Thursday, September 2, 2010
Technology Violation at the Higher Level
As an assistant principal many of your staff’s internet accounts/access are NOT blocked by filtering software, but is logged and electronically monitored. Your ITR or other technology specialists comes to you and provides evidence that the principal is visiting “inappropriate” websites and chat rooms. What will you do with this information and what direction and/or response will you provide to the ITR or other technology specialist?
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As an assistant principal I do not believe it is my place to take this information about the principal in any direction. If ITR is aware of it, then they will be the ones to follow through with appropriate action. Any information I offer will be in response to direct questions being asked by ITR.
ReplyDeleteIf this situation would arise as the AP, I would probably ask the ITRT for the evidence and share it with my Principal. I would then want to ask him about it and let him lead the discussions that he/she may have. I would just let them know or ask them who all has access to what we as adminstrators do on the computer. As far as taking any action, I feel that if it is not hindering our students or their learning, then someone with higher authority should address that.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it is not my responsibility as the Assistant Principal to address this issue with the principal or the superintendant. I do believe that I would direct the ITR to discuss the issue with the principal. This is a very delicate issue.
ReplyDeleteIt would be inappropriate for me to correct or question my principal on this matter. I would encourage the ITR to show the evidence/information with their supervisor. Then, let the technology supervisor follow the appropriate chain of command. Angie Cornett
ReplyDeleteUnder the ISLLC Standard #5, I would have an obligation to ensure the principal is promoting the success of all students by acting in fair and honest manner. The principal’s actions violate ethical standards, and I would encourage the ITR to address the problem with the principal. If the principal is not compliant with the ITR’s concerns then I would encourage the ITR to take the issue to central office.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the rest, as the AP I do not have the authority to present this situation to the principal as he/she is not following policy. I would let the ITRT know that this situation needs to be redirected to the proper authorities or be taken directly to the principal.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with the rest and I don't think that as the assistant principal I would feel comfortable addressing this issue with the prinicpal. However, I would encourage the ITRT to address this issue with the prinicpal. After all it is our job as educators to promote the success of all students in a fair and honest manner. By encouraging the ITRT to address this issue with principal, I believe I would be doing that.
ReplyDeleteAmy Woodard
As AP, I would address the ITR to share this information with his/her technolgoy supervisor and gain advice from that person.
ReplyDeleteSamantha Reed
I don’t think it would be my role as an AP to monitor or reprimand the principal of the school. Still, with that information, I think I would ask the technology specialist to send a reminder to ALL staff that despite being allowed access to unlimited sites, there is still a record of the internet use. Hopefully the gentle reminder would serve its purpose. I think the most appropriate intervention and response would come from the supervisor of the principal, in my district that would be the Cluster Director, an assistant superintendant. How he would get the internet use report, I am not sure. But maybe the technology specialist, who discovered the information, should pass that on to someone in a higher position on her own volition.
ReplyDeleteAs an assistant principal I feel it would not be my place to take anything involving this case to the principal or to his/her supervisors. I would ask the ITR to report what is going on to their supervisor but to do this in a delicate manner. I would remind them they need to be absolutely sure they have reliable evidence before they bring this up. I think Rachel's idea of remind staff about internet usage is an excellent idea. Hopefully this is something that does not affect the school in a negative manner.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the party that monitors Internet use should follow appropriate steps for this situation. I would suggest to the technology specialist to follow protocal. In my opinion, the AP should not have been informed of this issue until it was resolved. It could be a misunderstanding, and reputations are at stake.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everyone else that as an AP, it is not my role to address the situation nor should it have been brought to my attention. However, depending on the relationship I have with my principal, I may or may not feel comfortable to discuss this with them. I am sure there is a policy to address incidents like this and the ITRT would be aware of the appropriate steps.
ReplyDeleteWhoever brings this up with the Principal will immediately be in a strained relationship. An AP should not put the Principal in such 'relational debt.' I would instruct the administrator of the monitoring technology to generate and submit what is probably a standard e-mail to the Principal, even better if it looks like it is an auto/computer generated warning. The ITRT should tell no one, and the issue should be dropped unless it happens again.
ReplyDeleteI would recomend that the ITR share this with his or her supervisor, as the AP it is not your job to deal with your principals personal errors. If the ITR supervisor is not willing to talk to the principal than it is obviously not that much of a concern and should be disregarded unless it happens again.
ReplyDeleteI would document the situation and I would also direct the ITRT to their supervisor. Its definately not my job to tell the principal what to or not to do. It may also bring to my attention that we need some staff development to act as a reminded of what sites are apprporiate for school use. Shane
ReplyDeleteI also feel like it isn't the role of the AP to take action on this matter. The tech folks could report it to the Assistant Superintendent or the Superintendent. That is where it is going need to go.
ReplyDeleteJake Leonard
Being the AP rather than the principal or director of the technology department it's not my place to take any action towards my principal. Although I may find it distasteful if the allegations are true there is little I can do except just talk to the principal. The problem with that is it depends on your relationship that you have with your principal. If I am close with him/her then and only then could I make any comments towards the matter. If we do not share a close bond then it could have consequences on my part for attempting to take care of a matter that is essentially out of my jurisdiction. I probably would tell the ITR person to pass on the information to someone who is in a authoritative role higher than myself if the sites are so inappropriate that it calls for some form of action against the principal.
ReplyDeleteThe position of an Assistant Principal has no authority over or above the Prinicpal. I believe that this would need a directive from someone higher than myself or even the IT person who "knew" the information. I do feel that I would have some moral/ethical responsibility to discuss the issue with the prinicpal but as stated earlier this would be a delicate matter depending on the relationship. I believe that the IT person will have to make the call to go higher in administration for ANY action to be taken as it would not be my professional place to make those decisions.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree with the above comments that it is not the assistant principal's role to monitor and correct the principal's personal behavior, once it has been brought to the his attention he must ensure it is handled. Most likely, the best way to handle this does not involve the direct confrontation of the principal by the assistant principal. If there is monitoring of computer use, then there should policies in place to handle infractions. This is best dealt with through the technology department even if it must go to through the central office level. I would encourage the ITRT reports to higher ups in technology. But it would be essential that I report it if he does not do so.
ReplyDeleteI am a firm believer in "chain of command" and don't feel it would be the AP's responsibility to question the Principal. Well-run school divisions will have a system of checks and balances and this behavior should be "caught" by the Principal's supervisor; maybe an assistant superintendent or director. Kelly Russell
ReplyDeleteThe first thing I would do is to get all of the facts. What time are these sessions taking place? Could anyone else have access to the computer? I would make sure I didn't say anything to anyone until I had all the facts. The type of sites themselves may determine how quickly I should react. If children are displayed in any inappropriate sites, then action should be immediate. In summary, I would get all of the facts, then determine who to contact. I would document what I know to be true, then contact the person in our school system who can question the actions of my principal. Misty Zyvoloski
ReplyDeleteI would feel a little uncomfortable telling someone "higher up" than my principal about this issue. I would rather speak to them about it personally but it would depend on what type of relationship I had with the principal as to whether or not I would feel that I could talk with them about this. Also, there would have to be indisputable evidence by the ITR before I would address this issue.
ReplyDeleteAs an assistant principal presented with this information from an IRT, I would review the school board’s policy on acceptable use as to what is defined as “inappropriate”, and question why the IRT was bringing this to my attention and not that of his/her supervisor. If this is indeed an unethical or illegal use of the computer by the principal, then the IRT needs to bring this to the attention of the Director of Technology. Every school division under their acceptable use policy will have procedures in place for these types of situations. My role would be to-redirect the IRT to follow procedures as difficult as it may be.
ReplyDeleteIt is not my responsibility as an Assistant Principal to monitor the wrong doing of the Principal. However, I would suggest to the ITRT that they confront, discuss, and present the evidence of the issue to the Principal. If the non-professional activity of the Principal continued then the ITRT person should seek advice from a higher authority.
ReplyDeleteI agree, it is not an assistant principals job to monitor the principal's internet usage. If they are visiting innappropriate websites, then the IT people would know and they would need to report it to the appropriate personnel.
ReplyDeleteI agree that it would not be the Assistant Principal's responsibility to confront the Principal. I would advise the ITRT to follow the appropriate chain of command, which would leave me, the assistant principal - OUT OF IT!
ReplyDelete