Notes from Eisenhower Elementary

Staff turnover, unruly children, angry parents, and a principal that's maybe in a little over her head.

I originally had something written about the school district’s budget presentation last week and a new lawsuit against the school board but this was more interesting.

I. Things are not going well

Over the last several board meetings, parents and teachers have expressed real concern at the high number of staff resignations at Eisenhower Elementary School. Readers forwarded me links to discussions on Next Door and emails from the principal and staff. On the one hand, I appreciate the school’s transparency. They had an FAQ with questions like, “Why are so many staff members leaving Eisenhower?” and “How could administrators have missed so many red flags that indicated there were challenges at Eisenhower?”

On the other hand, uhh, some of the survey comments they published from staff were harsh, and I felt bad for the principal. I’ll just post three of the 225 comments (which, to be clear, were not all about the principal) from 34 staff members:

[This principal] does not have the skillset required for this complex, demanding job. She actively ignores certain behaviors because students do not respond to her. She does not know how to invite and affirm all voices, nor does she provide the kind of clarity and vision that is fundamental to this work. [She] adopts a combative tone behind closed doors. She will assert repeatedly, "I am the principal" as if this equates to being preeminent. [She] is consistently dumping tasks on individuals without any regard for their roles or wellbeing. For example, she is constantly bringing students to the office for behaviors, leaving them with the administrative assistants, then closing her door. Not only is this wrong for the students, but it also completely disrespects our hardworking office staff. [She] does not hold students to high expectations. She does not know how to manage complex student behaviors. She is not responsive to the needs of differently-abled students. She does not support teachers when it comes to difficult parent/caregiver interactions. She is handing out suspensions for manageable behaviors at an alarming rate, but then failing to address more significant concerns. While she will skewer someone for giving feedback, she is quietly going to certain staff to ask them what to do about matters she should know how to handle as a principal. She is ill equipped to be the leader of a high-needs school.

[The principal] tries to do things in isolation, with very few stakeholders, or ignores issues altogether. She struggles to prioritize, do things in an efficient manner, and allow for subcommittees to address matters expeditiously. She insists on people to come directly to her with concerns and attacks anyone for asking basic questions in front of others. She is actively squashing transparency. She misinterprets professional dialogue and discourse as a personal attack. This defensive and isolationist behavior is not conducive to a collaborative work environment. It is extremely frustrating.

Eisenhower is in crisis. Our principal is out of touch with the culture of our building. She is in over her head. She has lost the trust and respect of the staff due to the way she conducts herself. She attempts to have high levels of control over every single aspect of the building & staff. She is either too passive and "sweet" or too aggressive and hostile when trying to assert her authority. She does not have an assertive leadership voice, and it has turned the staff off from being able to trust her and follow her. Additionally, building leadership team meetings did not happen for the first half of the school year. Now that they are happening, they are also highly controlled. Our principal comes to BLT meetings with pre-planned presentations and discussion points with time limits. This does not offer any ability for the BLT to problem solve around what's actually going on in the building or to have any authentic input into the school growth plan, professional development for staff, or sense of belonging for staff and students.

It appears as though our principal is scared to allow staff have a voice and step into leadership positions. She also refuses to ask for direction or help from veteran staff members who have been here pre-COVID when Eisenhower was doing well as a school and system. It is as though she has entered the building and assumed it was a blank slate, however, many of us have been here for years and would like her to tap into the wealth of knowledge that we have.

On top of all of this, it is disheartening to work for a district that pays so little for so much work. Now that things are continuing to unravel and fall apart at Eisenhower, the work continues to get harder each day. It is clear that our principal is struggling, and we are not paid enough to deal with that added stress. I know there are many of us who will be leaving at the year's end.

II. Notes from an info session

So I attended an information session at Eisenhower Elementary on Thursday to learn more. This was the second of the week. There had been another on Monday. Over forty people—mostly parents but also some teachers—were in attendance. It almost immediately went off the rails.

Principal Sumeera Mansukhani began by suggesting an exercise where attendees would converse with their tablemates and write down their biggest concerns. But before she could get started, a father raised his hand and said (paraphrasing), “Honestly this exercise is going to be useless and a waste of time. We did this Monday. Everybody has the same complaints. I don’t know if everyone has read the teacher feedback, but it’s disturbing. How are we going to keep teachers from leaving?”

He begins directing his comments to Superintendent Demond Means who is observing the proceedings from the back of the cafeteria. “What do you do when you read stuff like this?” the father asks, “We’re losing a lot of good teachers.”

This sets off a deluge of questions, anecdotes, requests, demands, occasional shouts, people speaking over one another struggling to be heard, escalating back-and-forths between the Superintendent and angry attendees, and occasional tears. The meeting was scheduled for an hour but lasted over ninety minutes. Dr. Means almost immediately took over fielding the majority of questions while Ms. Mansukhani—as the meeting progressed—wilted slowly like a flower in perpetual shade.

It was a tough crowd and probably a little hellish for Ms. Mansukhani whose predicament reminded me of the lament of God’s fallen angels in Paradise Lost:

Caught in a fiery tempest shall be hurled
Each on his rock transfixed, the sport and prey
Of racking whirlwinds, or forever sunk
Under yon boiling ocean, wrapped in chains,
There to converse with everlasting groans,
Unrespited, unpitied, unreprieved,
Ages of hopeless end.

What follows are my (lightly edited) notes from the meeting. Except for one or two places with quotations, these are all paraphrases of what people said. Comments in [ ] are mine. Parents had a lot of legitimate grievances but tended to ask questions so quickly that sometimes neither the principal nor the superintendent had time to answer them before someone shouted the next question. I took fewer notes as the meeting dragged on, but I think I got most of the high points. Dr. Means, to his credit, was unflappable and may have even managed to convince some parents that the situation was under control. Or at least people seemed less angry at the end than they did at the beginning.

Principal Sumeera Mansukhani: I really value all feedback and hearing from you. Thank you for being so welcoming and kind. There’s a lot to be proud of. She thanks the PTA for their support. Mentions some positives from the last year including character parade and Day of Awesomeness. Mentions that 50% of students felt like they belonged at the beginning of the year and that had increased to 64% of students by the spring. A year of challenges. Establishing procedures and systems is hard. Notes that 60% of students were not at grade level or above when she got here. Admits that she should have started developing her leadership team earlier. “I’ll own that.” A lot of perceptions about Eisenhower but we need to be honest. Suggests starting with an exercise.

Father: With all due respect it’s a waste of time. I was here on Monday where we did the same thing, and every table had the same concerns and aspirations. I don’t know if everyone has read the teacher feedback. It’s disturbing. Not trying to rain on you. How in the future are you going to deal with teachers and not make them feel demeaned? How are we going to keep teachers from leaving? To Superintendent Means: What actions do you take when you read this info? What steps will you take? We’re losing a lot of good teachers.

Mother: How many teachers are we losing. So many rumors. I want facts.

*Superintendent Means walks to the front of the room*

Principal: Thirteen.

Dr. Means: But how many are teachers?

Attendee: Does that make a difference?

Other attendee: They’re leaving because of the environment here. If you have support staff leaving that is bad for teachers too.

Principal: *Begins to describe who’s leaving.* One SK teacher. [One?] first grade teacher. Both second grade teachers. One third-grade teacher. All fourth-grade teachers. Two fifth-grade teachers.

Attendee: What are your plans for the fall?

Mother: Do my kids need to go to private school? I have three kids. Are they going to be ok for next school year?

Principal: We have had lots of applicants for the vacant positions. We’ve hired two special education teachers already. We’re interviewing others now. I’m trying to improve my communication. I know I need to better explain the ‘why’ behind the consequences [I think for misbehaving students]. I’m checking in more with teachers. I want more fun events for staff not just kids. I’m sad about teachers leaving.

*Superintendent Means sits back down in front at an empty cafeteria table near the wall*

Attendee: Are the teachers that are leaving transferring or what?

Principal: Three transfers. One is going to be a stay-at-home mom. Others took different jobs.

Teacher [and father?]: This is an incredible challenge. There is 50%, 60% turnover and it’s the more tenured staff. I’ve been teaching [for decades]. It feels like we’re in the middle of a thunderstorm and we just lost the roof. This is more than righting a ship. Ten years ago we’d be salivating for these openings but it’s not attractive to people now. Does the district have any special support for this extraordinary period? Are we doing anything different?

Dr. Means: *standing up again and walking to the center of the room* We’ve increased the number of special education teachers at Eisenhower from three to five. The principal has a coach. The first-grade cohort is where most of the problems are, so we’re reducing class size.

*Principal inches slowly away from the center of the room. Lowers head.*

Teacher: But we don’t have room in the school for the extra class. What if no one applies?

Dr. Means: You asked what’s the plan.

*Gets interrupted by someone else.*

Dr. Means: *interrupts in turn* Let me unpack the plan first. He begins to mention various bonuses for teachers and teacher referrals.

Attendee: We need an Eisenhower-specific bonus.

Dr. Means: I’d have to talk to the other principals. Other principals are dealing with staffing problems too.

*Lots of chatter, interruptions, some shouting. He speaks over them.*

Dr. Means: We have some long-term substitutes on standby who are ready to go if needed. [I think in response to a question about what happens if the vacancies aren’t filled by fall.]

Teacher: But there were vacancies all year that didn’t get filled.

*Rapid fire Q&A about special education teachers and aids.*

Attendee: How many aids?

Mother: *Mentions her kid with special needs.* I chose Wauwatosa because of the support and inclusion I thought I would receive. But I haven’t. What about [occupational] therapists?

Attendee: What is your plan for retention?

Principal: More team building to get to know everyone. More frequent check-ins with teachers and improving my communication.

Dr. Means: *jumping in* We retained an external coach for teachers to help them develop skills to deal with more difficult students. *Mentions the name of one person in particular.*

She helps develop strategies for school management for the entire state. Former principal. She will be on the ground in the hallways. Starting one day per week but ready to expand if needed. She will also be at Underwood one day a week as well.

Mother: Asks for a recap of what’s been going on here. She was blindsided by some of the recent communiqués. [Probably didn’t actually use word communiqué]

Principal: I have been trying to communicate more. *Mentions an incident with student misbehavior that happened recently which prompted an email but didn’t provide many details.*

Mother: I’m worried about the imbalance of dysregulated behavior among children. Can I have more info on that please? I did not recognize it was such a problem.

Attendee: Do more kids need IEPs than before? How many kids and how much is it growing?

Dr. Means: *Mentions the “macro” picture for the district as a whole.* Generally there are about 150 referrals for special education district-wide. This year there were 300. That’s why we are going to have five special education teachers instead of three at Eisenhower. There are a number of first-graders with challenges. That’s why we’re going to have four sections instead of three so that class sizes are smaller. There are some really challenging children to work with. Don’t want it to be punitive but this environment might not be best for them to thrive. I was surprised to hear that even during the second-to-last day of school that we were still getting reports of that kind of behavior. Had to have a “hold” [I don’t exactly know what this is].

Attendee: What did you do this year for first-grade? The feedback I saw is that teachers don’t feel supported.

*Other mom jumps in*: My kid is in first and she tells me her teacher is crying at least once a week.

Principal: Mentions that an SEL specialist has been added to the school’s staff.

Attendee: When were they added?

Principal: A few months ago.

*Eruption from the back of the room. There’s a lot of shouting and disagreement after this statement. Someone behind me says, “No way!”*

Dr. Means: *Corrects principal* The specialist was added last month.

*I think someone behind me says that it was more like two weeks.*

*Principal gets another question which she tries to answer.*

Dr. Means: I don’t think that was her question. *Tries to answer the question he thought the parent was asking.*

Mother: Why did we go the majority of the year without recognizing the problems in first-grade?

Dr. Means: Mentions the presentation to the school board by Chief of Student and Family Supports Luke Pinion in February and a slide that showed something like one hundred office referrals from Eisenhower. That was largely from a few students in the first-grade cohort.

Mother: *shouting* We need [says name of particular therapist or social worker that had been assigned part-time to Eisenhower] but she was transferred to Lincoln and Washington.

Another mother: *shouting* I spent two years trying to get my child an IEP. Says [I think, there were many people talking at once] that she gets calls almost every day about her kid’s behavior problems. Says she doesn’t blame teachers. They’re unequipped to deal with it and are overwhelmed.

*Especially heated back-and-forth about having only one part-time person that is skilled in dealing with these issues. Someone says something like a single part-time staff is not sufficient, period.*

*Dr. Means tries to respond.*

Attendee: *speaking over him* I don’t need a response to it. That’s a period.

*Dr. Means lets it drop. Principal looks particularly beaten down at this point.*

Mother: *Asks about what’s going on with second-grade.* My kid isn’t learning.

Teacher: Says there needs to be more responsive surging of special education teachers to meet emergent needs. Says students aren’t the problem and that he would prefer if people said that we’re having problems meeting the needs of students.

*Lots of clapping.*

Mother: Where is the support for kids being impacted by these problem students? They need support too.

Teacher: Mentions that problems aren’t just in the first-grade cohort. There are significant issues in other grades.

*Lots of worries about using the art room to house the extra section of first-graders.*

Attendee: I feel like Eisenhower is at the bottom of barrel. We’re just the same as the East side. Eisenhower needs your attention too. Other schools in district are thriving. We need help here.

*Much clapping.*

*Discussion about getting the students referred for IEPs evaluated more quickly.*

Dr. Means: Eisenhower isn’t the only school where people complain about the principal, and it’s not the only school with challenging kids.

Attendee: *Asks principal about her response to the teacher survey.* What are you doing to address these comments?

Principal: I’ve addressed comments with staff in a face-to-face meeting. Some changes I’ve been able to make immediately. Others will require more planning.

Attendee: If it’s so overwhelming for one person does she need more help? What if she gets this extra help and nothing changes?

Dr. Means: If the principal shows no growth then I have to make a decision. That’s up to me. I expect principals to manage their school well.

*Principal is standing behind and to side of Dr. Means about 4-5 feet away and looks very sad.*

Mother: *Says she has several kids who’ve been through the Eisenhower, Whitman, West pipeline already. She’s never seen this level of discontent.* You added staff to Whitman and West and it helped a lot. But this data came out in March. What are we waiting for? *Starts to choke up* I’m upset you’re blaming students. You need to blame inadequate staffing and the failure to meet their needs.

*A lot of discussion about potentially adding an assistant principal role to Eisenhower. Teachers say there used to be one. Dr. Means is surprised by this but seems open to the idea, says something I don’t catch that prompts the following question.*

Attendee: Why does the assistant principal position need to be considered punitive?

Dr. Means: It doesn’t need to. But it will be. His first job is to restore order and decorum. The first goal is to regain order. Mentions the term ‘most restrictive environment’ and says that even special education students need to be handled in accordance with the disciplinary framework developed by the school district this year and that this may involve alternative placement [I don’t think he used the term alternative placement but my impression was that it would be something other than a regular classroom.]

Mother: Seems angry that this implies special needs students are being punished for what are ultimately staffing problems.

*Most people seem to be mellowing out at this point.*

Father who made comment in very beginning that immediately derailed the agenda says a lot of his concerns have been answered, and he will wait to see the results.

Mother: *Speaking to Dr. Means* What can parents do to make sure all these things happen and to ensure that you get what you need from the school board?

Dr. Means: My big takeaway from this meeting is that there has been a misalignment between what the teachers think they need in terms of support and what the staff and administration seemed to think they need in terms of support. [I think what he’s getting at here is that staff and administrators have been trying to provide more processes and training and strategies for dealing with misbehaving students but that the teachers just seem to want more staff.] And what I’m hearing from you is listen to the teachers.

Skeptical Father: It’s hard to believe that if we say we need more people you just add more people.

Dr. Means: That’s the system for me. You’ll get the resources you need. I don’t want you to take your kid out of the school district or have to wonder if you need to take your kid out of the school district. So if we need more people then you’ll get them.

*Woman crying behind me.*

Different, only slightly-skeptical Father: I want to thank you, Dr. Means. But I still worry that the actions being taken won’t be enough to swing things in a positive direction.

Mother: Says she walked into the school today and saw three different kids in office banging on the glass or being angry. “They are not okay.” Says there needs to be more supervision on the playground because of constant fighting and bullying.

Mother: Asks Dr. Means to commit to taking down posting for Urban Learning Center because that’s not a credentialed, certified position. [I don’t understand what this is about.]

*Dr. Means seems confused by the request for a moment and then agrees and says it will be taken down.*

*Meeting winds down. Dr. Means provides some parting thoughts.*

Dr. Means: I’m worried for Sumeera. I was in the faculty meeting where she addressed the comments from teachers. It was very difficult. She’s a person too.

The meeting concludes and people make for the doors.