Did I black out and post without knowing it? [img]tongue.gif[/img] Our situation isn't quite as dire as yours (at least not to my knowledge), but I can really sympathize with your plight.

I don't know what state you're in, but if I were you I'd not only keep up the documenting and taping of conversations (sneaky, but it can be useful, and in most cases is legal), but also start moving up the food chain. You went to the super and BOE with unsatisfactory results. I'd take the next step and call your county BOE, then if things don't go the way you want, your state department of education. Just get ready--because filing a grievance can turn a bad situation very ugly, FAST. If you feel strongly though--stick to your guns. I'm one to take the bull by the horns, but you have to do what you feel is right.

What I find of great interest is the teachers' reaction to all this. Why aren't the teachers calling their union rep?

How did this woman get her job? Is she..."friendly" with a particular BOE member, or was it just as simple as being sloppy when it came to hiring someone? By all means you should be angry--you're paying this woman's salary!!

Is this her first year there or has she been there longer?

The only thing you can do is get together with as many people as you can and go to every Board of Ed meeting and give your position. Make them look into her and make them tell you why they hired her if she has a less then stellar record.

I would start by documenting the instances...with as many details as possible. The administration will not support hearsay. Also, teachers will more than likely begin to separate themselves from you, once the principal "catches wind" of what you're up to...she will definitely make an example out of anyone that supports your group. Our school was successful at removing a principal, but it took YEARS of complaints to the Board of Education...from many, many parents. Good luck!

I've been searching these forums and hoping someone would post a similar situation, but no luck with either.

Without going into a lot of detail, has anyone had experience dealing with an administrator who is becoming increasingly verbally abusive to staff members? I've had children in this K-5 school for 9 years and until this year the experience has been nothing but wonderful. I've been very grateful for the best teachers in the world and a non-political, friendly group of board members to work with. We've always felt very appreciated by both parents and staff and are able to focus on our main purpose of being there. But in the past year the entire school atmosphere has changed under a tyrannical, irrational and incompetent administrator. Our teachers are suffering and we've watched them become more and more reluctant to "make waves" for fear of retribution.

We feel the traditional routes have been taken without results. The staff has met with her on several occasions to discuss these problems. We've brought issues up with both the superintendent and our school board rep and the response is that the teachers are free to make appointments with the superintendent to discuss it. We've been told that our superintendent is well aware of all the problems and the destruction of our instructional programs--they have been brought to her attention by the district managers who come through and work in the school for various special ed programs.

We've been doing our own investigating of her prior work in the county and have discovered ample information to support our contention that she never should have been hired for this position in the first place. From poor administration as an asst. principal and a petition circulated against her, to slapping a child when she was a teacher.

We spoke with the actual parent, who told us she was assured that the incident would be part of her personnel file. The parent said that there were other complaints about name-calling, such as "fatso", from other parents. When our administrator was gone the next year, she assumed she had been fired.

We are wondering, if these things are documented in her files, how is it she was hired to run our school? We've been documenting what has gone on in our school since the beginning of the year, yet we find ourselves growing increasingly angry with the superintendent's office for making this decision to being with. Are we right in thinking that disciplinary actions and prior poor performance as an administrator should disqualify her and are we right to feel angry that it didn't? Are we right to feel that if the superintendent knows this is going on, it's her duty to call teachers in rather than waiting for them to come to her?

Common sense tells us that if her screaming at a teacher from behind closed doors of the inner office can be heard beyond the outer office, that's violating some sort of policy, but how do we find out when we feel like the superintendent and our school board rep are circling the wagons?

I know it's hard to help without more details, but I'd appreciate any advice on where to go from here. Our main concern is causing backlash on the staff and we feel we probably only have one chance at making our case with the superintendent or school board because after that we won't be able to have a working relationship with her.