Missing in Action

The school admin paged me to the office. It seemed that [the principal] was missing and, though ostensibly on duty somewhere in the school district, could not be found. By anyone.

The Player

I’d seen the type before: an administrator who gets an “undesirable” job in an “out-of-the-way” school district to pad the resume. These people are employed for a year, maybe two, before they move on to more prestige and more money. It always irked me. My students in my town are worth more than a token effort from someone trying to move up.

The Setup

There was a discipline issue: a student had committed a 3rd or 4th offense of disrupting the classroom and the teacher was unable to redirect that student to enable the class to continue with the business of learning.

Not knowing what else to do, and having received no directions from [the principal], and since [the principal] was missing, the school admin asked me if I would deal with the situation. Thinking about 4th period languishing down the hall, I told the admin I’d do my best. The admin gave me the student’s record, the district discipline plan, and a phone number.

The Sequence

I asked the school admin to call the student to the office. I was uncomfortable sitting behind [the principal]’s desk, but that’s where I was when the student came in. We went through the dance. While on speaker, I had the student call home to let the parents know about the situation and what the consequences were, and I sent the student back to class.

I debriefed with the school admin (who had been in the job for many years). I was assured that, since I had followed the plans proscribed by the board policy manual, I was covered. The student was to live with the consequences outlined in that policy. Parents had been notified. Documentation had been completed for entry into the school’s data collection software, as well as the student’s permanent record. I was covered.

Sadly, 4th period was over and 5th period had only a handful of minutes left. So much for them, today.

The Denouement

That afternoon, after all the kids had left and I was actually on my way out the door [the principal] called me into the office. After being prompted, I gave a rundown of what had transpired, what the admin had given to me, what I had done, and what had happened to the student. [the principal] thanked me for my willingness to step in to help when [the principal] was unavailable due to absence. The admin never figured out where [the principal] went during that couple of years when calls were unreturned and [the principal] was missing. This wasn’t the only instance of finding myself in the office dealing with [the principal]’s duties.

The Moral

None of the stakeholders in a school win when the school leader is missing in action.