Dear Colleagues,
Why was Karen Janney demoted to principal of National City Middle School? As a counselor at Mar Vista High, I find it ironic that the woman who was instrumental in developing our district strategic plan has been summarily dismissed. In addition to her role in the design of the plan, people should know the history of her fine leadership which exemplifies the mission of our district.
In each of her leadership positions, Karen has worked tirelessly to be the best administrator that anyone could ask for. In fact, I have never met another person with more dedication to education or more integrity than Karen Janney. If our superintendent and Board of Trustees truly believe in putting the interests of students first, they will apologize and retract their foolish decision to demote her.
In 1978, Karen began teaching in the Sweetwater District. I first met her in 1991 when I was a new teacher at Castle Park Middle School and she was the assistant principal. Later, I worked at Chula Vista Middle where she was the principal. In both of those schools, I was very impressed with her positive attitude and absolute dedication to students and teachers. Her door was open to everyone and she paid close attention to what was going on in the classrooms. She was present and focused on problem solving. She worked closely with teachers to make sure we had good lesson plans and were effective in the classroom. But she also gave us a lot of personal support for the difficult jobs we had. She met with every teacher and acknowledged us regularly in conferences and with notes of appreciation. Her basic belief in the goodness of people guided her effort to bring out the best in each of us. She would never demean or humiliate another person – under any circumstance. She had excellent relationships with parents and students and her positive energy was felt throughout the schools and community.
Karen has truly built her leadership style on a foundation of teambuilding -- soliciting and incorporating the ideas of teachers, classified staff, students and parents. Her goals and expectations as a site principal, and now as an area-superintendent, have been in absolute agreement with our district's current mission statement – and her actions have always based on what is best for students.
Karen is an outstanding leader and has been honored numerous times for her contributions. A few examples follow:
California Congress of PTA Honorary Service Award
Sweetwater District's Administrator of the Year
Sweetwater's District Management Employee of the Year
California League of High Schools, Region 9, Educator of the Year
ACSA Region 18 Secondary Principal of the Year
ACSA State Secondary Principal of the Year
Sweetwater Union High School District Innovation Award
Tribute to Women in Industry Award
Model Mentor Principal
Mentor Administrator for Future Administrators' Academy Interns.
Karen has coached teachers and administrators throughout our district. She has provided trainings through TESA, California School Leadership Academy, Stiggins' Student-Centered Assessment training, as well as other conferences and seminars. She also teaches Educational Leadership 610 at SDSU and is currently completing her PhD. Furthermore, she has participated in many regional and local professional committees, the Chula Vista Coordinating Council, the California League of Middle Schools, and more.
As Area Superintendent, Karen led the effort to develop the common calendar, recently adopted by our district and the elementary districts. This issue has been on our district agenda for years but Karen began coordinating the process in January 2008. It was her leadership and ability to bring people together that allowed us to finally resolve the issue.
Always humble and gracious, Karen Janney is a talented and dedicated administrator. I am completely baffled by Dr. Gandara and the Trustees' decision to demote her. If it was a question of budget cuts, then why was it never brought up in their proposals? In fact, Dr. Gandara has given no reason for the demotion of Karen or Dianna Carberry, so I can only assume it has nothing to do with budget cuts. I'm not aware of any plan to eliminate the two area-superintendent positions at this time. It appears that our struggle to save our jobs provides a convenient and confusing backdrop for this inexplicable decision.
I am deeply disappointed in our Board of Trustees for failing to stand up for one of our finest administrators. If Karen Janney does not embody the ideals of our mission statement, then who does?
Sincerely,
Peggy Watson
Counselor
Mar Vista High School
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2 comments:
I would add that Ms. Janney goes the extra mile to keep good educators in education. Our students gain immeasurably when educators like Ms. Watson remain in the field bringing classroom expertise and years of teaching experience to the counseling realm. Thank you to Ms. W for this chronology of Karen's career and listing so many of Ms. J's contributions to our students' education.
Thanks for aa great read
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