Failed Principal > Central Office Pipeline Alive and Well?
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Anonymous
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A few months ago, DS's elementary principal was removed by the superintendent because she managed to somehow ruin relationships and trust with both the teaching staff AND parents of the community through a total inability to lead, to develop good relationships, and to put together productive processes. All of the data thrown around showed that she was just not ready to lead a learning organization.
Now through the community grapevine we hear that she has been reassigned to an important position as the supervisor for all FCPS libraries. Going from a small staff to supervising hundreds of library programs seems like a promotion, and we are agast. As newer parents to the area we have heard stories of folks who have been really ineffective in schools being reassigned, but this just seems like too much, and we can't possibly understand how the superintendent and FCPS leadership are complicit in this. Especially during a time when libraries are at the heart of so much change and political pressure. The practice of moving someone who has failed a small organization onto one that is more expansive is a total head scratcher. We expected her to move on from FCPS, and this is frightening and really sad. |
Anonymous
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Yup. Failing up is super common. In a few years they’ll assign her back to a different school and hope for a different result.
See: Aimee Holleb |
Anonymous
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There are many more examples of bad principals "failing upward" in FCPS. Some are in charge of entire regions now.
Not saying that some of the Gatehouse employees weren't well regarded as principals, because some were, but plenty just were just shuffled off to Gatehouse to minimize the perceived harm they could do to teachers and kids. It's unlikely to change any time soon. FCPS is so big that there always seems to be a place to squirrel someone away. |
Anonymous
| This is really sad and I feel sorry for the librarians that they are the ones that get stuck sitting in the trash. |
Anonymous
| The person who retired from this position was exceptional, so anyone who stepped into the role had big shoes to fill. This pick was a disappointment. |
Anonymous
| This is super common. Saw it as a fed many times. Problematic people get promoted to get them out of where they are a problem. |
Anonymous
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I work at Gatehouse (not a failed principal, just someone passionate about what I support), and while I don’t have any inside info and am sure “things happen” from the powers that be, I do know that the Library Coordinator position was a very competitive process. I don’t think this was the typical “you’re not cutting it as a principal, here’s a random role in HR” scenario that we see too often. The former coordinator is an incredible leader and human, so the new person has very big shoes to fill. From her bio, it seems like library services is her passion and a significant part of her background, so hopefully her skillset is better aligned here than it was as a principal.
FWIW, seeing ineffective principals get placed in random central office jobs angers me so much. It takes credibility away from roles where many of us have deep expertise and are truly working to improve student learning outcomes despite a system that has much opportunity for improvement. |
Anonymous
| What school? |
Anonymous
| Lol OP is "agast" |
Anonymous
Cub Run |
Anonymous
It should have been a national search and was not. FCPS libraries have a great reputation in the school library world. The individual who got the position does not have what many would consider significant library experience and used the positions to simply climb the ladder, not run an amazing program that was respected in the librarian community. |
Anonymous
| PP here - not defending it, just sharing that I don’t think she was placed in the role. |
Anonymous
New poster here. Thanks for the perspective above, but as a staff member at her old school I am also surprised. It is not a well kept secret that she has not been supportive of our school library and our current librarian (hesitating here to not put words in their mouth). She did a poor job managing one library and I can’t imagine how she passed the interview to manage 200. The current thinking on staff is that maybe they didn’t want to do a real search, or maybe they were just looking for a place to stash her that they didn’t think would be very noticeable. In her bio they really stressed that she is a published author. With total respect to PP, being “passionate” and writing some words for 7 year olds do not a library leader/supporter make. The track record is not promising. |
Anonymous
Do you think being a constant smart-ass makes your positions any more popular? |
Anonymous
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OP—let me help you: the move from a principal of an elementary school to a coordinator is NOT a promotion nor a lateral move.
She’s perfectly capable. There’s nothing for you to be “frightened” except your own hyperbole. |