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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Private school teacher here. There is usually high turnover after a new head. Things will eventually settle. Seeing this at my school too, likely higher because of Covid exhaustion too. [/quote]

We're seeing similar at our school, and it will ultimately be positive. It takes a while for a new head to remove key administrators for performance or culture reasons. In the case of our school, the head spent one year assessing the community and culture and trying to understand its weaknesses, one year putting in a restructuring plan, and the end of that second year and beginning of the 3rd year putting performance plans in place for people who weren't actually doing their jobs (which became more apparent once the restructuring took place). Removing people from a school takes a very long time, especially when they are a protected class. Most schools do not have the ability to make swift personnel changes in the way that a corporation can, and you wouldn't want them to.

I'll also add that when there are cohorts with discipline problems that have gone unaddressed for multiple years, it often means that there is a culture problem that makes teachers unwilling to escalate to their leadership or families not getting a response from leadership when they have an issue. The SSFS situation sounds very similar to what our school went through and it took years to work through some of the quiet but toxic stuff that had built up.[/quote]

We've seen similar at our school, and it will probably turn out negative. It takes a while for a new administrator to figure out how to remove key personnel for personal, philosophical, spiteful, or other non-discernible reasons. In the case of our school, the head spent one year planning to change the community and culture and trying to feel out what he could get away with, one year putting together plans to marginalize dissenting voices, and the end of that second year and beginning of the 3rd year putting purge plans in place for people, often those most beloved and celebrated, who would challenge his vision or leadership (which became more apparent to those paying attention once the purges took place). Removing people from a school doesn’t take as long as you’d think, especially when the administration is protected by an ignorant or cowardly board, sometimes consciously engineered for compliance. Most independent schools have the ability to make swift personnel changes in ways so disorienting that it can be hard to understand what’s going on until it’s too late.

I'll also add that when there are cohorts with discipline problems that have gone unaddressed for multiple years, it often means that there has been and is still a cascading failure of leadership that makes teachers too afraid to escalate to superiors or families being gaslit by said superiors who either have no idea what they’re doing or won’t get rid of kids for political or optical reasons. The above situation sounds like it could be similar to what our school went through and it might take years to work through some of the quiet but toxic stuff that might be building up.
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