Anonymous wrote: I work at Gatehouse (not a failed principal, just someone passionate about what I support), and while I don’t have any inside info and am sure “things happen” from the powers that be, I do know that the Library Coordinator position was a very competitive process. I don’t think this was the typical “you’re not cutting it as a principal, here’s a random role in HR” scenario that we see too often. The former coordinator is an incredible leader and human, so the new person has very big shoes to fill. From her bio, it seems like library services is her passion and a significant part of her background, so hopefully her skillset is better aligned here than it was as a principal.
FWIW, seeing ineffective principals get placed in random central office jobs angers me so much. It takes credibility away from roles where many of us have deep expertise and are truly working to improve student learning outcomes despite a system that has much opportunity for improvement.
New poster here. Thanks for the perspective above, but as a staff member at her old school I am also surprised. It is not a well kept secret that she has not been supportive of our school library and our current librarian (hesitating here to not put words in their mouth). She did a poor job managing one library and I can’t imagine how she passed the interview to manage 200.
The current thinking on staff is that maybe they didn’t want to do a real search, or maybe they were just looking for a place to stash her that they didn’t think would be very noticeable. In her bio they really stressed that she is a published author. With total respect to PP, being “passionate” and writing some words for 7 year olds do not a library leader/supporter make. The track record is not promising.