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NewslettersSCHOOL BOARD - YOU HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS THAN CALENDERS AND UNIFORMS!!
Imagine my surprise when I returned from my annual summer foray to New England and received an update on the senior leadership of the school district from my educator friends and neighbors !
Apparently, Mary Seamens, Chief Academic Officer (Deputy Superintendent?) who Dr. Truesdale brought to the district a year ago to “straighten things out” is continuing to abuse disrespect staff, administrators, and principals. She is responsible for the loss of several quality administrators and staff including nineteen year veteran Sue Madagan and ten year veteran Mary Briggs among others.
It has been observed that Seamans shows signs of dementia and covers it up by being verbally abusive. Recent evidence of her not being in touch is the talk of the district! About two weeks ago, Seamens walked into one of our better performing north of the Broad elementary schools. When the principal was not immediately available one of the academic staff met with her. Seamens asked the staff person what she thought of the school’s recently released PACT scores. The response was “we feel pretty good about them.” Seamens proceeded tell her that the scores were terrible and they must improve. When the principal joined them, Seamens asked him the same question to which he responded that “there is always room for improvement” but he was pretty happy with the scores. Again Seamens told him the scores were “disappointing and unacceptable”. When the principal showed her a copy of the school's PACT results and asked her what she found “disappointing and unacceptable” , Seamens noted the name of the school at the top of the results page and she said, “Oh! I must be at the wrong school. Your scores are pretty good” as she excused herself.
Wouldn’t you think that a senior administrator who has been around for a year would know what school she was in and who the principal is? I am told that Seamens has abused so many people in the district that there is no empathy for her. This is further evidence of the smoke screen being put up by Truesdale for the School Board giving the appearance that everything is moving forward in the district when in fact irreparable damage is being done. Fear and distrust pervade the district. It is time that the members of the School Board ask staff , administrators, and principals how things REALLY are and not accept the answer “it’s okay” which means “ I am afraid to tell you what I think because I have been told by the Superintendent not to talk to you!”
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The problem does not just stop with these two - the number of high level administrators that have never been a school principal is also a problem in my book.
From what I have been told, the principals are not allowed to meet without someone from the senior administration present. Dementia....maybe? Paranoia....for sure!
Being a Principal and being a Central office administrator are two very different things. However, when you have Central Office administrators whom are not familiar with the job of the Principal then you have a problem if they have a direct line relationship to the principal. Obviously some of the positions, such as public relations or building and grounds, need not be as familiar with the Principal's job as some of the others.
Some of the best (and worst) Superintendents and Assistant Superintendents that I have observed have never been building administrators.
BTW, it is also a fallacy that Central Office Administrators need to have teaching experience or that good teachers make the best Principals. They are all very different jobs with different requirements. There is a field or discipline for the study of Educational Administration and it is separate from Teacher Education. Another fallacy is that school board members whom have also taught are more effective that those without formal training in education......not so! That misconception was exposed several decades ago.
A person's work and career should not only provide a paycheck but should bring dignity and respect. The Beaufort County administrators are professionals who have brought experience, expertise, and knowledge to their roles and responsibilities. They serve for one purpose: to improve the lives of children through education. Yet, they have not been treated as the professionals they are and I know them to be. Their opinions and input are not solicited yet they are expected to "rubber stamp" the decisions of the Chief Learning Officer and the Superintendent. They have endured an "abuse of power and authority" and have been belittled, demeaned, and their professional reputations have been disparaged. If they dare to question, to speak out, to disagree, they are told they are being argumentative and that they are "pushing back". Whatever happened to collaboration? Whatever happened to Freedom of Speech?
It does not surprise me nor should it have surprised Ladysman to learn of the discussion regarding calendars and uniforms. Every time the issues of real concern surface, a red herring is thrown to the Board to distract their attention while the abuse continues to occur at King Street and at Burroughs Avenue.
South Carolina passed the Safe School Climate Act which is a Bullying Prevention Model that is designed to promote empathy and to control student behavior. But what if the bully is an adult? What if the bully is a high level administrator who uses intimidation, harassment and bullying behaviors to emotionally and or physically harm another adult in the workplace? What if the administrator is so high in the organization there is little or no recourse? The SSC Act also addresses that bullying may result in the threat of harm to a student's property. The professional adults within the system have the right to be treated with civility and respect. They have the propery right to their good names. They have the right to come to work and to not fear reprisals from their superiors. That certainly is not the case with most of the professionals who work within the Learning Services division of the district. They fear for their jobs and they fear for their professional reputations if they dare to cross the district's Chief Learning Officer and/or Superintendent. How can a learning community be built in such a toxic environment?
Seven very talented, intelligent, experienced district administrators have now left their positions since the arrival of Mary Seamon and Dr. Truesdale in the last 14 months just within the Learning Services division. I suspect that all seven left their positions due to the abusive, insulting treatment they endured. I know the stories that are told of the hostile and verbally abusive behavior they have experienced are true.
What policies and procedures are in place within Human Resources to guarantee that as the exodus continues, the replacements are truly qualified and have the depth of experience for the responsibilities they will assume and are not simply cronies of the Superintendent and the Chief Learning Officer?
Where is the modeling, mentoring, and coaching needed to develop aspiring professionals to higher positions? Has anyone been promoted from within or have they all been dismissively treated as being as "broken" as the system Dr. Truesdale claimed Beaufort County to be. When will the Board pull back the curtain from their eyes?
It is obvious that you are quite close to the trees and can't quite see the forest or perhaps jungle to put it in perspective. You seem to blame Dr. Truesdale and the "Chief Learning Officer" for poor administration and the resulting woes of the district. But how long have these two people been in the district compared to how long the district has experienced severe administration inadequacies?
As far as good and/or talented people leaving the district because of poor administration especially in the personnel area, it has been happening for years if not decades. Several times when administrators got into trouble at the building level they were moved to the shelter of the central office instead of being dismissed, while good teachers left in large numbers. Cronyism has been rampant in district for many years as Superintendents have came and gone.
Have the test scores plunged since the Dr. Truesdale has arrived? While I would certainly argue that personnel practices affect student learning, it is important to remember what education is all about. It is about the outcomes of student learning, not about the continuation of administrative practices that obviously haven't worked. Sure there are those who will squeal when the apple cart is upset. But the proof is in the pudding.
I have heard comments about a change in the leadership style in the district too.
In the leadership courses in the Army, we officers learned two basic styles. One was authoritarian and the other persuasion. Both can work, but the style has to fit the personality of the leader and the other consideration is the effect on the organization. The military generally encourages persuasion.
Leadership in civilian life for executives has a broader scope. One says,
"The Laissez Faire Leadership Style
The style is largely a "hands off" view that tends to minimize the amount of direction and face time required. Works well if you have highly trained and highly motivated direct reports.
The Autocratic Leadership Style
The style has its advocates, but it is falling out of favor in many countries. Some people have argued that the style is popular with today's CEO's, who have much in common with feudal lords in Medieval Europe.
The Participative Leadership Style
It's hard to order and demand someone to be creative, perform as a team, solve complex problems, improve quality, and provide outstanding customer service. The style presents a happy medium between over controlling (micromanaging) and not being engaged and tends to be seen in organizations that must innovate to prosper."
Generally, the Participative style is more popular because it empowers people to use their talents in constructive ways and allows them to have a feeling of contributing to goals set by leadership.
The scuttlebutt I've heard is that those in the top echelon have been using the authoritative or autocratic style of leadership.
I am critical of that style because it turns energetic enthusiastic employees into quasi robots that will end up doing only what they are told and nothing more. They lose their ambition to perform and wait on "orders" instead of using their initiative in solving challenges that they encounter. They should remember that the district has hired professionals, many with experience. Let them do what they ave been trained to do and support them.
I hope the school leadership will change and adopt the persuasion or participative style of leadership and provide incentives for school employees to do their best. The school, students and our communnity deserve their best.
I completely agree with you. Autocratic leaderships styles are so outdated and ineffective in today's global society, We know better than to tolerate that type of leadership or should I say dictatorship?
egret57, Halpin would be quite proud of your knowledge and Blake and Mouton would probably approve.
Most of the literature supports "situational leadership styles." In other words the style needs to match the organization. A good indication would be an accurate organizational chart that shows not only lines of communication including reporting relationships, but also indicates authority (staff-line).
School districts usually do not have detailed and accurate organizational charts and for good reasons. First, many of the administrators do not know how to develop/design one, and second, the school district is quite different than most organizations as a result of legal considerations and day to day operations, as well as policy-making and policy-execution roles.
They only "appear" to be the same as a corporations with a board, etc. And they also appear to have a vertical or bureaucratic structure, however legally, the superintendent has been found by many courts to have the de jure/legal status of a teacher. For example, could a CEO of a corporation fire an employee of the corporation without first getting permission from the Board of Directors? Now ask yourself the same question about the Superintendent firing a teacher/employee without first getting Board approval.
The bottom line in a school district should be the education of the students. The problems in the BCSD have developed over many years.....not just since the present Superintendent arrived. Sure her credentials should have been given more consideration and scrutiny. But that failure is ultimately a Board failure.
Perhaps her leadership style doesn't suit everyone. But if it results in a better education for the students, then she will be doing the job that she was hired to do. If she fails, she will be fired.
It sounds as though some of the administrators are trying to generate some power to circumvent her authority. Many of those same administrators didn't make much progress before she arrived. So perhaps it is time for them to either shape up or ship out.
All the stakeholders in the education milieu want the Beaufort County students to be successful and that is a commendable goal. Test scores are just one way of measuring learning outcomes. But the means by which administrators, teachers, parents, community, and school board members reach their goals need to be steeped in best practices, reflective analysis of the research, and always with the best interests of children in mind. If a child was continually being insulted and demeaned in the classroom as a means of pressuring the child to improve academically, people would be outraged and rightfully so! Mistreatment of people is never an acceptable means to an end.
I don't blame Dr Truesdale or Mary Seamon for all of the woes of the district because each of them brings their own skill set and experiences to the district. I do feel they should be held responsible for their behavior and treatment of their employees. They need to be held to a higher standard because they are the ones that are the designated leaders and they should be modellling appropriate positive leadership. styles and behavior. Rather than paint all of the district's administrators with a broad brush of inadequacy, and continue to complain about the plight of the district, why not put into place specific criteria for personnel selection and performance beginning with the top echelon? Another approach is to have an outside agency conduct an intensive curriculum audit to identify where the weaknesses of the district exist and to make specific recommendations for improvement.
I've heard that if the test scores improve across the district to a pre-determined percentage or level, that the Superintendent receives a monetary bonus on top of her salary. You might want to check with the Board to confirm the accuracy of that. IF it is true, and IF the district's test scores do reflect improvement, then Dr. Truesdale will receive the carrot while the other administrators have received the stick. Machiavelli would be so proud!
It sounds like the Superintendent brought in a "hatchet" person who is doing the job, and the people feeling the effects of the ax don't feel very comfortable. Anyone who has had much experience in the business world is familiar with that.
The "hatchet" person shakes things up a bit, which is what is seemingly needed when an organization hasn't been able to change to produce positive results. An "uprising" with people pleading with the Board or trying to generate public support to oust the Superintendent is right in line with what should be expected. This blog was intended to accomplish the means to that end.....not very original.....much like all of the jargon that is sometimes used to confuse the public.