Site Administrator Interview

On Thursday, December 13, I interviewed Dr. Jason Fowler, Principal of Bonsall High

School. Dr. Fowler is a first-year principal of BHS and is in his 6th year as a site administrator.

Prior to coming to BHS, Dr. Fowler was a principal at Nuview Bridge Early College High

School.

Q1: How do you access current information about school law?

A1: I use a lot of internet resources. ACSA (Association of California School

Administrators) sends out frequent updates about school law, including what bills are in the state

legislature, and they have a decent listserv about updates to school law. The school district

(BUSD) sends out updates or reminders about new laws. For example, there is a new law

recently passed about supervising student teachers, so we received an update about that from

Janet (BUSD Director of Curriculum/Human Resources).

Response: My principal relies upon ACSA quite a bit. He referenced it as a top resource

for collaboration amongst administrators, and suggested membership for me in the near future. I

was pleased to hear that the district office regularly communicates updates on legal matters to the

site administrators; I had the assumption that there was disconnect between site and district

related to legal matters.

Q2: What are the legal areas that you come across the most in your position?

A2: I come across a lot of issues related to compliance within the area of Special

Education. It is very important to know all legal matters related to Special Education because the

details to definitely matter. Student rights and student searches come up from time to time. A lot
of school finance law comes up related to funding and how expenditures work. LCAP drives that

funding as well as philosophy, so knowing expectations there is also very important.

Response: We have a very high percentage of students with IEPs, so I can tell that

knowledge of Special Education law will be a very important topic to know thoroughly if I am to

become an assistant principal or site administrator at BHS.

Q3A: What are important legal points that you consider as you are evaluating personnel?

A3A: It really depends on whether evaluating classified or certificated staff. Teacher

contracts and evaluations are very different than classified folks. With classified staff, you have

to be very aware of the whole FRISK process, so that you have collected all of the data and know

how any issues have broken policy. It’s the nature of how you document and formally address

problems with classified staff, as it happens a bit more frequently than with teachers. With

teachers it is more about what is written in the union contract. While you will have informal

conversations and recommendations throughout the year, there is really just the one observation

opportunity to legally evaluate.

Response: My principal made it clear that there is a big different between evaluating

classified and certificated employees. He made it sound that classified employees are tougher to

deal with, as opposed to teachers, which requires following the union’s contract. He reiterated

the importance of data collection and open communication, which I also consider to be

extremely important.

Q3B: What are important legal points that you consider when you communicate with

parents?
 A3B: With parents, you have to be aware that they have the right to know what is going

on with their child, but they don’t necessarily have a right to know what is going on with other

children. For example, a parent might have a child who got into an altercation with another

student. That parent might want to know information about the other student, but that isn’t their

legal obligation to know. We have to ensure student rights to privacy. It’s a good idea when

dealing with discipline situations to over-communicate with parents. There is no real policy that

states that when you meet with a student, you need to document it, but it is always a good idea to

do so and to let parents know what is going on. Sometimes it blows up in your face, but most of

the time parents are thankful for the added communication.

Response: I tend to agree with my principal on the importance of communication, but I

do wonder if too much communication can lead to challenges when a serious issue does arise. He

does tend to have very positive repoire with parents, and most attribute this to his open and

regular communication, which is something that I will need to keep aware of as I move in to

administration.

Q3C: What are important legal points that you consider as you discipline students?

A3C: A lot of it is the same as mentioned above. We have to remember to treat students

with fairness even when they’ve done something idiotic. Each student also deserves to be treated

differently, as we have to take into account things like Special Education status or home

situation. They have to be able to give their side of the story. We have to document everything

related to any investigation. If you lead to an expulsion, it has to be with the utmost certainty that

the expulsion is the best thing for the student, so we have to be thoughtful in this situation, or

there has to be another option.

 Response: I really liked my principal’s response to this question. It demonstrates that he

is concerned with student safety and that they are treated with fairness. I also found it interesting

that expulsion is to be considered even worse than a last resort. Unless it is the right answer for

that student in question, expulsion is the wrong answer because it gets the student out of school

and away from opportunities for personal growth and improvement.

Q4: What topics or situations do you get advice on from your district’s Human Resource

or Student Services departments?

A4: From Human Resources, it is typically the evaluation process that is discussed most,

including timeline. Sometimes complaints are passed along, and legal compliance issues are

shared from the Human Resources department. From Student Services, it is more about making

sure that student rights are being upheld and having equal access. Student Services here is really

working to ensure that all students have access to all electives and rigorous courses, which is

why planning next year’s master schedule is such a challenging effort to find a balance. With

Student Services, you can never be certain enough that you’re not doing the best for kids, so

sharing ideas with this department is very valuable to make sure that we’re doing all we can for

our students.

Response: I felt as if I am fairly aware of the level of involvement from both of these

departments, as I work regularly with both directors. I think that this is a side benefit of working

in a small district; we know all staff and work together for the betterment of our 2,400 students

district-wide.

Q5: How do you document incidents that could be litigious, and what documents do you

put in your site file as opposed to the personnel file?

 A5: I try to document anything that has to do with concerned parents or an unsafe

situation. For example, if there is a loose floorboard, and I’ve reported it to the maintenance

guys, I will document that so that the process is written down. Things that go in personnel files

we need to be more careful about, and full investigations have to be completed, and people have

to know what is going in their file and allowed in their contract. You only put things in the

personnel file that are intended to support investigations or a potential release down the road.

Response: Here again, it sounds as if documentation is ultimately one of the strongest

skills to acquire when joining administrative ranks. My principal made a second reference to the

importance of what can and can’t go into a personnel file, and that it is important to know the

contract backwards and forwards.

Q6: Have you been trained in FRISK and do you use the method to document improper

behavior? If not, what methods do you use?

A6: I try to. I have been trained previously in FRISK documentation model usage, but not

here in BUSD. We are looking into trainings here very soon. The process must be positive, the

potential exists for an employee to fix the problem, and whatever is put into place is meant to

correct an issue. The idea is to not jump right to the nuclear option of being fired, and FRISK

does discipline in a more professional manner. Labor law and education code are two different

animals, but FRISK helps with this.

Response: My principal talked to me about this question after our interview, and stated

that the district has plans to hold FRISK-specific trainings in the new year. He has been trained,

but feels a definite need for refreshing this area of his administrative toolkit.
 Q7: What advice can you give me on the knowledge and implementation of school law as

an aspiring administrator?

A7: Make sure that when you are getting close to looking for an administrative job, join

ACSA. The support that you have through ACSA is amazing, and it is really the only

organization that supports and trains administrators. Their conferences and workshops are really

beneficial, and they have insurance that is nice to have.

Response: While joining ACSA sounds like a must-do, I also wonder about consortiums

of site leaders from North San Diego County, as well as administrative professional

development. I will research to find out what resources exist beyond ACSA.