will teach her not to respond to every request immediately. In any bu-
reaucracy, today’s urgent request becomes tomorrow’s “please ignore this
request.” The report format sent today is revised tomorrow. The informa-
tion requested now changes by next week. While reports are due on time,
sometimes having a few days patience pays off.
Just as a secretary screens the school leader’s mail, she will also
screen her phone calls, both on the general school line and the princi-
pal’s private line. Ms. Niles-Perry made sure her secretary knew that
some calls were always put through immediately: those from the super-
intendent or one of her assistants, those from irate parents, and those
from her husband or child. All others were screened. If her secretary was
unsure whether to put a call through, she knocked on Ms. Niles-Perry’s
door and informed her that so and so was on the phone about such and
such. If Ms. Niles-Perry did not want to take the call, her secretary gave
the caller a plausible excuse, such as “She’s observing classes. I’ll take a
message and have her call you,” or “She’s traveling around the school.”
When possible, she directed calls to other offices to handle, with the
gentle admonition to the staff member that “the principal has asked you
to take this call.”
Today’s gadfly is e-mail. Ms. Valletta dealt with this in several ways:
- She established a “private” e-mail address known only to her supervi-
sors, the administrative staff, the Parent Association president, and her
administrative assistant. If warranted, she added others. Any e-mails
that come in to this account are important and have priority. - She added an automatic response to all e-mails on her regular school
address:
Thank you for your e-mail. I receive hundreds of e-mails each day, and it
is impossible for me to respond to all of them. Most matters can be handled
by the other professionals in the school. Therefore, for matters relating
to ——, please contact —— at this e-mail address [she provided a list of
the assistant principals, deans, etc.]. If this is a matter you feel only I can
handle, please call me at [she provided the school number and her exten-
sion, not her private line].In New York City, the chancellor has a staff to answer his e-mails; a
principal does not have this luxury. Of course, a school leader can try to
62 Chapter 5