Module #4: And Other Duties As Assigned

In this module, students will learn about the many other areas of principal responsibility including:

School-Community RelationsPupil ServicesStudent ActivitiesCrisis ManagementSchool Facilities

For the Building PrincipalMany Administrative Tasks

• Staff personnel• Pupil personnel• Community-School

leadership• Instruction &

curriculum development

• School finance & business management

• School plant• General tasks

School-Community Relations

School-Community Relations

• Know thy community– Study the kinds of people who reside in the

community (blue-collar, welfare, single-parent homes, etc.)

– Who are the leaders in the community?

– What are the major organizations in the community?

– Who are the main employers?

– Where do people meet?

– What are the educational expectations and attitudes of the people in the community?

The Medium

• Where parents receive their information about the schools (Gallup Poll)52% - local newspaper36% - from students33% - from parents of students32% - local television and/or radio25% - school board and/or faculty members(multiple answers)

Medium Suggestions

• Identify key communicators in the community.

• Newspaper supplements• Taped telephone messages• Utilization of radio talk shows • Use of cable television• Email & Web Page (Be careful not to

exclude!)

Guidelines for Working with News Media

1. Don’t wait for reporters to call you.2. Regularly and systematically offer news and

feature story ideas to the press.3. Get to know the reporters and editors

covering your school.4. Find out the reporter’s deadline requirements

and try to cooperate.5. Be patient with reporters so that you know

they have all the facts and understand them in the context of your interpretation.

6. If you don’t know an answer, say so.

Guidelines for Working with News Media

7. Spend as much time as necessary explaining an idea or program to get it understood.

8. Be credible.

9. Keep you head about errors.

10.Maintain your composure.

Public Relations Program

• Sell the educational program to the community!

• Interpret to the people of the community the educational program that is in operation so that they have a better understanding of what the school is doing.

• Encourage participation in the school program.

Types of Community Involvement

• Parents’ Organizations

• School committees

• Parent education

• Evaluator (not teachers)

• Resource person

• Volunteer

• User of school facilities

Pupil Services

Taking Care of Students

• Responsibility of pupil personnel services is to help individuals to progress through each transitional stage of development.

• Various domains of development that progress in a hierarchical-interactive-interrelated manner– Maslow: Needs development– Lovinger: Ego development– Kohlberg: Moral development

• When exceptionality lowers a student’s chances of success and is environmentally caused, student is described as “at risk.”

• When the causes of exceptionality are organic in nature, student is described as having “handicapping conditions or disabilities.”

• In 2003:– Economically disadvantaged = 38.5%– English Language Learners = 8.4%– Students with Disabilities = 13.4%

Influences on Student’s

In-school Performance • A child’s

– Emotional condition– Social condition– Physical condition– Mental condition– Out-of-school experiences

Student Services Team

Responsible for:

• Collecting pupil information

• Assessing pupil needs

• Planning and developing comprehensive management systems to ensure that all students are receiving needed services.

Factors Influencing Student Services Team

• Changing demographics• Growing poverty• More people with multiple problems• Learning disabilities• Health impairments• Social and family breakdown• Demand for competence in a high-technology

society

Three Stages of Enrollment• Pre-enrollment: the period when one is

preparing to enroll in a school

• Enrollment: the period when a student is enrolled

• Post-enrollment: the period when a student has left the program whether he or she has advanced to the next level or withdrawn

Looking at student needs at all stages of enrollment…

When students are experiencing difficulties… The Process

• Response to Intervention (RtI)

• Formal evaluation (if needed)

• If eligible for services, development of an individualized educational plan (IEP)

• See Module #5—IDEA 2004

Counseling, Guidance, and Psychological Services

Major Role

• To facilitate wise choices and to promote positive adjustment, mental health, learning abilities, and development.– Program to address personal social,

educational, career needs– Collaborative effort with teachers,

administration, parents, and students– Proactive versus reactive

• Counselors: Read about role @– http://www.schoolcounselor.org/content.as

p?pl=326&sl=337&contentid=337

• School psychologists– Main function is to provide testing and

consultation for special education students.– Are usually not licensed by the state to do

counseling or psychotherapy.

• Social workers: Read about role@– http://www.iassw.org/info.htm

School Health Services

School Nurse

• Preschool conference with parent and child before child enters the school. The purpose is to identify:– Unique medical problems– Learning disabilities– Emotional problems– Other problems that might affect the student’s

educational progress.

Other Duties– Screenings for hearing and visual problems– Screenings for head lice– Screenings for tuberculosis– Screenings for heart defects– Checking teeth and throat– Teaching units on human development and

personal hygiene– Providing emergency first aid– Administration of medications (procedures dictated

by Public Health)– Consulting about health problems with teachers and

students– Assisting in homebound instruction– Referring children to physicians and social workers

Child Accounting & Safety

Family Education Right to Privacy Act (FERPA)/IL

Student Records Act

• Restricts accessibility to student records

• Provides for the removal of inaccuracies

Student Discipline

Criteria for Evaluating Student Discipline Policies & Procedures

• A school’s discipline polices and procedures should be based on school board policy.

• There should be overall agreement among students, teachers, parents, and administrators about the philosophy and objectives of the disciplinary polices and procedures of a school.

• The school should maintain only disciplinary policies and procedures which have an educational purpose, are administratively feasible, and are legally enforceable.

• Policies and procedures on student behavior should be stated in a positive form as much as possible, and student responsibility rather than misbehavior should be stressed.

• The policies and procedures governing student behavior should be written in clear, understandable language and be presented in student, teacher, and parent handbooks which are reviewed prior to the beginning of each school year.

• The consequences of violating a rule or regulation should be made explicit and commensurate with the nature of the violation.

• The rationale supporting the rules, procedures, and consequences governing student behavior should be clearly communicated to students and should be enforced fairly and consistently.

Elements of Effective Discipline Programs

• Agreed-on discipline philosophy• Communication of the standards of proper

conduct• Supportive staff• Enforced consequences for misbehavior• Commitment to helping solve problems of

students with special needs• A variety of skills useful in managing class

behavior• Respectful and dignified treatment of students

Suspensions

• Temporary removal of a student from school for a period of time not to exceed (10) school days (see Module #5-IDEA 2004-Special Education requirements)

• Due process1. Substantive due process examines the question of

whether the purpose of the rule or regulations which the student violated is fair, reasonable, and just.

2. Procedural due process focuses on the question of whether the procedures used to remove the student from the school were fair, reasonable, and just.

Minimum Due Process

1. Students should be given oral or written notice of the charges against them

2. If students deny the charges, they are entitled to an explanation.

3. Students shall have an opportunity to tell their sides of the story.

4. There need be no delay between the time notice is given and the time of the hearing. In a majority of the cases, the principal may informally discuss the alleged misconduct with the student minutes after it has occurred.

5. Because the hearing may occur almost immediately following the misconduct, generally the notice and hearing should precede the suspension.

6. In cases where the presence of the student poses a continuing danger to persons or property, or an ongoing threat of disrupting the academic process, the student may be immediately removed from school.

7. In such cases, the notice and hearing should follow as soon as practicable.

8. A hearing, if requested, shall be conducted by the Board or a hearing officer appointed by it to review the suspension. At the hearing the student and parent may appear and discuss the suspension, and may be represented by counsel.

9. After its hearing, or upon receipt of the hearing officer’s report, the Board may take such action as it finds appropriate.

Expulsions

• Removal from school for more than ten (10) days up to 2 years in IL (see Module #5-IDEA 2004-Special Education requirements)

• Only the Board of Education may expel.• Before expulsion, the student and parent(s) shall

be provided written notice of the time, place, and purpose of a hearing by registered or certified mail requesting the appearance of the parents. If requested, the student shall have a hearing, at the time and place designated in the notice, conducted by the Board or a hearing officer appointed by it.

• If a hearing officer is appointed by the Board, he or she shall report to the Board the evidence presented at the hearing and the Board shall take such final action as it fins appropriate.

• During the expulsion hearing, the student and his or her parent(s) may be represented by counsel, present witnesses, and other evidence and cross-examine witnesses.

Student Activities

Administration of Student Activities Programs

• Each activity, as well as the total program, should have well-defined written objectives.

• Each activity should be directed by a well-qualified, interested advisor.

• There should be a written role description for each advisor, as well as a developmental in-service program to upgrade competencies.

• There should be written role descriptions for the student officers of each activity, and an in-service program should be offered to help them improve their competencies.

• The various organizational meetings that are held as part of the student activities program should be well planned.

• A complete, written description of the total student activities program should be disseminated to students and other appropriate parties at the beginning of each school year.

• There should be a director of student activities and a student/teacher advisory council for the total program.

• The total student activities program and each of the component activities should be periodically evaluated to ascertain effectiveness and to identify areas in need of improvement.

• Each of the student groups in the student activities program should be required to prepare an end-of-the-year summary status report to be disseminated to all appropriate parties.

Extra-Curricular Activities

• Athletics– Athletic Code– IHSAA/IESAA Rules & Regulations

• http://www.ihsa.org/• http://www.iesa.org/• http://www.sijhsaa.com/: Southern IL Junior High Athletic

Association

• Fine Arts– Chorus/Band/Orchestra– Drama

• ClubsPrivilege, not a right!

Crisis Management Plan

• Tornado, disaster, and civil defense drills

• Fire drills

• Medical emergencies

• Blood borne pathogens

• Emergencies in the building

Resources

• http://www.isbe.net/sos/pdf/school_safety_guide.pdf

• Safe Schools-A Handbook for Practitioners (1995)-Available from NASP & DynCorp (800-253-7746)

• Effective Strategies for School Security (1981)-Available from NASSP (800-253-7746)

• Creating Safe Schools – What Principals Can Do (1994) – Available from Corwin Press (805-499-0871)

School Facility

Maintenance of the School Plant

• Know your responsibilities.• Keep informed about the work schedule and

specific responsibilities of each member of the custodial staff.

• Tour the school and ID problem areas.• Conduct comprehensive audits of energy needs

and excesses.• Develop procedures for staff notification of

problems.• Develop strong working relationship with all

custodial staff.

Annual Building Inspection

• Purpose:– Ensure that schools are minimally safe, sanitary, and fit for

occupancy.– Confirm that school boards are making reasonable progress with

previously issued orders to effect compliance.

• Frequency: At least once per year by ROE and includes facilities that are leased or rented by the district.

• To see the checklist, go to Chapter 2 @ http://www.isbe.net/construction/PDF/HLS_Handbook.pdf

Maintenance of the School Plant

• Know your responsibilities.• Keep informed about the work schedule and

specific responsibilities of each member of the custodial staff.

• Tour the school and ID problem areas.• Conduct comprehensive audits of energy needs

and excesses.• Develop procedures for staff notification of

problems.• Develop strong working relationship with all

custodial staff.

School Plant Scheduling

• Regular educational program of the school

• Student activities

• Requests from individuals to use school facilities

You are now ready to take Quiz #4.Good Luck!