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An Adventure of Mine*
Superintendent of schools
THE SCHOOL DISTRICT
I grew up in a rural America. Our school district was one of the larger ones around - but that was not very large, at least by today's standards.
The entire school system was located on one large city lot. (I use that word "city" a bit loosely, as the population of our town was less than 2000.)
Grade school, junior high, and high school -- were all located in the same building complex.
THE NEW SUPERINTENDENT
Some teachers came and went. Young ones got married and moved on after a year or two. Older teachers usually stayed longer. If their spouses owned businesses in town, they tended to stay forever (or so it seemed at the time.)
We had junior high principals come and go. Often, the junior high principal also coached some of the high school sports teams - football, basketball, and baseball. Coaches were usually a rather mobile breed.
The Superintendent of Schools was the top position. It was a semi-stable position. The superintendent managed the "business affairs" of the school. He also had to handled the "politics" of the school district.
I don't remember many of the superintendents we had as I went through school. As students we did not see much of the Superintendent. Although, we usually knew - at the time - the superintendent's name.
I do, however, remember the year we got a new superintendent from out-of-state. I seem to remember it being sort of a big deal. Maybe the fuss was about salary. Why did the district spend so much to hire someone from out of state, rather than just bringing someone "up in the ranks" from a smaller-yet school?
TEACHER CONTRACT TIME
During the first year under the new superintendent, things seemed to go remarkably smooth. That is, until the Spring of the year when it was time to renew teacher contracts.
The superintendent issued an announcement that shook (and shocked) the entire school system.
"No existing teacher contracts will be renewed."
The word quickly spread - faster than a speeding bullet. (Well, maybe not that fast, but certainly faster than the usual grapevine speed.)
THE BIG SWITCH
"However," the announcement went on, " every teacher will be offered a contract for an alternate position."
The current first-grade teacher was offered a contract to teach fifth grade. The current fifth-grade teacher was offered a contract to teach second grade. And so it went. Every teacher was indeed offered a contract for an alternate position.
The biggest challenge would be for the teachers who had been teaching the same grade for many years. They knew their existing textbooks forwards and backwards. They each had their established collection of lesson plans.
They had become quite comfortable. They had their routines down pat. They ... were in a rut.
For a while it looked like the school district might not survive the stress. (At least the superintendent might not survive!!!)
SETTLING DOWN TO BUSINESS
Yelling and screaming (maybe it was just moaning and groaning), they finally got down to business with their new contract assignments.
They reviewed and selected updated textbooks for their new classes. (Many had not done this in years.)
They developed new lesson plans. They spent time thinking about what they would be teaching that next year.
And afterwards, most agreed, it had been for the best. It had forced them to renew their thinking and their approaches. In fact, it seemed to revitalize the entire school system.
EPILOGUE
The teachers did survive. We students survived. The school district survived. And, after couple of years the superintendent moved on to bigger challenges elsewhere.
I came away with a significant lesson to be learned. Change can be for the better, especially periodic change.
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