A couple of months ago, my department chair at school wanted to resign her post and I was elected to take her spot by the rest of the department. Traditionally, department chairs continue from one year to the next and I have been looking forward to being the chair next year and have been coming up with ideas on how to help everyone modify their curriculums to fit in the new Common Core that our state adopted. Last Friday in faculty meeting, our boss announced that we should not count on anything we do, from sports to teaching schedules to department chair spots, as continuing from year to year. Thus, anything we did this year was up for grabs to anyone who volunteered to do it. He made it sound like we should email him and volunteer for the things we wanted to do and then he and the Student Support Team (a committee we have at school) would decide from the list of volunteers who got the various spots.
After the meeting, I emailed my boss and volunteered to be the English/Reading Department Chair, citing my positions on some district and state levels with developing assessments, test item review, and developing units of study. As I wrote my email, as I felt I should, I also felt like I wouldn't get the spot. There's another girl who is currently over the Reading Dept that I thought he would choose over me since they seem to be friends.
All day Monday I expected some sort of a reply... ok, I'll put you on the list... or something...
Imagine my surprise when I went to say hi to a friend Tuesday morning and found the boss in her room. When I went in to talk to her after he left she told me he asked her to be the department chair. She never volunteered or even wanted to do it. She asked the boss about the reading dept chair and was told she didn't want to do it anymore because there were others things she wanted to do. My friend asked about me and was told that since 9th graders will be moving to the high school, I couldn't do it.
My friend will make a great department chair-- she's creative and organized and funny and gets along with pretty much anyone. She'll do a great job.
That said, I was shocked. I mean, the boss said he'd take volunteers. If he was just going to pick whomever he wanted anyway, why the ruse of asking for volunteers? I passed him in the hall multiple times yesterday and he mostly looked the other way when he saw me. Note: you're not invisible if you refuse to make eye contact with someone!
The 9th graders are moving to the high school is his excuse for not letting me continue? While, the high school we feed into is being rebuilt large enough to take the 9th graders, the School Board still has to approve the change. Parents have to approve the change. AND it's not happening for at least another school year or possibly more.
I mentioned this to another friend of mine who's working on his administrative degree and has been interning in our front office and he said, "The 9th graders moving isn't even a done deal and that's a pretty lame excuse. " That comment took me by surprise, until it dawned on me that he was pretty much saying that the boss's reason for not letting me do it stinks and it's actually personal. My friend that the boss chose will joke around with him.. and I won't. I refuse to laugh at the jokes that poke fun at others.
(example: We were eating our teacher appreciation lunch before the faculty meeting. My pregnant friend was sitting on the floor because she couldn't balance her food on her now-small lap. The boss came over and asked why she was on the floor and she told him she couldn't balance it. The man sitting next to me is pretty large and has no lap and he said, jokingly, "Join the no lap club." The boss laughed and said, "Well, I expect you to have your lap back at the same time she gets hers back." The man looked shocked and under he breath said, "I'm working on it.")
I'm thinking that the boss-man needs to find people who will joke with him and act like they get along with him, hence the decision to mix up all the department chairs and everyone with leadership positions. When he first came, he demolished the leadership team we had (full of people with experience) and chose people we wanted on it. I dubbed that team "the cool kids" team.
I'm actually really pissed (excuse the French) about it. It's one thing to pick new people, it's another to reject the people who volunteer that you said you'd take to just take the ones you like. And I have the respect of my department, I've been getting compliments from random people that I'm going a good job. And the district Language Arts person personally knows me. And the state Language Arts person personally knows me. I've been doing projects with them for a few years now. I'm in the perfect position to lobby for our school and kids at those levels.
The boss never follows through with what he tells me he'll do and I wonder if it's a source of embarrassment for him. I'm in charge of the big 9th Grade Dance but the student fund is broke (no fault of mine) and he told me he'd take care of the food since it involves finding a new source of money. However, when I reminded him of his promise to take care of it, he actually came to my room to find me, and told me he didn't know his financial secretary was out that week (really?!) and that I should just take care of it. Lame. I have no money to spend and I'm supposed to find food for 200 people? Awesome.
I've conceded that I can't find a new job. I'm trying to be ok with staying at WLJH again. I know I should just "play the game" but I apparently don't play the right game. Next year, I fully intend to do my job and just fly under the radar as much as possible.
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