Responsibilities of the School Principal

The principal sets the tone for school and is an important part of staff morale, how well the teachers get along with each other and how they view themselves as professional educators. The principal sets policy, makes decisions, and allocates funds. The principal can be an innovator in forming alliances between the school and businesses within the community (Begley, 59).

Traditionally, schools are organized as hierarchies with the school board at the top, followed by the superintendent, the principal, the teachers and other staff, and the students. This system of organization provides stability whose purpose is to preserve and pass onto the next generation the values and structures of the society (Begley, 60). Today's principal works to communicate policy to the school board and to the teachers, acting as a liaison between the two groups, sometimes creating challenges, as the school board is made up of lay persons. The school principal is responsible for in-service education, bot

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a school intruder (Hartocollis, B1). The auditorium could only hold 350 parents at a time, so LoSecco spoke to the group in two shifts, hearing the parents' concerns about that and other incidents in which the school's security seemed insufficient for protecting the young children. As sometimes happens in volatile situations, audience members brought up unrelated emotional topics, almost turning the session into a professional witch-hunt. A district representative said, "I don't think it in any way reflects on her leadership of the school. Some people are looking for someone's head. I don't think that's appropriate" (Hartocollis, B1). The police were brought in and security was tightened at the school in order to prevent unwanted persons from entering the school without notice. Principals can effectively work with irate parents by using good principles of human relations. Rudeness and hostility have no roles to play in the school or community (Ediger, 93). Relations tend to go better if the principal shows genuine interest in others, calling them by name when speaking and visiting within the school and community. This type of sincerity is important and cannot be faked. The principal has to respect the thinking and view
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Approximate Word count = 3241
Approximate Pages = 13 (250 words per page)

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