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I have several friends with kids currently at Green Hope and all I have heard so far is all about the changes being implemented by the new principal and they have not been positive changes. Makes me happy that the last of my 3 kids graduated last year!
I have several friends with kids currently at Green Hope and all I have heard so far is all about the changes being implemented by the new principal and they have not been positive changes. Makes me happy that the last of my 3 kids graduated last year!
Are the changes due to her approach or reduction in funding that ties her hands, or lower enrollment so fewer teachers?
It seems to be some of both. She has made changes that have no ties to funding and then there are changes due to loss of funding. It looks like school is being dismantled by both the BOE and the principal.
I can't read the article, but I assume it is because they are cutting dance and guitar classes? Our high school has never had dance or guitar classes. How many high schools actually have these electives anyways? Doesn't the school get money per student? So if they don't have as many students, then they have to cut somewhere. Or if they want extra money for these special electives, then all schools should get the same extra money.
I can't read the article, but I assume it is because they are cutting dance and guitar classes? Our high school has never had dance or guitar classes. How many high schools actually have these electives anyways? Doesn't the school get money per student? So if they don't have as many students, then they have to cut somewhere. Or if they want extra money for these special electives, then all schools should get the same extra money.
It is just not the cutting of classes. Once at school in the morning there is no lingering in the commons area to chat with friends, they must go directly to their class. Also, when it comes to scheduling classes, freshmen get first pick. Usually a school goes by seniority. Seniors may have needed classes and they are last to be able to choose. Dr Hedrick seems to be imposing rules just to impose rules. Families I know are not happy.
I don't think WCPSS is going to fire a principal with her record. They might "convince" her to make a few changes - like if she's really letting FR register first ahead of SR's who need classes to graduate and this "tardy table".
But if she's going to lose teaching positions, she's got to look at the least-utilized programs by # of students, especially programs that aren't in core graduation requirements.
I think "fire" is a strong request, but she's a "my way or the highway" type of person and that's not really needed at a school like GHHS. 99% of the kids there are just looking to do the best they can and not cause trouble, but they are teenagers and they can get loud and boisterous etc. I had not heard about the "tardy table" till I read this article, but that seems pretty stupid, to make kids miss half a class instead of a minute or two. And what staff is being used to handle that table? They have nothing better to do?
Also - she mans the door at lunchtime so you can't drop anything off for your kids. Understand that in a school of 2500+ students, SOMEONE is going to forget their lunch, their instrument, the athletic uniform, etc. That's life. She just doesn't seem equipped to deal with teenagers at all. Or maybe she's just burned out. But she was the wrong choice for this school. I know the BOE put her there (and saw it coming miles down the track) because they assumed the GHHS parents would only accept a principal transferring from another high performing school, but that seems to be all the thought they gave to it.
You have a right as a leader to lead the way you wish, you do NOT have the right to make sweeping changes in an educational environment without some dialogue with the parents who support your efforts, almost to the extreme. A school isn't a business, but for lack of a better term it's bad business practice to run any organization this way.
I'm not really sure her record is all that stellar. I would have to go back and look, but she took over PCHS which was a good school from the day it opened. Not sure what she's done to garner the accolades the school district is giving her, but anyone can change for the better or the worse and she's simply either sick of her job or isn't the right fit. I was up at school picking my daughter up a couple weeks ago and I witnessed an interaction between Hedrick and a parent and she was rude as hell. I get it, parents can be annoying, they ask the same things over and over again especially when there are cultural differences, but that's life as an educator. She cut this parent off and was like "I already told you...." I work with the public every day, NO ONE likes to be spoken to like that. This wasn't an argumentative encounter either, it was basically the parent repeating back what Hedrick said for their own clarification/memorization protocol...and she just cut them off and made them feel dumb ( I would imagine). It wasn't a good "optic" as they say.
As far as cutting dance and other arts, that's a WCPSS action and she's bearing the brunt of it. They want people going to magnets for those classes and she's taking the fall. i can't fault her for that. They replaced those classes with other classes I haven't seen before so it's a bunch of BS that it's about the headcount at the school. My daughter registered the other night and was looking at electives and I was like "since when do they have THAT class? And that one?"So they are replacing the arts electives with other things. Expect to see more of that at western Wake schools.
. Dr Hedrick seems to be imposing rules just to impose rules. Families I know are not happy.
This about sums it up. And NO communication with the parents before she started - I mean ZERO. The back to school night was the second day of school and it came as a HUGE surprise to most people.
I will say up front that I am not familiar with GHHS.
I'm not sure if the pay structure has changed, but years ago when I was working, the following was true:
State funds for teacher's salaries were funded based on student count. If the student count will support XX teachers, then the state transfers XX amount of money (based on their experience). Any teachers over XX can be funded by local funds (county/city taxes).
If a school is allocated 35 teachers by the state, but has 41 teachers on staff, the lowest paid teachers are always "claimed" by the local and paid out of local funding sources.
Technically, there is no money allocated by the state, the positions are allocated by the state. This allows the best possible teachers to be hired regardless of salary grade. When you get to the locally funded teachers, there will be an abundant supply of fresh out of school teachers because they will be starting on the first step of the salary scale therefore costing the local tax base less per teacher.
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