NO Decision on Middle School Principal Position – Postponed Until TONIGHT’s Meeting
A special School Board Meeting held last Monday to determine how to fill the vacant Middle School principal position packed the room with concerned parents, school staff and community members.
Parents, school staff and concerned community members packed the school board room leaving standing room only last Monday night for a special school board meeting, held one week earlier than its regularly scheduled meeting.
The meeting had one purpose: to determine how the open position of Manchester Middle School principal would be filled for the 2015-2016 school year, which is starting in just a few weeks. And though it was obvious everyone in the room wanted what is best for the students, so many variables were in play that the board, let alone the audience, could not agree on the best course of action by the time the almost 3-hour meeting was called to an end.
The departure of Dr. Shanna Spickard from the Middle School was announced at the June School Board meeting. Superintendent Cherie Vannatter, working with the principals of the other two schools on a solution over the course of that month, came to the July meeting with a plan to cover the principal position between the three administrators. Dissatisfaction of the board and the community with the plan was strong enough that the special meeting was scheduled. At the special meeting, the superintendent returned with 7 new proposals for the board to consider.
Many extenuating circumstances are complicating the decision the board members needed to make, but two significant complications are both a result of declining enrollment. The first is the financial position the school district is in–currently spending more money than it brings in–which is eating into its savings. Because of this reality, proposals were presented with annual savings, if any, compared to what was budgeted for Dr. Spickard. The second is the reality that some sort of reorganization will need to occur in the near future; in fact, the board decided at the meeting to set up a building committee to start working on this. Whether the reorganization is building or administrative or both, it is possible that the position of Middle School principal may not be a full-time position or exist at all after next year.
The plans were discussed. The plan where the two remaining principals shared responsibility for the Middle School was quickly dismissed. Of the remaining plans, board members were most supportive of five of them: Plan 1: having one of the eight teachers in our district with administrative certification become interim principal at the middle school for a year, with a long-term sub hired for that teacher’s classroom. Plan 2: having Klager Elementary Principal Jennifer Mayes take over the Middle School principal position for a year and have one of the eight eligible teachers promoted to interim principal at the elementary school. Plan 3: having high school Principal Kevin Mowrer take over as principal of both the Middle School and High School for the year, with one of the eight teachers promoted to interim assistant principal (one would be stationed at the Middle School and one would be stationed at the high school). Plan 4: having Mowrer take over as principal of both the Middle School and High School for the year with athletic director Wes Gall promoted to interim assistant principal (one would be stationed at the Middle School and one would be stationed at the high school). And lastly Plan 5: posting for and hiring a new permanent full-time Middle School principal. The positives and negatives for each of these plans were discussed at length.
The meeting had two regularly-scheduled public comment sections with a third, unscheduled, public comment section held in the middle of the meeting. The number one comment the board heard over and over is the need for one identifiable person at each school that teachers, parents and students know is in charge. There was also concern expressed over moving a principal out of a school doing well because that may cause a problem in that school and then instead of one, two schools could be having problems.
Some speakers voiced the need for a strong disciplinarian at the middle school while others emphasized the need for someone who can reassure the parents of incoming 5th graders. Multiple speakers expressed frustration that it felt like any decision to be made would be rushed because it was left until the last minute and that the wrong decision could endanger enrollment of school of choice students.
Arguments were made for and against the promotion of a teacher to interim principal. One school board member pointed out that while the teacher/interim principal would be able to deal with disciplinary problems with students, if a parent had a problem with a teacher, the teacher/interim principal would not be able to “discipline” a fellow teacher and would have to have to pass the complaint up the chain of command to one of the other principals or the superintendent instead of dealing with it themselves. Another school board member argued that it is a mistake to think of an teacher/interim principal as something less than a permanent principal hired from an external pool.
It was pointed out multiple times by both school board members and school staff in the audience that the teachers in our district with administrative certifications are qualified, have subbed for the principals in the buildings multiple times and know the schools and the students. It was also pointed out that at this late date, there will be a narrower list of candidates from which to hire externally, and if an interim is appointed there will be a whole year to find a permanent principal from a wider list of candidates.
Finally, after much debate and three different polls of the school board members to see where they stood, the school board agreed that because they were basically split three ways they would adjourn the meeting without a decision and ask Vannatter to take into account that night’s discussion as she formulates a recommendation to present at the regular monthly school board meeting. That meeting is happening TONIGHT, Monday August 17th at 7 pm in the board room in the Ackerson Building at 410 City Road, with a special hearing to review the school district’s anti-bullying policy at 6:45 pm beforehand. Both are open to the public.
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