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Ask Lindsay Moir:

Board office holidays

Friday, July 23, 2010

Question:

After some serious work with our school and the board consultant, we had a meeting in mid- June where we seemed to come to agreement on placement, transportation and support for our daughter, starting to school for the first time in September. The board consultant "volunteered" to write up the notes of the Team Meeting-- she orally recounted the "outcomes" to us, the school team and our community support team. Everyone seemed to be on the same page.

The notes were sent out electronically on July 2nd---AND EVERYTHING HAD CHANGED!!!!!!!

placement was 50% in the spec ed room and 50% unsupported in a regular class ( as opposed to 100% in regular class with an SNA)

transportation, which was not even contentious, was "no longer available""

the only support was "shared support in the spec ed room"

School was closed. When I tracked down the principal at home (from the phone book), she was not even aware of the email-- her first reaction was "There must be some mistake, that's not what we decided!" She said she would call back after checking her school email. When she called back (two days later) she was all evasive and nervous and said she could not talk about it. When pressed, she said to call the board office and talk to "whomever I can reach...."

When I called the board consultant's office, she was not available because she works on a teacher's contract and would not be back till September 1st.

When I called the Special Education Superintendent she was "not available" but her Admin Asssistant would reach her and get back to me. I got a call from the Admin Assistant (3 days later) stating that this was either the consultant or the Area Superintendent's call, and Spec Ed Superintendent would "not get involved."

When I called the Area Superintendent's office, he is "on holiday till August 16th" and they will not take messages for him--- I was to try to call-in on the 16th and leave a message at that time!!!

The whole board office shuts down for two weeks ( last week of July & first week of August) .........

My daughter needs to be prepared for a whole lot of "transitions" for first time experiences--- so knowing what is going to be happening in September is essential for us to "pre-teach" during August.

What happens in a Board Office in the summer? Are all decisions "just put on hold"???

Answer:

I can't speak for ALL school Boards, but here are some guiding principles:

Most senior administrators are full year people with a specified number of weeks of holidays. While, in theory, they are free to take these holidays at any time of year, there is an unwrtten rule that they should try to be around when schools is in session. This means that they take the majority of their holidays in the summer, Christmas or March Break. If they have school-aged children or teacher spouses, that is another incentive to take holidays that coincide with school calendars. It is often difficult for senior administrators to use all their vacation credits.

Most boards, use a "Coverage" system where certain people cover for other people on holiday. Usually, the people with the most seniority get first pick of holiday time, and the low person on the totem pole ends up with coverage responsibility.....

Many boards have "shut down" periods where the board office is effectively closed. This forces staff to use vacation time in the summer and leaves them less likely to be off during the school year. Only a "skeleton crew" is on hand to cover emergencies--- usually building and maintenance, and rarely program staff.

I have discovered that some boards are allowing administrators to provide "on-call coverage" which means they are at home (or at the cottage?) and have a Blackberry and agree to take calls from their Admin Assistant and/or check emails on a daily basis., with or without using their vacation days.

an increasing number of positions at the Board level are being filled by people on teacher contracts. Many consultants are hired in this manner and are not full year staff.

What does that mean in YOUR case??????

The consultant likely is a "teacher contract" person and likely won't respond to you before September.

My guess that the Spec Ed Superintendent is " On Call" and it took the admin Assistant a day or two to get a response....... the response was NOT acceptable because the issues are Special Education issues and your daughter is an exceptional child. Some other person may have made "a call", but she is the person to contact them and fix it!!!

It would be very rare that a Superintendent would be on holiday without " Coverage"--- I suspect that there is someone who is providing "back-up"---- The question to ask is: "who is covering for Superintendent _____ until August 16th?"

Insist that the back-up person actually deals with the issues rather than deferring them until the Superintendent returns. "MAKE A DECISION,PLEASE"

You need to work outside of the "Shut down" period, because there will likely be no back-up during this period.

FYI: The parent did call back and got the "Coverage " person who,somewhat reluctantly got the transportation all in place so that pre-teaching this transition can proceed. The Coverage person contacted the Principal and did resolve the placement issue ( now 100% in regular classroom with an SNA in place for 50% of the time.) so that this could be done as a social story. They have sent an email (cc'd to Mom) to the Area Superintendent outlining the need for additional staffing and booked a meeting on August 19th with the principal, Superintendent and the Mom to finalize staffing (or use of volunteers). Mom has written a letter to the Spec Ed Superintendent, raising her concern over her "failure to get involved and asking to meet in August to discuss these concerns. Finding the right person and insisting that they ACT rather than DEFER solved most of the issues, and gave Mom some piece of mind. School board offices are a maze, in the summer-time!