to speak up, and hopefully they do so loudly if there are major problems.
So that's the way it was explained to me, and there does seem to be a logic to it. I don't know that these processes are always adhered to in practice (e.g., does every community get a say in selection if they go the announcement/application pool route?), and I don't know how high the bar is for keeping interims on. I also wonder how much back room dealing might go on re: the direct appointments, given the likelihood that multiple sitting principals might be interested in the same vacancy.
HIMSmom
It would be AMAZING if MLK was able to get out from underneath her ineffective and downright scary leadership... but I truly feel for the next school that she is bounced to. Over the last few years I have seen it all. She is verbally abusive to staff members, unreliable, alienates and divides staff, as well as bullies them. It is mid February and she still has not done the first round of observations! How are students getting the best out of their education when their teachers have not been provided with the feedback necessary for growth?
Again, I'm looking forward to the next few years when she will be long gone and her presence erased, but I am dreading her placement at another school site.
Simply google her name to see that the 'related searches' links are ' how to get rid of a bad principal' and 'how to report a bad principal'.
It's worked for TOPS and Thornton Creek.Parents and staff need to stop letting their schools be crushed by downtown.
Dog-in Fight
Interesting you say that...the new principal and asst. principal were quite involved with a recent special election of the Friends of Salmon Bay's elementary school co-chair. Overstepping much?
FOSB has a go-along/get-along-type mentality even if that is to the detriment of the students. Ex: Having five math curriculums going on in the elementary school up until about three years ago. Sorry--alternative isn't the same thing as incompetent to me. Why you see many in the middle school fretting about how their children are faring in math.
- seafarer