Shuldiner and Directness

Boy, he hasn't been here long but EVERYONE has an opinion of how he should operate (or is currently operating). 

I spent more than 20+ years going to public meetings for school communities on a variety of topics. Nearly every single time, I would urge parents to NOT allow themselves to be facilitated by senior staff. And nearly every single time, parents would sit on their hands and be docile. 

Because, Seattle nice. No one wants to appear rude or out of line. But the district counts on that. And look at what a beating the Adams ES community has taken for speaking up. 

I'm sure some people were rude at that meeting. When you run meetings where the first 15 minutes is a bunch of introductions to senior staff, it's irritating. Did Shuldiner ask the crowd to be more polite? I don't know. 

I do give credit to the Superintendent for extending the meeting way past its scheduled time. But, in the end, did parents really get any reassurances? It doesn't seem like it and the one person who should have said something - Principal Anitra Jones - didn't. She did say "I'm fully reflective" but about what? 

When meetings are arranged to get a certain outcome by senior staff, it's wrong. Again, I give credit to Shuldiner for allowing individual parents to speak out. That is quite rare and I hope he knows that. 

I cannot tell you why Shuldiner decided to smack down Adams parents at the last Board meeting. He started off okay but it was straight downhill from there. 

To almost call these parents racist and to name their school's "wealth" without explaining what measures he is using was just plain wrong. It is interesting that it appears that it's senior staff, including Shuldiner, pulling this card out. I have to believe if that meeting was that long and that frank, then if parents felt other parents were being racist, they would have called it out. 

To the best of my knowledge, that didn't happen. 

But the damage is done. Will Adams parents speak out again if they know they will be attacked as racist for doing so? No, I think Shuldiner effectively silenced them (or most of them). 

Shuldiner, at the Adams meeting, did tell parents to "document everything" and gave out his personal cell phone number. What's interesting is that some of what happened at Rainier View ES was documented and STILL didn't make it into Jones' file. But I believe Jones will be on some kind of rubric that measures if she is meeting certain goals and if not, she won't be staying in SPS. 

Also, I received a comment on my post, Not to Put Too Fine a Point on It, about Shuldiner's first 100 days, a story in The Seattle Times. Naturally, the person did not sign their name; I'm assuming that's because they work at JSCEE.

I do not want to print it.

But basically, it was that Shuldiner is a completely different person at JSCEE. Shouting, "demeaning" and "disrespectful." That the person also mentioned him not considering a person's human dignity struck me as some kind of code or dog whistle. 

The person also berates him for not letting people go if he thinks their work sub-par. He's been here 100 days so expecting that seems ridiculous. He is not going to be starting that process of paring down at headquarters for awhile so people should cool their jets. 

It is going to happen. 

I think as he has come in from outside of the district, city and state, he is taking it all in. 

Truly, who are the problem folks at JSCEE? 

What will happen if he shrinks a department? 

What will happen if he finds a new head for a department (hint, hint, HR)? 

What will happen if he gets rid of an entire group of people (see Executive Directors)?

That will take much thought before any actions.

So I used the word "directness" in the title of this post. Being direct is sometimes considered rude. Being direct can make people uncomfortable. Being direct means not using vague wording or couching an issue with buffering words around it. 

I see Shuldiner as being direct. 

I think with children it is VERY important to point out the good that they do as much as the less-than-good that they do. And pointing out the good in front of other people reinforces the appreciation. I have heard Shuldiner call out staff multiple times for their good work and their patience with him and their efforts to smooth the way for him. 

So would I be surprised if he was asking direct questions to staff at JSCEE? Nope. 

Would I be surprised if he was direct in saying, "I understand this problem has been an issue for quite awhile. You work in this department doing that. Why do you think that problem has not been properly addressed?" 

Would I be surprised if - department by department - he tells folks that he expects to see A,B, C given priority and less of C, D, E and that it needs to happen within X amount of time? Nope. 

Directness saves time. He is not there to be friends with the people he works with. 

He is NOT there to be friends with staff. He certainly can be friendly. (And I am not saying the people who work at JSCEE are children.)

But like a parent, Shuldiner is there to guide, motivate, and be clear on expectations and then follow through if those expectations are not happening. It may mean a serious face, a guarded tone, and direct to-the-point wording. 

But that's what a leader does.