Is this personal for a principal?

[Anonymous]

My principal told me that he gets an average of 250 emails every day. On the weekends, it is less around 50-70).

OP- if you didn't email the teacher first, why are you complaining?

[Anonymous]

PP who had letters of reprimand in their HR file.

Please don’t throw around the term if you don’t fully understand it

Disciplinary infractions for teachers start at the school level and then escalate to HR when necessary

Typically a principal and their assistants want to handle things in house keeping it all in house. No one wants to push a letter on someone to HR unless there is no other way to avoid it.

A teacher may get written up and it goes in their school file but stays out of HR file. Because holy shit sometimes people make mistakes but don’t need to be raked over the coals for one self inflicted shot in the foot. Other times, someone I point to myself, keeps screwing up and the school has to push it up. Not because the teacher is bad or evil but like with student discipline escalation requires intervention.

When you’re at HR escalation that’s reprimand letters, the go in school personnel and HR files. Basically this means if you go to another school, the new admin would be able to see your previous issues. Things in your school file stay there and leave via word of mouth.

Anyway, takes a lot to get a reprimand is my point. Hell I remember folks who did way more incredulous stuff than me who didnt have them

To those wondering, I was mouthy and arrogant and failed to learn my lesson

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PP who had letters of reprimand in their HR file.

Please don’t throw around the term if you don’t fully understand it

Disciplinary infractions for teachers start at the school level and then escalate to HR when necessary

Typically a principal and their assistants want to handle things in house keeping it all in house. No one wants to push a letter on someone to HR unless there is no other way to avoid it.

A teacher may get written up and it goes in their school file but stays out of HR file. Because holy shit sometimes people make mistakes but don’t need to be raked over the coals for one self inflicted shot in the foot. Other times, someone I point to myself, keeps screwing up and the school has to push it up. Not because the teacher is bad or evil but like with student discipline escalation requires intervention.

When you’re at HR escalation that’s reprimand letters, the go in school personnel and HR files. Basically this means if you go to another school, the new admin would be able to see your previous issues. Things in your school file stay there and leave via word of mouth.

Anyway, takes a lot to get a reprimand is my point. Hell I remember folks who did way more incredulous stuff than me who didnt have them

To those wondering, I was mouthy and arrogant and failed to learn my lesson

You're a teacher and you write like that?

Explains a lot.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP who had letters of reprimand in their HR file.

Please don’t throw around the term if you don’t fully understand it

Disciplinary infractions for teachers start at the school level and then escalate to HR when necessary

Typically a principal and their assistants want to handle things in house keeping it all in house. No one wants to push a letter on someone to HR unless there is no other way to avoid it.

A teacher may get written up and it goes in their school file but stays out of HR file. Because holy shit sometimes people make mistakes but don’t need to be raked over the coals for one self inflicted shot in the foot. Other times, someone I point to myself, keeps screwing up and the school has to push it up. Not because the teacher is bad or evil but like with student discipline escalation requires intervention.

When you’re at HR escalation that’s reprimand letters, the go in school personnel and HR files. Basically this means if you go to another school, the new admin would be able to see your previous issues. Things in your school file stay there and leave via word of mouth.

Anyway, takes a lot to get a reprimand is my point. Hell I remember folks who did way more incredulous stuff than me who didnt have them

To those wondering, I was mouthy and arrogant and failed to learn my lesson

You're a teacher and you write like that?

Explains a lot.

Explains a lot of what. That I typed a massive comment on my phone and didn’t use punctuation. And I’ve moved on from teaching, it’s better for everyone obviously. No one has to deal with my poor grammar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I emailed them re a issue I had with a teacher, and she CC THE TEACHER, THE Teacher replay to the email.... IS she allowed to do this?

OMG - the *exact* same thing happened to me!! This was a few years ago, but it was mortifying. Why do they do this??

If your email being sent to the teacher is mortifying, you might want to think about what kind of emails you are writing. There are polite, professional ways to bring up issues that wouldn’t be embarrassing.

Your snotty tone is a huge turnoff. I actually did bring up the issue to the teacher first. She completely dismissed me, so I then wrote an email to the principal, making it clear I had tried to resolve the issue with the teacher but that had not been successful.

Instead of the principal addressing the problem directly with the teacher, she decided to CC me on her email to the teacher. The teacher then emailed me and gaslit me by pretending she was “open” to suggestions and had “no idea” why I would have taken this to the principal. Obviously, she was backpedaling after being called out.

It would have been far more productive - and less embarrassing for everyone - had the principal and teacher just dealt with this privately, especially after my email made clear I had tried doing just that unsuccessfully.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I emailed them re a issue I had with a teacher, and she CC THE TEACHER, THE Teacher replay to the email.... IS she allowed to do this?

The principal is demonstrating that they don't want to hear complaints about teachers, and if the parent complains they will reveal their identity immediately to the teacher.

How the principal could have handled it better:

1) The principal should have first privately replied to the parent inquiring if the teacher can been made aware of the concern and if so how many times.

2) Principal should have then approached the teacher privately, verified the facts, and only then loop the parent in as needed—possibly with the parent's consent.

3) When the parent brings up a concern with the principal, the expectation is that the administration will handle it discreetly, not immediately copy the teacher and reveal the parent’s identity. This can lead to awkwardness or retaliation concerns, and may discourage parents from speaking up in the future.

Ha ha! No, not in large public schools, where the Principal has way too many things to do at any given time. I've had to deal with 7 Principals in my children's schooling (elementary to high school), and liked most of them. The rare times I've needed to contact them, I've received extremely short, terse responses - not because they're upset, but because they literally don't have the time. They solve the issue, tell me, and move on, in as few words as possible. And sometimes I haven't had responses at all, but someone else in the administration reached out to solve my issue, because the Principal delegated. Efficiency and time management are paramount. And that's fine with me, because all *I* want is for my issue to be solved!

No Principal is going to spend time tiptoeing around your little feelings. You need to go to a small private if you want that.

Good things worked out for you. What if the principal did not address the concern, and simply forwarded it to the teacher by CCing them in the reply (assuming you already approached the teacher multiple times without response)?

Then I would wait 24hrs for the teacher to respond, because in all my years of dealing with school staff, I've seen that teachers are under pressure to perform once they know the Principal is aware. This could be his/her way of applying pressure on the teacher. If you're talking about being embarrassed that now the teacher knows you've contacted the Principal, no, that kind of pressure is the point, especially if they have not responded before. It's what the teacher gets for having ignored you before. They deserve it.

Maybe you can tell me what the issue is?

I have 160 students. I get less than an hour at work to grade, plan, respond to emails, eat, visit the bathroom, attend meetings, and update my records.

You may not hear from me in 24 hours, and I won’t apologize for that. I have 25 or so emails A DAY to respond to, and they can’t be my top priority.

You want me at your disposal immediately? Then advocate for me to have more time to get my work done.

And my principal understands this.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I emailed them re a issue I had with a teacher, and she CC THE TEACHER, THE Teacher replay to the email.... IS she allowed to do this?

OMG - the *exact* same thing happened to me!! This was a few years ago, but it was mortifying. Why do they do this??

If your email being sent to the teacher is mortifying, you might want to think about what kind of emails you are writing. There are polite, professional ways to bring up issues that wouldn’t be embarrassing.

Your snotty tone is a huge turnoff. I actually did bring up the issue to the teacher first. She completely dismissed me, so I then wrote an email to the principal, making it clear I had tried to resolve the issue with the teacher but that had not been successful.

Instead of the principal addressing the problem directly with the teacher, she decided to CC me on her email to the teacher. The teacher then emailed me and gaslit me by pretending she was “open” to suggestions and had “no idea” why I would have taken this to the principal. Obviously, she was backpedaling after being called out.

It would have been far more productive - and less embarrassing for everyone - had the principal and teacher just dealt with this privately, especially after my email made clear I had tried doing just that unsuccessfully.

You really think of the principals of parents and the teachers as kids. I’m a PP and again I ask, what did you want to happen? The principal to call the teacher to the office and demand the gradebook be updated?

Look- the other teacher explained it. There is only so much time. The principal forwarded the email, which is appropriate when you go over someone’s head for something small. This is small. It’s not to you but it really is. I’m sorry you are digging in on this.

I’m frustrated too. My kid had grades not updated and we are in the final days. I know emailing the principal is not the way to go. If they are never updated and final grades are posted, that’s when the email goes out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I emailed them re a issue I had with a teacher, and she CC THE TEACHER, THE Teacher replay to the email.... IS she allowed to do this?

OMG - the *exact* same thing happened to me!! This was a few years ago, but it was mortifying. Why do they do this??

If your email being sent to the teacher is mortifying, you might want to think about what kind of emails you are writing. There are polite, professional ways to bring up issues that wouldn’t be embarrassing.

Your snotty tone is a huge turnoff. I actually did bring up the issue to the teacher first. She completely dismissed me, so I then wrote an email to the principal, making it clear I had tried to resolve the issue with the teacher but that had not been successful.

Instead of the principal addressing the problem directly with the teacher, she decided to CC me on her email to the teacher. The teacher then emailed me and gaslit me by pretending she was “open” to suggestions and had “no idea” why I would have taken this to the principal. Obviously, she was backpedaling after being called out.

It would have been far more productive - and less embarrassing for everyone - had the principal and teacher just dealt with this privately, especially after my email made clear I had tried doing just that unsuccessfully.

Doesn’t the teacher deserve to know you’re the one complaining?

[Anonymous]

Principals suck. They will support their staff over a student/parent. I’ve rarely had a good interaction even if I was right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Principals suck. They will support their staff over a student/parent. I’ve rarely had a good interaction even if I was right.

Sure. I bet you love it if your boss throws you under the bus.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I emailed them re a issue I had with a teacher, and she CC THE TEACHER, THE Teacher replay to the email.... IS she allowed to do this?

The principal is demonstrating that they don't want to hear complaints about teachers, and if the parent complains they will reveal their identity immediately to the teacher.

How the principal could have handled it better:

1) The principal should have first privately replied to the parent inquiring if the teacher can been made aware of the concern and if so how many times.

2) Principal should have then approached the teacher privately, verified the facts, and only then loop the parent in as needed—possibly with the parent's consent.

3) When the parent brings up a concern with the principal, the expectation is that the administration will handle it discreetly, not immediately copy the teacher and reveal the parent’s identity. This can lead to awkwardness or retaliation concerns, and may discourage parents from speaking up in the future.

+1. The principal needs to be reprimanded by the Asst. Superintendent.

LOL

[Anonymous]

I usually did it the other way. I would send a second request to the teacher and if they did not respond - I would send a third request to the teacher, but cc the Principal. I would put ‘Third Request’ in the subject line after the main subject and include the two other emails in the chain.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Principals suck. They will support their staff over a student/parent. I’ve rarely had a good interaction even if I was right.

Sure. I bet you love it if your boss throws you under the bus.

You do what’s right you don’t just support the teacher, the schools should be about the kids not like running a business.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Principals suck. They will support their staff over a student/parent. I’ve rarely had a good interaction even if I was right.

Sure. I bet you love it if your boss throws you under the bus.

You do what’s right you don’t just support the teacher, the schools should be about the kids not like running a business.

Without teachers, they would be no schools to run, so of course they’re going to protect with teachers - and half the time the kids/parents are lying, so….

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Principals suck. They will support their staff over a student/parent. I’ve rarely had a good interaction even if I was right.

Sure. I bet you love it if your boss throws you under the bus.

You do what’s right you don’t just support the teacher, the schools should be about the kids not like running a business.

Without teachers, they would be no schools to run, so of course they’re going to protect with teachers - and half the time the kids/parents are lying, so….

I wonder if this is a late assignment OP is upset about? I've had kids turn in assignments weeks late and then pitch a fit when it's not graded immediately.