Chain of Command, Who Needs It?

Chain of Command, Who Needs It?

by Jennifer Ward

Setting: Pleasant Meadow Independent School District is a small district located in a rural Northeast Texas town. Pleasant Meadow Junior High School currently serves students in grades sixth through eighth. The current enrollment is 250 students. The school has seen numerous changes within its administration due to principals moving up to higher-paying positions. The campus has had five principals in the last seven years. According to the district's AEIS report, the levels of experience among the teachers are 7% with 1 to 5 years, 25% with 6 to 10 years, 43% with 11 to 20 years, and 25% with more than 20 years of experience.

Scenario: It is the week before school begins, and Paul Caraway is preparing for his first year as Pleasant Meadow Junior High School's principal. Paul moved to Pleasant Meadow from a neighboring district and spent a considerable amount of time learning "how things work" at his campus. Before beginning the school year, Paul met with each teacher to learn more about the instructional programs in place and to try to get to know the teachers on a personal level.

The meetings have gone well, and Paul believes that the majority of the teachers on his campus are loyal and dedicated. He communicates to each of his teachers that if they ever have a question or concern, they should feel free to come and discuss the situation with him. He wants to be a resource for his teachers and wants to help them in any way.

Carol Barnes, one of the sixth-grade teachers, thanks him for having such an interest in the campus and staff. Carol has 12 years of teaching experience, all from Pleasant Meadow Junior High. She was born and raised in Pleasant Meadow and is very involved in the community. Her father once served on the Pleasant Meadow School Board and is currently very active in the town's civic organization.

Paul spends two days cleaning and organizing the campus bookroom. He creates an accurate inventory of the campus' textbooks. After completing the project, he delivers the students' textbooks to the teachers' classrooms. He also implements a new textbook system to monitor and track the number of textbooks on the campus, the number of textbooks checked out to teachers, and the location of all textbooks. The new system proved quite successful in his former district, yet many of the teachers at Pleasant Meadow Junior High do not see the reasoning behind the process and feel there is too much record keeping involved.

Two weeks after school begins, Paul receives a phone call from Pleasant Meadow's superintendent, Jack Newman. Jack had just received a phone call from the school board president, Lester Thompson. Lester is very upset because it was brought to his attention that two of the sixth-grade teachers from Paul's campus do not have enough textbooks for their students. Lester received a phone call last night at his home from a concerned teacher. The teacher told Lester that the parents of the students in her class are furious.

"Paul, what is going on over there?” asks Jack. “Why didn't you let someone know that you didn't have enough textbooks for your kids? Do you realize that Lester Thompson's grandson is in the sixth grade?"

"I assure you that we have an adequate number of textbooks for all of our students,” says Paul. “I just cleaned out the bookroom a few weeks ago, and based on our enrollment, I know that we have plenty. Which teacher called the school board president? I have told all of my teachers here to come directly to me when they have a concern or a problem. I can't understand why a teacher would go straight to the school board."

"Well, the teacher was Carol Barnes, and she claims that she has gone to you on numerous occasions about the textbook situation. She said that you have this fancy new system over there, but you still don't know what you have in your bookroom. She called and left a message for me yesterday, but things were a little busy so I hadn't returned her call. I guess I know what it's about now. You know, I really wish you would let me know about things like this before it's right on my doorstep. I don't really like being chewed out by the school board president."

"I guarantee you that I will make sure that each teacher has the correct number of textbooks before the close of business today,” assures Paul. “I know that I have the correct number of books in the bookroom and I will personally deliver them. When I took this position, I saw that a textbook system needed to be in place. The teachers know that if they need textbooks, they need to request them. I assure you that I knew nothing about this situation. I apologize for the misunderstanding."

"Just get the situation taken care of immediately. Oh, and Paul, you need to remember who Carol Barnes is around here. She can make or break you."

Questions:

1. How could Paul have been more effective in his attempt to improve the textbook system?

2. What should Paul do now to improve his relationship with Carol, yet clarify the importance of chain of command in an organizational structure?

3. What do you think about the advice to Paul from Jack, Pleasant Meadow’s superintendent?

4. What do you feel was Paul's biggest mistake?

5. What evidence do you see for each of the ISLLC standards (#1-6) in this case study?