I asked school superintendent Ms. Taymore for a copy of the job description she recently developed to address the lack of a leader for the Fine and Performing Arts programs in the school district. When the current head teacher for the art program decided not to accept the stipend position this year she vacated the position, then she suddenly terminated the stipend head music teacher at the beginning of the year, not realizing that these celebrated and well-supported programs were now leaderless. Of course instead of admitting a mistake, she immediately claimed ignorance since she didn’t consult with any experienced staff about the consequences of her actions.
As a result of being inundated with citizen and teacher concerns about the viability of these programs without effective leadership, she now is backtracking with the hope of quelling these concerns. She now hopes to deflect these concerns by posting a new position, Fine and Performing Arts Coordinator. However, after reviewing this posting, it is obvious that she has no intention of supporting these programs with a qualified person since the job description does not include any art or music requirements, no prior experience or leadership in the arts and music, and no duties and responsibilities related to any of these programs. Instead the job duties, experience, and responsibilities listed in the job description relate to curriculum development and assessments.
It looks as if Ms. Taymore is performing the old con game of “bait and switch” with this new position!
