This summer’s searches at San Benito High School for a new
principal and two assistant principals underscore how a deeper set
of problems have created an uninviting destination for
administrators.
This summer’s searches at San Benito High School for a new principal and two assistant principals underscore how a deeper set of problems have created an uninviting destination for administrators.
The bad news for San Benito High School continued last week when the interview panel for the principal job ruled none of three finalists from a pool of eight candidates were qualified for the crucial role.
The panel made no recommendations for the job and opted instead to restart the process and broaden the recruitment to a nationwide search, leaving the district prepared to hire an interim principal to begin the 2007-08 school year.
District officials have been scurrying to mend the shakeup that occurred when three of the top four administrators at the school resigned after last school year. Former Principal Debbie Padilla and former Assistant Principals Duane Morgan and Linda Row all left for what they undoubtedly saw as greener pastures.
It came after 25 teachers left at school year’s end forcing the district to scramble to fill those roles.
That kind of turnover, from the top on down, signals a far-reaching, troublesome and formidable challenge ahead. Failing to recruit and keep high-quality educators says a lot about the district’s direction and how little optimism it has fostered in the community, namely from the high school staff.
“It speaks to the challenges of working here,” teachers’ union lead negotiator Chuck Schallhorn told Free Lance reporter Alice Joy, regarding the administrator turnover.
Next year’s senior class president Morgan Taylor told our reporter: “The root problem is, the school is too big.”
The district’s human resources director, Mike Potmesil, acknowledged the school’s population nearing 3,000 students is one reason for the difficulty recruiting leaders here.
It’s time for existing school administrators and the board of trustees to take a deep breath – they’ll need a big one before taking on an undoubtedly monstrous task of fixing this district – and listen.
We suggest officials use a broad lens and begin addressing the district’s decline by identifying its institutional downfalls.
They should start by forming a diverse committee to hash out the school’s problems in a public forum, to get those issues documented for everyone to see, to have a point, we hope, of no return. That panel should include teachers, parents, students and administrators, along with other community members.
Such discussion would not only inform a public deserving to know why its high school culture has trouble attracting educators, but it would also set a foundation for change. Without it, the district will continue its decline. Educators will continue leaving. And students, ultimately, will suffer most.
