One caution: Some staff members in administrative or semi-
administrative roles sometimes like to use or abuse their power. The
old saying that power corrupts is true. For example the program chair
previously alluded to had staff members he liked and a few he didn’t.
Thinking that his school’s new principal did not know the intricacies
of school programming, he created classes and time slots designed to
help or hinder those he liked and those he disliked, respectively. After
Mr. Chen reviewed the first program and confronted the program chair
with these anomalies, he did not try this again. Chapter 7 describes how
important a program is to a teacher. A school leader needs to understand
how programs are created and make sure those entrusted with the task
know that he knows.
Such delegation also applies to each department chair or assistant principal.
Principals use formal and informal meetings with them to reach agreement
on what they need to do within their own departments. As long as the stu-
dents continue to achieve—and in most school districts, this means do well
on standardized examinations—a principal will not look over their shoulders
and interfere. This trust in a staff’s ability is also extended to others in key
positions, such as the deans, admissions officer, counselors, and so forth.
Will a principal ever get into trouble because he delegates? Of course
he will. The most interesting example involves an administrative assistant
principal of Manhattan High School and the rental of school facilities to
an outside organization.
You’ll need some background information to understand this anecdote.
Following detailed district regulations, school space at Manhattan High
School could be rented to outside organizations on weekends and after
school, as long as such rentals did not take facilities needed by the school
for student programs and activities. The fees charged for such rentals were
very low and basically paid for the time the custodial staff had to devote
to cleaning up the space after the rental.
While the school gained nothing financially, such rentals provided other
benefits. The custodial staff liked the “overtime.” They were paid to be
present the entire time of the rental, say from five to eight in the evening,
plus one additional hour for cleanup. However, once they opened the door
to the rooms being rented, they rarely did anything until they had to clean
up during the last hour. Often, they used the time to do extra tasks around
the school, such as minor repairs or even painting a room or office.
Let Your People Fly 71