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Pamela Fonseca
New Member
1 Posts |
 Posted - 08/18/2003 : 10:52:25 AM
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I'm a trainer at our school and can not get the attention of the management how important it is to communicate with us when we need to be involved. I have expressed to them how important it is when they have a IEP meeting and transportation is something that they are going to be addressing. No they still don't until there is a problem with a chose that they have made and they they want us to fix us. They don't realize the rules and regulations that are put on us are very important to our license until something happens and they want answers. What do I do to get their attention?
Thanks pam |
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wagonmaster
Top Member
USA
2298 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 06:41:56 AM
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When they start making IEP choices for Transportation that the department can't fulfill, the Director needs to get with the school Principal to keep that from happening. If it continues, the parents will get involved and it could get ugly.
Joe |
Joe
Land of the Free, because of the Brave! |
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PHW
Top Member
USA
1345 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 07:14:55 AM
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| All parties involved need to be included and a clear understanding of roles and responsibilites established. |
PHW
Child Check For Life
Chock Wheels For Life
Proud American For Life |
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macondriver
Top Member
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - 08/19/2003 : 12:45:55 PM
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not to butt in , i am not in management yet, but i have been and i can not stress enough........always keep a cya file.....cover your ass
keep a log of all contact you have made and gotton nowhere, time date who you spoke too, and copies of everything....keep this file at home..... |
Driving my way to the top, in a big yellow bus...and proud of it. |
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JK
Top Member
USA
7307 Posts |
Posted - 08/21/2003 : 12:41:17 PM
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Well, macondriver, CYA is so well covered in management training that here would be a great place to learn how that's done, were it not that too many administrators find it convenient to keep those strategies to themselves.
The cost of CYA training, attorneys, membership in management unions, learning how to manipulate policy, finding a way to feel OK about considering the school bus driver expendable when it helps their cause, and making a good income for themselves are important CYA issues management has covered. Except for income - that appears never to be too much for some, continuing to explore incomes well beyond a living income and for a good cause - themselves.
The above harsh look, of course, hardly would apply to every administrator out there. There are many out there that exceed my decency. Every breathing moment on the job and in their personal lives, even in their sleep some are more decent than me.
These are separated from their counterparts, not by what comes out their mouths, which the betrayers copycat, but by what comes out their mouths and is also found in their activities.
The greats are endlessly caught doing what they are supposed to be doing, on behalf of their employees, parents and the safety of children. Among these can be found every level of financial wealth, from very poor to very rich:
They have found a way to help decency come to bloom and prevail;
and they have little if anything to hide behind lies and deception.
These are a light to the explorer, trustworthy beacons which I use to sail my boat.
What I find ever so amazing, in the struggle to find a way to win over school staff, parents and others, in the noble effort to help me keep kids safe on the school buses, is this: Each step of the way, for me - and I believe for every school bus driver - is the answer was always there. A simple thing - brilliant - hidden behind a lie (a deception, or manipulation) told us by someone we believed in, trusted, and gave our loyalty. (This statement can include lies we've told ourselves.)
In part, a first step toward brilliance, is to explore the eclipses in our own minds - and find, in our own minds, the false beacons that helped send others to the same doom that we will eventually be sent when not found and corrected.
CYA I can agree with, in as much as protecting yourself from the liers and any that would find it convenient (or expedient) to take unwarranted advantage, doing so at the expense of an administrator's or bus driver's livelihood or the safety of other children on the school bus.
But the concept of CYA is incomplete. I prefer CEA - a mutual agreement to 'Cover Everyones' Ass, including the kids.
Part of the key that too many administrators and bus drivers alike fail to understand these days:
For self alone there comes no greatness. For self, fellows and any with a need, there is found the greatness and there is found a worthwhile adventure that never ends - a greatness so powerful it can breath life back into a sleeping soul.
Even after a great one passes, even after that, their greatness persists in their works left behind and in the hearts of all who believed in them, trusted, and gave their loyalty. They were not betrayed.
The trainer in this thread, and the bus drivers, may have been betrayed. It may be from an earlier event, that now in ignorance has become an ongoing thing, justified by its repetitiveness and having become the convenient thing to do:
Some people think that because they do something unsafe, over and over again, and that activity does not kill or maim, then the activity is not unsafe, but is safe to do. Not post checking the school bus is a great example of how flawed that reasoning can be. Committees, extensions of individuals, make the same false assumptions.
What the original post describes is happening may also be unlawful or otherwise not in keeping with IEP/SPEC ED regulations.
The trainer has a decision to make:
Do nothing, since no one has been killed or maimed;
-or-
Find out what to do that will put a end to the unsafe activity and do it - which is what the trainer in this thread appears intending to do. Great are you for even the thought. (jk)
Pamela Fonseca, (Click Here) for some excellent help with your adventure.
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Edited by - JK on 08/21/2003 1:38:13 PM |
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largebus
Advanced Member
USA
468 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2003 : 7:13:29 PM
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I certainly hope to be one of the decent administrators JK is referring to when I reach that level. I didn't pick administration for the money, the power or the perks, though certainly these areas have made a career as an education administrator attractive. I picked it because I want to make a difference with the kids-which has always been at the core of my aspirations. There certainly are lousy administrators out there (I know some myself) and the management structure is far from perfect. In the difficult era that education is in, administrators at all levels, building & district, are harder to come by. Too many current administrators are now too old, too young and all across the board, inexperienced. The training for school administrators is disorganized and not the best for preparing them (formal preperation and internships leave much to be desired). Although it may seem hard to believe, many administrators are overworked and are trapped in a system that needs much revamping. And of course, there always those administrators earn their bad reputations.
On the other hand, there are some administrators who are truely worth admiring. IMO, the greatest of these is the late John Stanford, the former military commander who became Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools. Although he was a non-educator he was a phenomenel leader, who became very popular among the community before his tragic death in 1998. Stanford is my greatest inspiration in the realm of public education-a man with a vision, a man of action and a man of love. His phrase "Love 'em and lead 'em" describes his philosophy. I strongly recommend that everyone read his book Victory in Our Schools. It is a fascinating no-nonsense and nontraditional plan of attack for repairing public education. It is a book well worth reading. Stanford cut administrative spending and placed the focus back where it belongs-on the kids. His legacy lives on in Seattle.
I have also been priviliged to meet with born leaders in my own area. Although some Superintendents I know have traits that are less than admirable (chiefly arrogance in a variety of forms) all of them are very pro-kid. One of them has not been afraid to take controversial steps to defend the best interests of the kids. Another Superintendent was described by teachers as one who would literally carry all students on his back if he could. And when I attended a meeting of our State's Superintendents Council this past fall even I was amazed at how child-centered the program was.
Overall, this is the leader I hope to become. One who has a clear sense of direction and the ability to be a "beacon". There is hope yet for public education and I want nothing more than to be a leader in that revival. I certainly know that not every administrator is a "Danny Decent" but I have learned valuable lessons from these people. The key to being succesful is to keep "self" out of the job and focus on the kids. My theory is that as administrators are dragged farther from the kids and into a world of government regs, paperwork and the other garbage and management details of their jobs they loose sight of why they're doing it. This was why Stanford ordered central office administrators in Seattle to spend 1 day a week in the schools. I think that eventually personal interests ("self") will always come into play (here comes higher income, promtions, resumes, asprations, etc) but the more administrators can retain their focus on the kids, the more effective they are. That's why I believe so strongly that I must keep that focus to be a good leader-the less self, the better.
That sums up my aspirations in a nutshell. 
Regarding IEPs, I know that there is a lot of crap in that area. My little brother is a disabled child and my mother has had to fight for him many times (including appropriate transportation placements). It is a difficut area-a nightmare for management, and an all around pain in the you-know-where for everybody else. Good luck!
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Logan C. Geen
Future Superintendent of Schools |
Edited by - largebus on 08/23/2003 7:36:57 PM |
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macondriver
Top Member
USA
533 Posts |
Posted - 09/20/2003 : 5:32:59 PM
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cya has nothing to do with nes income, it applys to all....drivers , trainers, management, it is just the best thing to do no matter what your job title is, as a driver you write up anything wrong with your bus, turn in your sheet, when your book is full you keep it 30 days and toss it "or" you take it home and CYA, keep it incase you need to prove you had written up that problem that cause you to have a wreck over and over and they never fixed it. if you write a complaint and turn it in, make sure you get a copy that you keep at home. this trainer has asked and asked for help and got none. this person needs to keep a log of every time date and people present when this issue has been brought up and the results of that. it would even help to present a written request for the subject when you go to the meetings and keep a copy for your cya file
so when the problem comes up and they blame training, training can say look i have tried and tried to get you to address this befor we reached this point and i got nothing.....cover your ass.(cya) no matter what your title is. example. in dispatch we keep a log each day of all incomming phone and radio calls...at the end of the day the other two dispatchers toss theirs out , not me.....i keep every one.....so to all of you
C.Y.A. |
Driving my way to the top, in a big yellow bus...and proud of it. |
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Mangement understanding
