Would this bother you and, if so, what would you do? I found out today, from a random parent who was enrolling their child at our school, that the prior P (who resigned last year quite reluctantly) has been on campus without anyone's knowledge. I got quite lucky as this father unknowingly divulged this information by letting me know that he was on campus two weeks ago and the old principal was gracious enough to help him and told him twice that she was only on campus to "do several things to help this year's principal". We have not spoken all summer so that is certainly not the case. I had a hunch that she had not turned in her keys to the district office. There was a transition in upper admin and so some communication suffered during the transition. Now I know my hunch was right. What are your thoughts?
I have such a suspicious mind. It goes directly into the gutter sometimes. Anyone at school particularly upset about the other principal leaving?
Yes. That would bother me. A lot. Now, what to do about it is another question entirely. It seems to me as if something needs to be reported, if only because his presence would technically be considered trespassing, if he was supposed to have turned in his keys. I just don't know what the appropriate action would be in this case.
Hmmm.......I've been suspicious all evening too. This principal very reluctantly retired at the end of last year. It was very difficult for her and we worked together for several weeks. It was trying, to say the least, because her emotions were all over the place. Normally, I would think positive and assume that she needed to return a piece of property (still doesn't account for her having keys, though). But....the dishonest comments about being on campus to "help this year's principal" just really sends red flags. I'm wondering what the real reason was.
I would totally be bothered. If it were me, I guess I would give the DO a call and inform them of the situation just as you explained it? (about the parent, etc.) Ask them if they could have the old P turn in their keys to the DO? It IS dangerous to have all those keys floating around. Or...have all the locks changed. (I'm kidding, I know it's costly.)
Yes, that would really bother me... If you want to go right to the source, you could give her a call. Open with asking how her summer is going, and then say something like, "I was chatting with ________ today, and he mentioned that you were on campus looking for me. I just wondered if there was something I could help you with?" This would let her know that you are aware that she was on campus, and might make her think twice about sneaking in there again. You could even say something about needing her keys for another staff member or something.
I think if I were in your shoes, I'd want to know why she was there. Did a teacher/friend invite her for some reason? Did she leave behind some personal items? Perhaps there is a tactful way to find out, as in "I heard Mrs. ____ was here. If she stops by again, I would like to meet her." Personally, I believe it is somewhat rude to come into your building without touching base with you first. Even if her motives are not in question, it seems a simple courtesy to talk to you first.
This is good advice. I would also be concerned of her sneaking around on campus without letting anyone know why she was there. Honestly, it really isn't her place there anymore to just be there randomly. I would probably contact the district office to let them know what was going on. That way "if" anything were to happen, they would have that documentation.
Ah, the "reluctantly retired". That might just mean that she really misses the school and stopped by to visit with some of the teachers. Might be very hard to give up the job for her. Holding onto the keys would be her way of "holding on to the job". She wasn't, in her mind, ready to retire. You may have to put her to work as a volunteer reader or something if she can't shake the place. Or as a special guest reader on a day when you have guest readers. A bit touchy for you. We get a lot of "lingerers" who come back after retiring. They miss the opening of school excitement. I hope that won't happen to me, but you never know. My father had a very hard time retiring. He kept the card that hung from his rear view window for a few months.
You could play along. Since this father told you that the former principal was supposedly there to help you, you could innocently go to your superintendent and inquire about this. Say to him/her, "Could you tell me why my former principal is looking for me? I was told that he was on campus recently looking to speak with me." This should strike a red flag to the super without you actually "reporting" it. Oh, and yes, this would bother me. Stable people don't lurk around where they are unwelcome.
Being a little more paranoid I would wonder: *What was she trying to purge from the files she didn't want me to see? *What was she trying to do to make my life more difficult? *Does she still have computer access and did she log in (Your IT department should be able to tell you.) I definitely think you should notify the district office.
I would certainly pass the information on to the superintendent. Having a set of keys, being on campus, and lying about your reasons is a bad combination.
I love the idea of making her a guest reader or something, however, I don't think she was on campus to visit. Teachers just barely began to trickle in this past week to set up their classrooms. Two weeks ago, the campus would have been pretty deserted.
I agree. Had she said, "Oh, I'm dropping off some school property" or "I left a personal item and needed to grab it", I may have realized she still had keys but I wouldn't have questioned her intent.
It might very well be for sentimental reason, but with a loyal staff and the reluctant (ie "forced") retirement, my mind would be very suspicious as well. I would be thinking more along the lines that she is trying to sabotage Tiffany's first year (with some help from the loyal staff members) to show the school board they made a bad decision and should hire her back. That might be overly cynical, but it never hurts to prepare for the worst while hoping for the best.
Right now the buck stops with you so you have to protect your school. I agree with everyone else that the district people need to be notified. I don't know why she was retired, but skulking around the school certainly would send a red flag up.
I'm glad. Even if it's somehow totally innocent, there's no reason for a former employee to still have a key.
Could you call the prior P...Something along the lines of: 'I heard you were on campus last week and told a parent you were there to help me with something. Is there something you needed to drop off to me?' See where the conversation goes from there. If you have security codes on your doors, you may want to look into changing them. Just read this after posting: Let us know what develops!!
I'll never understand how people can reluctantly retire. No matter how much you love your job, for me at least, retirement is the gold pot at the end of the rainbow. It's the time in your life when you finally aren't obligated to anyone but yourself (work wise). Maybe I'm naive.
It is bothersome enough to need to get to the bottom of it. In your situation I would hit this one head on so that she doesn't end up undermining in you in any way. Phone her and be direct - particularly about the part where she said she was helping you. Whose responsibility is it to get keys back? If its yours, get the keys back and make sure her code is no longer entered in your alarm system. If that is the job of someone in central office have them do it as quickly as possible. Old principal or not, she needs to sign in and out like any other guest in the school now.
The assistant sup who is my direct supervisor was very suspicious and said she would take care of it. Things get hectic down at headquarters, however, so changing the code may be the best bet. Honestly, I could bet money on why she is there. She is very possessive of the school and I think she wants to see what's different.....what did I change, how does her old office look, etc., etc. I believe she then goes back and "chats" with a few of her favorites (a couple of loyal teachers, her secretary, etc.). She gave me strict orders to not move a thing, do anything different once she left. That's not really how life works but, for her, moving on is proving difficult.
So...she can still feel as though she's the principal, but someone else can do the hard stuff? The changes you have talked about implementing (like decorating your office) are so refreshing. You really do need to put your stamp on things. Perhaps, you need to look for a different t-shirt--"The Ex-P is coming!":lol:
Congrats on your new school Tiffany. The old principal must not have all her brain cells working at the moment. Doesn't she think that you're going to do a key check? After all SHE wouldn't have wanted a former teacher to keep her keys. And if she made a copy she ought to know that's not legal. All our keys had a big old DO NOT DUPLICATE on them. Hopefully she will settle in and accept her retirement. As an aside about keys two of my principals let us keep the keys all summer and two of my principals made us turn them in at the end of the school year .
That is exactly what I was thinking.. Why is this such a big issue? I must have missed something. What do you think she is doing that would cause you to think of going higher up? Shoot, give her a job to do to help you set up. I guess I just dont get it, Im confused...which isnt hard to do! :unsure:
Well, for starters, she is no longer an employee of our district so if she has keys, she has access to many things. All retiring employees were asked to turn in their keys, school property, etc. at the end of the year. She would not be exempt from that. In addition, she was on campus when no one else was there....not just visiting or saying hello.
The point is that the former P is on grounds telling people she is there to 'help' the new P. Kind of undermines the authority of the new P...there are better ways to volunteer your time as a retiree other than telling the new person in you job how to do things or lying about why you are on school grounds.
Strange that no one has asked what the father was doing there when he happened to see her, considering that no one else was in the building.
I think I had explained it in the first post but I may not have been very clear. He had shown up to enroll his child and she was the only person on campus.
That's seems odd that her keys aren't in yet. I mean when I was laid off the teacher that was taking my room barely waited the weeks school had finished & was asking for my keys before school was out. I said I would be out the end of that week. It was pretty pushy I thought & my keys were turned in quickly!!!
