It Could Happen to You

Bev Gray, principal of Westwood School, tapped her silver pen on the edge of her clip board. 

Sherry focused on breathing. In through the nose, one, two three, four.  Hold for seven, out through her mouth, slowly, slowly and repeat. 

Mrs. Khullar, superintendent, completed her walk around their little circle, shaking hands and smiling.  Then she smoothed her brown wool skirt behind her and sat on the leather backed guest chair.

“The children are our top priority,” Bev nodded as she folded her hands. Her silver pen slid down her clip board and onto the floor.” “Safety is paramount.” she continued as she bent to look for the pen.

Kay, the union steward, picked the pen up from under Bev’s chair and held it out to her.  Bev took it with a nod.

“How is the boy?” Mrs Khullar turned to look at Bev. “Jonah?”

“Slowly breathe out,” Sherry told herself. “One, two, three...”

“He’ll be off for school for a while.” Bev clipped her pen onto the clip board. She shook her head slowly and sighed.

“His parents aren’t coming to this meeting?” Yvonne asked from her seat on the couch beside Sherry

“No,” Bev’s chair squeaked as she shifted. “They could not make it at this time.”

“Have you spoken to the parents?” Yvonne asked Mrs. Khullar.

“No, they spoke to Bev.” Mrs Khullar smiled at Yvonne.  “Which is the procedure we encourage.”

“Sherry?” Yvonne turned her head. “You spoke to the parents yesterday?”

Sherry breathed out through her mouth slowly. “I called to see how Jonah was. I spoke to his dad.  He said accidents happen.” Sherry told her shoulders to be still.  Bev had yelled at her for shrugging yesterday.

“The point is,” Bev unclipped her pen and pointed it at Yvonne. “Due diligence.”

“Is the ankle broken?” Yvonne asked Sherry.

Sherry breathed in through her nose, held the breath and breathed out through her mouth. “No,” she replied. “Sprained.”

“The point is,” Bev pointed her pen at Sherry. “He got hurt under your supervision and I had to take him to the hospital.”

“Is this the first time a student has been hurt at this school?” Yvonne asked.

Bev coloured slightly. “You are trying to railroad this meeting.” Bev pointed the pen at Yvonne. “I agreed that ETT could attend as a courtesy.  Do not abuse my hospitality.”

“Sherry is entitled to union representation,” Yvonne smiled at Bev. “As you know.”

Bev coloured a deeper shade of pink.

“The question is,” Mrs Khullar looked at each of them in turn. “Was the accident preventable?”

“I believe Ms. Smythe was negligent in her supervisory responsibilities.” Bev smiled at Mrs. Khullar.  “I believe the accident was preventable and that is why I feel a disciplinary letter should be placed in her records.” She re-clipped the silver pen to her clipboard.

Sherry breathed in through her nose, held the breath for a count of four and then slowly breathed out through her mouth.

Mrs. Khullar leaned forward in her chair and smiled at Sherry. “What did happen?”

Sherry turned to look at Yvonne. Yvonne, ETT Executive Officer, smiled and nodded.

 “For DPA we always start with a walk, power walk, then jog around the perimeter of the gym.” Sherry tugged at the sleeve of her sweater.  “It’s a consistent routine so they always know what to do upon entering the gym.” Sherry turned to look at Kay.  Kay smiled at her. Sherry continued. “One of the gym monitors  gets the key from the office for the supply closet,” Sherry ran her right hand through her hair. “The other gym monitor posts the chart on the door by the stage.” 

Kay nodded her head, “We can’t leave the charts in the gym,” she explained. “Because between after school sports and the daycare the charts get wrecked.” 

So,” Sherry sighed. “A monitor carries it to and from the class and posts it on the door with sticky tack. They stay up better on the door than on the brick walls.”

“Even though a fire marshall had told us not to hang paper on doors.” Kay added.

Sherry continued. “But the stage door isn’t an exit and the sticky tac doesn’t work as well on the painted brick.”

“Chart?” Mrs. Khullar asked.

“Success Criteria,” Kay said.

“My staff,” Bev leaned over and touched Mrs. Khullar’s wrist. “Consistently uses Success Criteria.”

Mrs. Khullar smiled. “Continue,” she told Sherry.

Sherry breathed in through her nose, held the breath for a count of two and then breathed out through her mouth. “I helped Avery post the chart and then he joined the class.  I turned to Nazia, whose laces had come untied and the next thing I know Jonah is on the ground, holding his ankle and the chart is under him.”

“An accident,” Kay held out both hands.  “Could have happened to anyone.”

“He slipped on the success criteria?” Mrs. Khullar asked.

Bev leaned over and touched Mrs. Khullar’s wrist. “My staff uses them consistently.” Bev smiled. “They meet in teams to deconstruct the curriculum expectations and then make kid-friendly charts.”

“Well,” Sherry shrugged. “The language on  the chart was kid friendly.”

“Will there be a ban on charts in the gym now?” Kay looked around the circle.                                                           “Success Criteria must be posted!” Bev tapped her pen on the arm of the couch beside Kay’s elbow.” How else will the children know if they are succeeding in gym?”

Yvonne cleared her throat. “I fail to see any evidence of negligence on Sherry’s part.  It was an accident.” 

Mrs. Khullar frowned.  She turned to Bev. “Please describe the negligence to Yvonne.”

Bev sat up straight in her chair. “When Sherry unpacked the chart she failed to cluster the sticky tac in an effective manner.”

Kay sighed.  “Are there any exemplars available on sticky tac placement?”

“Don’t be flip, Kay.” Bev scowled at her.

“Speaking of flip,” Yvonne interjected “Why not place a flip chart in the gym for the charts.”

Kay and Sherry turned to look at Bev.

“That’s irrelevant,” Bev tapped her pen on her clipboard. “Sherry was negligent. Jonah got hurt.  A letter of discipline will go into her file.”

“Sherry?” Yvonne asked.  “Were you given any verbal instructions or feedback before this incident?”

“Lets not play the pass the blame game.” Bev tapped her pen on her clipboard. “Checking the sticky tac should be standard operating procedure.”

Sherry shook her head. “We were only told to always post the Success Criteria.”

““Success Criteria are essential for the effective provision of descriptive feedback that is so crucial before any form of evaluation.” Bev said.

Yvonne turned to Mrs. Khullar. Mrs. Khullar sighed.  “Let’s wait with any letter for now,” she rose from her chair.  “Let’s see if we can find a safer place to post the Success Criteria.” She nodded and reached for her coat. “Thank you all for your time. It was a successful meeting.” Mrs. Khullar smiled and walked out of the office.

“Was it successful?” Kay looked around the room. “How are we supposed to know?”