No Win Situations

This time of year brings a lot of paperwork as an elementary principal. Ordering, requisitions, quotes, supply lists, summer school lists, and the homeroom lists for next year. It was a lot, but at least it was quiet in the building without endless interruptions to your thought processes. I also had to complete the CCIP for the district, so a lot of time in June was devoted to that to meet the all-important deadline of June 30.

Class lists were ever so important. I was methodical about it and took a good bit of time, but the teachers may say otherwise. I always separated the "regulars" who came to my office first. Then I would look at the special needs students and place them with careful consideration of their personalities and the flexibility of the instructor. Next, I would review the data in MAPs and the honor roll, and place them one at a time in each classroom. I would then go back and set all other students up in a round-robin methodology. Finally, I would look at the classes and look for duplicate names. Usually, my administrative assistant could review the lists and let me know if there would be any issues, as she dealt with the parents in the outer office. Changes were made, as sometimes a teacher may be related to a student or may have struggled with a sibling or the parents. I was always open to those adjustments.

Once the letters with the new teacher assignments were sent out to the parents, a new factor emerged: parents were not willing to give a chance to a teacher they had "heard about." It bothered me on the inside because I knew the teacher was excellent with teaching, but may have had one issue with one student. ALL teachers have problems from time to time, just because they are human and so are their students. The local grapevine may have exaggerated any issue that may have been. Once this perception exists, it isn't easy to recover from it in the eyes of the parents. My advice to parents was to see how things go, and we would discuss the placement later if needed. Usually, the need did not surface again. Anxiety would drive parents to imagine all kinds of things. Teacher input is also essential when placing students, and teachers were free to inform me in the spring if they thought a child needed to be placed with a specific teacher. Lastly, the principal would be aware of aspects of a student's life that needed to be considered. The general staff population may not be aware of these situations due to confidentiality.

Oftentimes, the work and time you put into these class lists was not worth it. Criticism was always there, no matter what you did as a principal. Many times, it was behind the back, but whatever was said always found its way back to the office. The fact is that whatever you did, you would be criticized because it is difficult to make everyone happy. When I think about that, I recall how teachers craved praise and positive feedback. Principals need that, too.

Later...