Report on Oak Ridge principal Paul Burke

8/19/2019 Report on Oak Ridge principal Paul Burke

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Meetings14 and rarely talked about struggling kids. He was not student-centered andprovided little guidance. The counseling staff was left to figure out how to solve thoseproblems on their own.

Decision-makingIt was reported that appeared to have difficulty making decisions. He avoidedunpopular decisions and often would not stand by decisions he made. For example, theManagement Team set a deadline for purchasing tickets for the Homecoming Game.When parents complained to about the deadline, he waived the deadline withoutconsulting with the Management Team. The result was that oftentimes parents began togo directly to for decisions and bypassed the . When the ManagementTeam decided something, sometimes “ backwards.”15

If an was responsible for an item, it was accomplished in a few days. If wasresponsible, it could be delayed for weeks, if not months. He put nothing in writing and

often did not answer emails.

One of the Management Team reported that decisions were not always insupport of kids. For example, if the administrative staff decided to move a teacher to anarea where he or she had more strength, would overrule it when the teachercomplained.

At the end of last year, led a group book study on the Five Dysfunctions of aTeam. People were reserved and not candid in the discussions. The group came up witha set of commitments and norms for the coming year. sensed that there wastension between him and his management team. So, after the book study was complete,he asked one of the what the elephant in the room was. The told that it

was his decision-making and his unwillingness to make tough decisions. The also toldhim that the team did not trust him. Mr. response to the conversation was to saythat he would take care of things, but he did not and nothing changed.

Other Leadership Issues

was responsible for managing the school based on a budget with the assistanceof the However, Foundation money was never booked inthe school’s budget. As an example, when they got $12,000 to $13,000 in unbudgetedbills, told her the Foundation would pay for it. He did not check with her or add

14 said that the addition of management issues to the guidance meetings was deliberate because with the

retirement of the very experienced , he wanted the counseling team to take on more managerial

responsibility. He later decided it was a mistake because it took them out of their comfort zone.

15 said that he told the that they should think of themselves as principals in their own areas. They had

autonomy. The felt quite differently because he often overruled their decisions. said he could not think

of one decision he had overridden.


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REACTION TO THE PROSPECT OF THE RETURN OF

Of the ten members of the Management Team, eight do not want him to return. The other

two are new to the District and have no objection to his return. The three administrativesupport staff interviewed do not want him to return either. Besides their lack of confidencein his leadership and the alienation caused by his behavior, the primary reason given fornot wanting to return was his “destructive” behavior since his placement onleave.

The Management Team got feedback that over winter break that had invitedteachers to his home, engaged in conversations with staff, and used social media tocommunicate with both staff and the community.17 In these meetings and conversations,

claimed that none of the allegations were true and pointed to issues with theManagement Team18. According to the feedback received from Administrators,

blamed them for his situation, called the Management Team liars and said they did notknow what they were doing.19 He even told administrators in the School Districtthat one of his was out to get him and he was the victim of a “witch hunt” by theDistrict administration.

By inviting and talking to some teachers and coaches and not others, and denying theallegations to those he spoke to, caused a lot of friction and division in the staff.Some people felt compelled to choose sides. 20 His actions created rifts within the facultyand between his supporters and the Management Team. Staff became disheartened anddo not know who they can trust. Some people who were friends won’t speak to each other .Many teachers have become isolated and stay away from each other. The family

atmosphere once prevalent at the school has been destroyed. Before startedtalking to people, the staff was neutral. The staff is so fractured now that the District willneed to figure out how to pick up the pieces.

Many management staff that live in the community have stopped going to the local grocerystore and other businesses because people accost them either with questions or tell them

17 Of the 32 teachers interviewed, 12 had direct contact with Of those, 7 want him to return and 5 do not .

2 of the 5 came away from the meeting not believing him. Of the 7 who want him to return, 5 are in the athletic

department or coach.

18 told people in January that the allegations about unprofessional conduct had been dropped, so the only

problem was the Management Team.

19 said that he never badmouthed the management team. Some teachers who attended those meetings

confirmed that he only said that he needed to do some work with the management team. However, other teachers

who spoke to him said that he badmouthed the management team to them.

20 Of the 32 teachers interviewed, 12 want to return, 17 do not and 3 are unsure. Most people are strongly

set in their positions and opinions.


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CONCLUSIONS22

1. is a high energy, committed and charismatic individual who came to OakRidge with the best motives, intentions and plans to add to the already establishedhighly successful high school.

2. had a very positive effect on the parents and students. He built a strongschool spirit and pride. He developed very positive relationships with parents, theFoundation and the community. He gave great support to the athletic program andprojected a very attractive image of the school to the community.

3. engaged in several types of unprofessional conduct:

a. He used profanity frequently in his office and in administrative meetings.b. He periodically lost his temper in dealing with staff and reacted

unprofessionally by yelling, hitting things, flinging his arms around, swipingpapers off his desk with an angry sweep of his hands, using offensivelanguage, and storming out of his office.

c. He frequently made derogatory and demeaning comments to managementand support staff about teachers, parents and students. He also made at leastone comment.

d. He frequently lied to staff and parents about decisions he made andblamed others for his own errors. He countermanded other administrators’decisions and then denied that he had done so.

4. Because of his treatment of staff and his failure to show leadership or make

decisions, has lost the respect and trust of his Management and GuidanceTeams as well as many Teachers on staff.

5. Because of his conduct while on administrative leave in addition to his prior negativebehaviors and actions with staff prior to his leave, we believe the relationshipbetween and the Management and Guidance Teams to be irretrievablybroken.

6. Several administrative staff, including all of the , will leave ifreturns to his position as Principal.

7. post leave conduct was improper, divisive, and showed poor judgment.He effectively interfered with the ongoing investigation process and made an alreadyconfused and volatile situation worse. We believe his action was an attempt toinfluence staff and public opinion. His action had the opposite effect of making thesituation more divisive and poisoned the well for his return.

22 In reaching these conclusions, we did not rely on the documented allegations of because much of her

allegations are uncorroborated,


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8. Professional reparative support services to the teaching staff must be provided atthe high school to guide and support them toward the restoration of the previouslyhigh levels of camaraderie, respect, loyalty, and support of their “family” lost duringthe unfolding of these unfortunate circumstances. Concrete action by the District

toward that renewed vision and hope for the future has become a beacon for themand a measure of forward progress.

9. Separate professional reparative support services must also be provided to theManagement and Guidance Teams and Teachers together to guide and supportthem with and through their task of healing, reconciliation and provision of leadershipto all when decisions are made and the school returns to normal. Swift action to getthese wheels moving is critical to the continued success of Oak Ridge because ofthe crucial roles they play in all aspects of the educational and business processesof the high school.

OPTIONS

The Board of Trustees has several options about how to proceed at this point. Amongthose options are:

1. Give a March 15th letter and keep him on administrative leave until hiscontract expires.

2. Offer the opportunity to resign and help him find other employment.

3. Return to his position as Principal with a Performance Improvement Plan.That plan would include a clear statement of expectations about his changes inconduct, a reentry plan, personal coaching, and intervention in the relationshipbetween him and the Management Team.

4. Contract for outside professionals to assist in relationship repairs within the teachingstaff and between the teaching staff and t he site administration.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendation #1:

We recommend that the District give a March 15th letter, keep him onadministrative leave until his contract expires, and offer him the opportunity to resign, with acommitment to assist in finding other employment.

If the only findings were that used profanity and lost his temper, we could readilyrecommend that he be returned to his position with a warning letter, strong coaching and


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mentoring, and time to improve. His practice of making derogatory comments about staffand others and his habit of lying show deficiencies that would not be changed by a warningletter. Additionally, has so fractured his relationship with the Management Teamthat we believe it to be impossible to adequately repair that relationship or regain their trust.

The knowledge that the District would lose very competent Administrators if isreturned -- they made it clear during our time with them that most would immediately beginmaking plans for their departure -- factored heavily in our decision.

For all of these reasons, we cannot recommend his retention.

Recommendation #2:

We also recommend that the District contract with a professional organization to developand implement a strong and organized process to repair the relationship rifts among theteachers and between the teachers and the administrative staff that have become corrosiveand divisive to the cohesive delivery of educational support services to students.

We recommend this level of intervention because the staff we interviewed said they wantedtwo things: closure to the process and some way to bring all the staff back together.

Report on Oak Ridge principal Paul Burke

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Transcript of Report on Oak Ridge principal Paul Burke