Tales of Adequacy!

You know it’s a bad day when Cap unbuttons her jacket.

Thursday was a Bad Day.  Let’s leave it at that.

The goal right now is just to get through Friday, get in the car, and have the weekend.  Small, simple goals, as we march as best we can to the end of the school year.

I’m starting to get why some teachers don’t really take a stand for things, or let their classrooms get kind of out of control.  It’s tiring maintaining order, tiring staying on top of things all the time.  Some teachers see that, and just never even try.

There’s some stuff though…that you just can’t let go, that you just have to hold the line on.  Otherwise, it’s not school, and there’s no real point.

Honestly, I only go involved after the fact.

The other day, a small group of local students that are heavily gang affiliated came to campus.  That is to say…they are students at the school, who usually ditch class entirely.  They came to campus en masse (five young men) in order to go after a student that was from a rival “gang set,” and “teach him a lesson” for transgressions in that world off of campus.

During lunch, the whole thing came down, and the five students attacked the one.  It did not go well for the one student, that’s for sure.  Supervision of the area was minimal, things got out of hand.  An ambulance needed to be called, and various parts of law enforcement and district officials needed to be involved.

Since it was during lunch, I was on the opposite side of campus, playing Magic.  Honestly, the best way that could have gone.

Now, in the aftermath, I’m making sure through various policy considerations that the students who performed the attack won’t be coming back to our school.  Granted, they rarely arrived to begin with…but at this point, as a safety issue they should be assigned to other school sites.  That’s a lot of paperwork, but once you do it, it’s done.  For the greater good, really.

Even knowing that, it’s a tough decision to go through with.  Most of those students have made it to my “we have to intervene to prevent a problem” lists for the entire year.  Not a lot has been done, and now we are here.  Some of them have violated probation, some just need to be transferred for student safety. For those five students, it seems like the system fell down on the job, and now…they have major legal problems.

None of the combatants are even close to being on track for graduating.

In order to split the difference of my time, I spent a significant effort on helping an excellent student “dual enroll” with the California Community College system, so that they will be able to take college classes over the summer, before graduating high school.  It’s pretty important to spend actual time on positive students, to cut the bad feeling of having to deal with the nonsense.

Even though someone needs to deal with the nonsense, it is tiring just kind of “taking out the garbage,” year after year.

The Principal was DEFINITELY avoiding me at the after school meetings.

Although I was the one that had the hot noodles.  Artistic license, after all.

The biggest issue in the after school meetings was the idea that once again, WASC would be reviewing out school.  WASC is an organization that determines whether a diploma from your high school has any value at all…so it is a very important review.

WASC didn’t exactly love us the last time that they were on campus.

The staff was separated into two portions….members that have been there for six years, and other staff members.

I was in the senior group, and as a result, isolated from any friends that I might have.

It wasn’t an important meeting, and I didn’t care.  I literally sat by myself, and no one approached me, on purpose.

The principal himself ran the senior meeting, and he did everything to avoid me.  Maybe it had something to do with me calling him out twenty four hours earlier, maybe he was embarassed that he offered me a job he declined my friend out of machismo.  Who knows?  Who cares?

The discomfort alone was fun to watch.

Definitely the wrong way to approach a deal with Cap.

Or me, for that matter.

On the way into work on Monday morning, I was stuck in traffic.  Big time.  I got a message from a colleague that prompted me to call them.

In short, it was giving me the heads up that either the Principal himself, or a Vice Principal, was going to approach me to change my “line of classes” next year.  To shift from Tenth Grade English to Seniors.  The ultimate goal here is to have a better pass rate for the Senior class, because things are not going to great.  We are losing a teacher who traditionally taught Seniors, and that teacher had a pretty high fail rate.  My friend was told last week that the position wasn’t “open for interviews” because there were “several interested parties.”

In complete frankness, I was not one of them.  I like teaching Tenth Grade, in fact, I prefer it.

I had all of my Conference Period, Period Two, alone to myself.  I expected that one of them would try to meet with me then, since it is the time that has been set aside for precisely that kind of thing.

Nope.

The Principal himself came during lunch.  I’m wondering why he thought it was a good idea to come during lunch, or personally.  We don’t have the best relationship, and quite frankly, he should know that I’m busy with the club during lunch.  It really made it much easier to simply shut it down with a “No.”  He pressed the point a bit, and I pressed back with the treatment of my friend, and that he rarely takes my advice in any way.  That brought us to a stalemate.

He left, pretty much with me having explained that I didn’t want the class, and didn’t have the specific curricula training to teach it.  On the way out, he did drop a “zinger,” which mildly impressed me.

The worst way to get to me to do something is to bully me or be phony.  This was a combination of the two.

Seriously, it was an hour and a half long game of commander.

Friday at school was a Minimum Day.  The day was as short as possible to still be a school day…and the reason was to give students enough time to prep for prom.

Normally, I like to go to Prom.  This year, both because of the general student population of the class, and Drama With Adults, I wasn’t feeling it.  Neither was my team.

We agreed to meet to plat Magic after school…teacher Magic.  Commander format.  I put together a deck specifically for it, using a commander from the “Baldur’s Gate” tie in set, with retro “Dungeons and Dragons” art.  The art is a Githyanki Warrior, sort of an iconic piece of art from Dungeons and Dragons in the late seventies and early eighties.

That’s her sitting next to Cap.

It’s a deck build that gets very out of hand, very quickly.  VERY Quickly.

The goal was to get in SEVERAL games of Magic before we were allowed to leave…a two hour time block.

We got ONE game in.

That’s a testament to my friends, and their abuility to read cards and play games, I guess.

After I FINALLY won the single game we played, we went home, and the week ground to its inevitable close.  I definitely have had better weeks.  In this week I lost a colleague, I lost a pet, and once again wound up in conflict with the teachers’ union.  Not terrific.

I was thinking that Cap’s Githyanki friend is kind of a nightmare to draw, because her outfit seems complicated at first glance.  It really isn’t, unless I need to hold myself to consitency on the details of all the gems on her outfit.  I could easily simplify that a bit, by say, giving her one big important gem.  Then the outfit is easy peasy.

In case anyone is wondering, she doesn’t have a name yet.  I’ll take suggestions, sure, but no promises that they get used.  It’s a fun enough character design that I think I’ll make her a kind of series regular.  Cap needs friends…she seems to keep losing them.

Physically and mentally exhausted.

The web comic references “Doggo,” Cap’s pet super dog that lives in the Fortress of Togetherness.  Doggo is often a lot of trouble in the strip, as pets often can be.

In reality, there are two dogs in the house, one much older than the other.  Or rather, there were.  This past week or so, the older of the two, a thirteen year old Border Terrier, finally lost her battle with an ongoing digestive condition.  It was pretty upsetting, to say the least.

The vet has said that there was pretty much nothing to be done, that her condition had progressed to a point where it would be hard for her to eat.  That’s a lot.  She’d been doing very well for a while, and things took a sudden turn with a case of pancreatitis.

Now that the work week is over, and I have time to sit and think about, it, time to stop running about solving problems, the loss is more obvious, it stings more.

Losing pets always feels terrible.

It is good to be leaving this drama in the rear view…

I has been a long, strange week, despite the majority of the days being shorter than normal.  AP testing has been taking place, Teacher Appreciation Week happened, and all sorts of Adult Dramas unfolded.  I’m pretty exhausted by the situations, really, but the actual class time has been good, and rewarding.

Today is a “Minimum Day,” which is exactly what it says.  Class goes on for the absolute minimum amount of time to count as a school day.  Appraently, we are doing this because of Prom…students need time to depart and prepare, apparently.

This year, my friends and I are not going to Prom.  Simply put…it’s too much, especially given the poor treatment of our buddy.  Getting dressed up and being positive when we don’t really feel it…not a great idea, really.  We just aren’t that phony.

When I walked in to school on Thursday, the principal came out of his office, and picked up the already delivered Williams Complaint from my friend.  It confused him, clearly…he didn’t even notive me, Pony, and my co-teacher, but instead puzzled over the document and its numberous attachments.  The other copy had already been filed.

I think he was honestly confused at someone pushing back in him that wasn’t ME.  As he read through the documents (clearly for a second time) it seemed to dawn on him that he had been pushed back pretty hard.

Already, some changes to the scheduling matrix have been made, but to my knowledhe, none that directly address that issue.  I’m curious how it plays out, because he actually handed my friend documents that make him…insistent upon doing things that he isn’t able to do, and then dopuble down on those things.  With his signature on them.  I’ve never even heard of this kind of situation, in such a cut and dried fashion.

Usually, he tries to fob it off on a Minor Darth, or to point out that there isn’t any paper trail.  Here…there’s a direct paper trail, with only HIM on it.  Apparently during Thursday he met with some of the Draths trying to figure out something to do, but that all turned confrontational, as he insisted that there was nothing wrong with his actions or the Scheduling Matrix.

None of us had it in us to go to Prom, and be falsely friendly to him.  We are going to go and have dinner elsewhere, probably someplace a little fancy.

It’s just about the waiting…

A six panel gag.  You know that this is a Big Deal.

In short…as I’ve mentioned, my principal has been pressuring a teacher friend to take a line of classes she isn’t qualified for.  The teacher refused, and since then, high pressure has been put on her to comply, or be removed for next year.  In all honesty, the principal can’t do that…but tell him that, right?

He tried to force a meeting, which she took with me as a representative.  I spent most of my time glaring.  The following morning, he gave her (and the district) a letter informing her of her “displacement,” fobbing off the issue as “teacher refused to take the line of classes.”

In the mean time, that teacher friend finalized the job she was going to.  The delaying tactic worked well enough, and her ability to leave it completely secured.  That’s bad for the school, but good for her, as no one wants to labor under a principal that has turned on them in this fashion.  As a point of clarity, no other teacher has even learned of their line of classes, so this read very much like “singling out a teacher for some sort of retaliation.”

That’s a bad look.  The wording of the e-mails, and the wording of the letter, as well as things said in front of me…a bad look.

This teacher friend…now that she is secure in moving on, is submitting a Williams Complaint to the district.

You’re asking…”What’s a Williams Complaint?”

Good Question.  Glad you asked.

In California, Williams case legislation requires a school district to use its uniform complaint process to help identify and resolve any deficiencies related to instructional materials, teacher vacancy or missassignment, and emergency or urgent facilities conditions that pose a threat to the health and safety of the pupils or staff.

The key part there is in “missassignment.” You aren’t allowed to assign teachers to classes they aren’t credentialed in, nor can you pressure them to do so.

The Eliezer Williams, et al., vs. State of California, et al. (Williams) case was filed as a class action in 2000 in San Francisco County Superior Court. The plaintiffs include nearly 100 San Francisco County students, who filed suit against the State of California and state education agencies, including the California Department of Education (CDE). The basis of the lawsuit was that the agencies failed to provide public school students with equal access to instructional materials, safe and decent school facilities, and qualified teachers.

In other words, this is a state education code issue, and a Very Big Deal. There are massive whistleblower protections, and the state and district take it VERY seriously.

That complaint gets set in motion today…and then, it’s all about waiting to see the fallout. Given the Pricipal’s e-mails and letter, signed by him…and the various conference memos related to it….there’s almost no way that this does not go poorly for the school. At the very least, the matrix of classes will need to be rewritten to eliminate that line of classes for compliance issues, and then reassign them appropriately…as well as any others out of compliance.

That is a LOT of work.

If you file a complaint, the principal must investigate and fix the problem within 30 working days.

There aren’t that many days left to school this semester, by the way.

If the principal does not have authority to fix the problem, she or he must forward the complaint to the school district. The district must then provide a solution within 30 working days of receiving the complaint (but no later than 40 working days after you first filed your complaint with the principal). A written response, if requested, is due within 45 working days.

Obviously, the principal is hostile here…so the complaint will go downtown simultaneously.

This is a Big Deal, and something that was avoidable. In short…we shouldn’t be pressuring teachers to teach classes they aren’t expert in. In this case, it would have been an English teacher running a science class.

It’s even worse that instead of being willing to resolve the problem (which will be a big issue in the Williams investigation), the problem was ignored and the teacher driven out. That is a Very, Very Bad Look.

Stay Tuned, True Believers.

This is pretty much non-fiction.

In an action that could only be called Gross Bullying, my principal tried to press a meeting with the teacher friend I have that is being forced out.  The principal wanted it to be “private,” mostly so that no one could corroborate what was said in the meeting.  My friend…she’s not stupid.  She dodged this meeting over and over again, and when cornered after a Tuesday meeting, she made the smart choice.

She said, “You can say whatever you have to say in front on my representative.”  She pointed to ME.

We planned that.  It worked out pretty well.

The principal is…acting in a way that is kind of shady.  As a result, he dialed back a whole lot of the shadiness, but still said several things that are lies/inaccurate/violations of education code.  It depended upon the sentence, but in under two minutes, he packed in a LOT of mistakes.

For once, I just listened.  And took notes.

All of this is a simple delaying tactic.  Today (Wednesday) my friend has a meetinf with HR that should finalize the transfer, and make all of this a moot point.  Well…not quite moot.  We are both unhappy with the way things are going, so it’s finally time for me to take steps to ensure this principal starts doing things correctly.  In the past, I’ve just labeled him as “not smart” or “not good at his job.”  In this instance, he went out of his wway to bully my friend out of her position, mostly because he didn’t want to figure out the Right Way to do things.

@#$% that guy.

In fact, to really muddy the waters and take attention off of my friend until her business is done, I made some real hassles for the Darths.  There are enough things Done Wrong, so that I can just step in and use my own status in the system to make things rough, to “stir the pot” as it is.  At this point, I’ve given them each a major problem that needs dealing with now, and also managed to tie up the Union Chapter Chair.

While they are all dealing with that stuff…which in truth, is Important but not Career Ending, my friend will finalize her tasks, and solidify that new position as iron clad,

Right now, my job is simple enough…carry on, teach my classes, and keep them off of her back.

Easy Peasy.

I was once told that I had a personality flaw of “excessive loyalty.”  That I took the bonds of friendship “too far,” and it was a detriment to my success.  That’s stuck with me for decades.

In this case…I’m pretty happy with it.  The needs of the one (in this case) outweigh the needs of the many.  I’m going to do right by my friend first, and then we are going to have a team up.

Superheroes are always at their best when they team up.

It’s going to be tough to be a Darth then.

This, at least, is a “done deal.”

Seriously.  Pending a meeting with HR on Wednesday, which is the last step, my friend that was basically being pushed out is free.  She had been told that she had to teach an AP class (two sections of it) that she was unqualified for, or that she would lose her position.  Her solution was to preemptively find a new position, leaving the school to fill her place.

It was ultimately a very poor move involving a fair amount of bullying and misrepresentation by administration.  If things had been handled differently, she would have stayed another year or so…but, alas, that was not in the cards.

I was pretty mad about the way it was handled.  Although many years my junior in experience, this teacher was competitive with my standardized test scores, and a wonderful educator.  Inner city schools rarely get such a gem, and it took them no time to drive her to greener pastures.

There’s a little more to the story to it than this, but that can be another post.