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Head Director

Posted by Time on 3/1/2023, 10:11 am

I'm an assistant director at a middle school. Previous director left (retired). I didn't apply for the head position because I have a young family and other responsibilities.

New director is young and very ambitious (band is life). No family.

They initially stated they were ok with my schedule issues. I do my sectionals and participate in all the required performances and such. My issue is they insist on having extra planning meetings and extra "things to do" at the band hall. These things could be done during our conference time but they insist on staying after school or after sectionals to finish these things.

I've tried explaining my time restraints but they keep saying they are in charge and there's no choice.

What would you do? I don't want to create any more tension. It's been very tense and they are extremely aggressive, even with the kids. I've also had a hard time with how aggressive they are about some things. I understand having standards but it just seems like they don't really get that these kids have other things to worry about other than band.

Thanks in advance

Re: Head Director

Posted by Nick on 3/8/2023, 10:15 am, in reply to "Head Director"

I will say that I think a lot of what is being thought here has to do with modern thinking. When I first started you had better do everything the head asked of you and sometimes it was sketchy lol. As a head guy now, in the modern climate, I am annoyed when I tell something to do something and they either won't or will do it very slowly. However, I have found that if I ask nicely and put people in a position to where they can be successful and in a position where I'm not constantly expecting them to spend personal time outside of school to help my program that they will 99% of the time. It's a different world of entitlement. Entitlement could absolutely be called good manners and consideration as well. If I ask my assistants to be around late to do stuff I try to build something positive into it like rewarding them at some point with starbucks or something they enjoy. Also, I try to bend to when my assistants need flexibility in their schedule so that when I do ask them to put in extra time they feel like they owe me a little and that usually defuses things in the tough parts of the year. I think as a head we need to make sure we lay down expectations at the very beginning of every year so that people know how to plan. I myself actually teach private lessons and do gigs on the side and I would hate it (and do hate it) when there's random meetings that throw off the rest of my schedule. When you demand more time you mess with people's lives. So, it's important to remember that 15 could be the difference in something huge for that person. Best of luck going forward.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Lead or get out of the way on 3/7/2023, 5:32 pm, in reply to "Head Director"

I took a head job once just so I could control the schedule. You allowed someone else to come in and therefore, you now live by their rules, (to some extent). You won't change them nor should you. You passed up the gig. Your only option is to meet the standards they've set for next year, out last them and wait for them to burn out, or walk away.

It's not that hard. People leave bosses, not jobs. So either you can live with it or you can't and you either stay or you leave.

Re: Head Director

Posted by ovwrkdnundrpd on 3/6/2023, 2:28 pm, in reply to "Head Director"

I was in a similar position. I was the assistant at a 3A. The new director I hired was a lot younger than I was and didn't have duties at home. I was currently taking care of a relative on hospice. I couldn't stay on a moments notice without having a nurse at my home. He understood all this. I would see him staying time and time again and me going home. He never once asked me to stay. But on occasion, I would rearrange my homelife to accommodate our program. I eventually decided that I needed to take another job so he could get someone younger and could do those things. So I left. Not for me, but for the sake of the program. I understood it was his vision of a program and I didn't want to be holding up the team. I went out and got an HD position where I could manage our schedule without compromising the vision. I think you should have applied for the job and then it would be your vision and schedule you were dealing with. Until that person has people at home waiting for him, he will not understand the importance of family over trophys. There was a time I was there. You can have both but it is hard.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Guy Number 2 on 3/2/2023, 8:44 am, in reply to "Head Director"

Let them stay for the "things to do" as much as they want and let them know that you will assist with tasks during your conference time. Keep it professional, but keep that boundary.

I have been a HD for 13 years and never have I ever required assistant directors to stay as late as I do. If I stay late, it's my choosing. Most days, I'm out the door 20 minutes after my sectionals end and that's just me getting my office straightened up for the next day.

When I was an assistant (young, ambitions, no family), I was fortunate to work with a head director that would tell me to go home when, or before, he did!

Re: Head Director

Posted by ExHBD on 3/1/2023, 12:23 pm, in reply to "Head Director"

If you’ve already spoken with new HBD in person I would type up an email that rehashes out any previous conversations you have held about them being aware of your after school duties, and how they had already been made aware of your personal scheduling needs outside of school. Be sure to add that you are a team player and are looking to help improve the band program but that any time scheduled beyond your after school sectionals need to be planned in advance to accommodate your family. Keep a log of how often and how long new HBD is asking you to stay past your after school sectional time. If it escalates from there involve admin.

Our contracts all have a “duties as assigned” clause but that also doesn’t mean we’re subject to being forced to stay extra late at school at a moments notice. Keep everything light and professional because something like this could make or break your work dynamic.

Re: Head Director

Posted by another HD on 3/1/2023, 10:45 am, in reply to "Head Director"

He's in charge of the program. You get a stipend that covers "duties as assigned." It is what it is. If you don't like it, you can always try to work somewhere else next year.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Me on 3/3/2023, 3:53 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

Our district has a Fine Arts Handbook. In the handbook, the assistant band director job/duty description is "The assistant band director is under the direction of the head band director and must assist the head director..."

As someone who's been on both sides, you must respect each other's time when possible, BUT know that there also some things that need to be done outside the school day. Compromise and set boundaries, but there ARE times when you're needed for the sake of the program. And yes, if you don't like that, maybe find a program with lower expectations or time commitments... because as a current head director, I won't "demand" that my assistant match my work ethic or time, however, I will hold resentment if I see someone not doing their fair share. And given the choice, I would always hire someone who does have boundaries, but is also willing to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done.

Re: Head Director

Posted by BD on 3/1/2023, 7:16 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

No way. As a head director at a large 6A high school, this is a BS attitude. You don't treat the people you work with like this as it is the fastest way to breed resentment and push people away (and negate any hard work you're trying to do to advance your program). You do as much as you can during the school day and only do what you absolutely must do after school. Once that's done, you go home. Period. End of story. The attitude of staying late just to stay late is the number one reason why people are getting out of this profession in droves.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Thankful on 3/8/2023, 9:40 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

I am thankful that a large program head director can see this so clearly. Many years ago, I began to refuse to consider larger districts because of this attitude. I had a family with 3 children still in school who needed that bonding time with both parents at home in the evenings. We, as teachers, often rail against parents who spend little quality time with their parents and yet find ourselves in situations which take quality time away from our own spouses and children. We should practice what we preach. Granted, our choice of teaching field does take some additional time and commitment, similar to what coaches experience. However, that should not be a constant that risks destroying our own families.

So, thank you for being perceptive enough and caring enough to change what has been so common in years gone by.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Another Another HD on 3/1/2023, 1:32 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

This is 100% the best way to create a revolving door of assistant directors and create the toxic work environment that has been pushing people out of this profession for years. When you ask nearly every person who has left this profession, the reason they left was never the students or the "teaching," it was the toxicity.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Scientific on 3/8/2023, 8:56 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

I don't think that's very scientific. I read an article recently talking about one of the big reasons on exit interviews being lack of support from admin regarding student discipline. Had nothing to do with salaries or toxicity. Everything to do with being able to do the job they were hired to do.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Another Another HD on 3/9/2023, 8:59 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

Would you consider "lack of support from admin regarding student discipline" a toxic culture on a campus?

Also, I mentioned nothing of salaries, but your last sentence supported the point I was making, so thanks for your agreement!

Re: Head Director

Posted by Beagle on 3/9/2023, 11:55 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

I don't know why people think admin have a magic "you must BEHAVE!" button. They don't.

What they do have is a lawyer-determined set of steps they are FORCED to follow. Alongside every step in the process is parent contact - you MUST be in contact with the parents to let them know about their child's progress (or lack) and their behavior. If that parent contact is skipped, in many districts a disciplinary AP literally *can't* progress to the next step unless the behavior is egregious or harmful.

Too many people want to dial things back to the 1980s when schools could just "kick out the bad kids" and they forget that all that does is cause rampant crime, drug abuse, homelessness, and creates a permanent underclass of under-educated or uneducated people.

Admin work is nearly entirely scripted - there's a code of conduct and a behavior consequence chart. Admin didn't create this, school boards and lawyers did. That's what drives me nuts about people complaining about "zero tolerance" - allowing employees to use discretion opens up liability for the admin to be sued for "disproportionately targeting minorities/women/boys/special education/etc students" with disciplinary consequences. School boards went to this one-size-fits-all approach to shield from liability.

But then we started criminalizing schoolyard misbehavior. Kids as young as seven were being expelled and given a criminal citation for sexual assault for (even though it's unacceptable) popping a girl's bra strap on the playground. So those behavior consequences have been by necessity toned down. Kids now "get away with everything" because it's reactionary to "kids get away with nothing" a generation ago.

Additionally, the federal government *has* noticed that punishments tend to be more severe on minority students. In schools where 80% of the population is white, why are 90% of the disciplinary referrals written about the behavior of black students? One might say "they're the ones misbehaving" but .. really? Are you certain? Or are some groups allowed to get away with behaviors that other groups can't? We see this in wealthy suburbs all the time. Certain kids (athletes especially!) get away with activities that would be considered criminal if it weren't in the context of school. This also doesn't include the mentality of "boys will be boys" that many small town and old-school administrators STILL have in regards to behavior.

Add to ALL of this the fact that our kids in high school spent most of their middle school/early high school lives raised by/around TikTok and other incredibly toxic sources of "entertainment" on their devices. Jackass used to be the exception, now it's the norm - remember Devious Licks?

So continuing to place blame on admin when their hands are tied by the policies put in place, and by society at large? Not fair. Admin is an absolutely thankless job. But teachers could 100% make things easier for their admin for documenting behaviors, making that parent contact, documenting the parent contacts, and holding themselves accountable just like they want the kids to be.

Re: Head Director

Posted by 2A guy formerly 1A guy on 3/13/2023, 7:14 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

A lot to unpack. I want to start by saying that my response is not totally about your points. It includes other responses as well. Also, my response isn't an attack on you or any other poster. It's just my perspective based on my experiences and my present situation.

My superintendent and both principals (I'm in a small school) keep discipline and back the teachers. They are not afraid of parents or students. They have been in our district for a number of years, with the superintendent going into year 20, which is highly unusual.

Our kids are pretty well behaved with maybe a handful of "knuckleheads." It's not because our town is anything special or great. It's because we expect our kids to do what they are supposed to do, or else. Maybe others don't have this situation and maybe their admin. cowers in fear over lawyers or parents. We just don't put up with it and it makes the teaching environment more productive and enjoyable. Our attrition is more due to retirements than to teachers quitting.

I have been an assistant director in a large school and I have been a head director with a staff. I am now in a 2A school as the lone director and enjoy it. It's a lot of work with teaching band and some elementary music classes, but for me it's worth it to not have to deal with drama. I don't have to worry about hurt feelings, undermining as a head director or being pushed around as an assistant. I was asked by the superintendent if I would like an assistant since we moved up to 2A and I said thanks but no thanks. So, he decided to give me a raise, instead.

I frequently read these types of posts on the Yellowboard and I hear these stories from directors in person. It confirms my decision to continue to teach alone and avoid all the hassles.

Our program does fine and we still make sweepstakes even though we moved up in classification. I have a very active band boosters and they fill in the gaps for the band when we need grunt work done at football games or contest. No, I'll just keep going at it alone because it works in my situation. If we ever move up to 3A or 4A and I can no longer do it alone, I'll just change schools or retire.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Exercise on 3/3/2023, 5:00 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

This. It's part of the reason why people don't treat teachers as professionals these days.

Head directors with this toxic mindset really should do some work on themselves.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Haha on 3/1/2023, 11:49 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

So HDs sign the contracts now? Teachers work for principals and WITH other directors. Admin defines "duties as assigned", not HD.

OP shouldn't have to apply, interview, and move somewhere else to be a teacher with reasonable hours. Head director has little recourse, especially if the assistant is meeting all district and campus expectations for attendance.

Both of y'all should come to an agreement (maybe stay later a few days a week), but it shouldn't cost OP a job if they don't. Is HD really going to win this by saying "The assistant director leaves early by MY standards"?

Some of y'all head directors need to chill. What a world it would be if you asked for help and phrased positively instead of demanding it with negativity. Here are some free examples:
"Can you stay late this week to help me with this?"
"I would appreciate your help on Tuesday after school making 6th grade copies."
"Will please plan to stay late next week to prep for instrument demonstrations at the elementary?"
"I know this asking a lot, but would you be open to running sectionals on Wednesday after school?"
"Sorry to ask on short notice, but is it possible to stay late today to help with library sorting?"
"Are you still able to join me in picking Honor Band submission tapes Thursday after school?"

Re: Head Director

Posted by Devil's Advocate on 3/1/2023, 5:25 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

Except administrators will defer to the HBD when it comes to band "duties to be assigned" 999 times out of 1000. Administrators, while the final word on who gets a contract or not, will defer to the HBD regarding the work performance of the ABD(s) 999 times out of 1000, and base their decision on the HBD's opinion.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Haha on 3/1/2023, 8:37 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

That's not a good faith argument. There's no way that you know at a 99.9% sureness that it goes down that way. I challenge you to provide any evidence that shows it to be true.

Head directors can probably assign teaching roles for rostered classes and receive 99% admin support. Can't make me stay until 6pm though.

"Duties as assigned" is not what you think it is. It is admin power to assign you to a different class, campus, or role. Can't make me stay to mop the floors outside of the district and campus expectations of attendance for teachers. Take my classes and make me mop during regular hours? Strange and unusual, perhaps allowed, but not cost efficient.

Love y'all head directors, appreciate you spearheading and leading the charge. But some of y'all think the title is "assistant to the band director".

Re: Head Director

Posted by Um on 3/8/2023, 10:17 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

I hired every single one of my assistants. Sometimes I interviewed alone. Sometimes I interviewed as a panel with my FAD and Principal. 0 times did we hire someone other than the person I wanted. Ever. So there is that.

How many assistant coaches on the athletic side of the aisle are working "with" the head coach versus "for". And I'm not talking football. I'm talking every sport on campus that has an assistant coach. They answer to 1 person and only 1 person when it comes to their sport.

Maybe you are in a co-teach environment but at some point somebody has to be in charge. That's why every discipline in the building answers to a department chair, an AP, a principal, someone at central office, a school board, and ultimately the customers.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Me on 3/9/2023, 11:36 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

I don't know a single coach, ever, that has so much ego that thinks they do it all on their own. Every coach ever gives full credit to their assistant coaches for working with them. Even in the professional ranks - coordinators and assistants make the difference between good teams and great.

You're confusing "is in charge" with "is responsible for." You're responsible for your program. You're not in charge. If you royally screw up tomorrow, the PRINCIPAL and SUPERINTENDENT will come down on you. As in, people whose job title and description show that they are in a supervisory capacity over other employees. If a principal or superintendent royally screws up, the school board can remove them. Ultimately, THEY are the ones "in charge" - but they've designated the Super and building Principal to be their "designee." That's literally how this hierarchy works.

9 times out of 10, the HBD is not a supervisor. They don't do the T-TESS evaluations of their staff. And if you are, more power to you - but you're still not someone I would want to work with. You seem more worried about your own ego than about the kids or the program as a whole. I've known a bunch people like that - they're the ones who tend to wash out of this business - not quickly, but around their 15th-20th year - because their act has worn thin in too many places and they can't get hired anymore.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Haha on 3/8/2023, 6:07 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

What customers? You probably mean tax payers, but that's not the same and you know that.

Absolutely will the admin listen to your hiring suggestions. You probably get to pick THE assistant director and that is good.

Scenario:
You hire me. Certainly I like what you're doing, or I wouldn't have chosen to sign the district's contract (that has your name nowhere on it btw), so I would absolutely make time to help make the program better.

But, if you decide to be mean about the fact that I have kids to pick up and a family to be with, I don't have to change, and my job is not in jeopardy. Besides, what am I going to do, allow strangers to pick up my kid? Bring the kid back to the band hall to interrupt things? Go back in time and not have a kid? Quit band directing because I have a kid? Pay for extra after hour day care? These are problems for parents, but you shouldn't need to have a child to clock out.

Speaking of pay, here's a thought experiment. Take the stipend you earn and take the stipend THE assistants earn. Are they the same since we do the same hours? Would you be able to itemize the stipends to reflect the work and hours put in? Does the stipend change when you add more contests, rehearsals, performances and "duties as assigned"? Why not?

What about indoor percussion/winter guard/indoor winds/mariachi/jazz bands?! Are all directors expected to be at every rehearsal and performance? I WOULD expect all the head directors to be at all events and rehearsals, or is that not fair/feasible for some reason? Do stipends reflect these different "duties as assigned"?

After hours time is an opportunity, not a requirement, especially if it's for something that can be done during conference period (which along with a 30 minute duty free lunch is an obligation your school must make by law, know your rights!)

Re: Head Director

Posted by Thoughts on 3/9/2023, 1:15 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

1. Yes, I mean the tax payer because they are in fact the customer. They can walk. There are options and if nobody wants to be in band you are out of a job. Doesn't mean the inmates run the asylum but it does mean you better know your clientele.

2. You accepted the job knowing the requirements and expectations. If I take a job working 3rd shift and suddenly decide I no longer want to work 3rd shift I don't get to go to the manager and declare my new hours are 8 to 4. If you have things that will keep you from doing the job then don't take the job. Does the on-call doctor get to just walk out of the hospital because they "need to pick up their kids"? No. They work schedules and jobs that accommodates their life. Not the other way around.

Now, sometimes we are our own worst enemy. BUT, a band director is not a 7 to 3 schedule and literally EVERY person that goes to school to be a band director knows that. Doesn't mean your desires and life circumstances don't change. When it does, so does your career choice.

3. Pay - This is a great topic and I would challenge every teacher out there to start applying for private industry jobs to see just how good their salaries and schedules are. Only teachers, even band directors, are getting the salary they are with the amount of time they are off, (whether you argue it's paid time off or not).

I have never had an assistant work more hours than me so yes, my stipend is more. I had the extra meetings, more days in the band hall outside of contract hours, more evenings, and more weekends.

4. Yes, I did more indoor rehearsals and performances than my assistants. All? No. But more than they did. And remember, these are optional activities. If you don't want these teach junior high or find a program not doing them.

Some programs after hours is a requirement and not an opportunity. Choose accordingly when accepting a job. And I could have had a duty free lunch. Or I could work through my lunch, (which I chose to do), to minimize my after school extra work so that it was time in front of students actually educating rather than paperwork and lesson planning.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Yup on 3/2/2023, 7:57 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

This is absolutely correct!!!

Re: Head Director

Posted by Well... on 3/1/2023, 10:05 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

...no amount of evidence is going to convince you, so why bother?

Re: Head Director

Posted by Snerk on 3/2/2023, 11:31 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

You probably can't convince them because they're right.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Yeah right on 3/1/2023, 10:02 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

You can't be that naive...so I will chalk it up to lack of experience and wisdom.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Exercise on 3/3/2023, 5:06 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

Or you don't advocate for yourself and what you need. Too many teachers on this forum let themselves be walked all over.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Interesting on 3/8/2023, 10:42 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

Sometimes "being walked all over" is actually just doing your job as expected but people get all sensitive about either the expectations or how to actually interact with a boss. The "me, me, me" isn't just today's students but an awful lot of our young adults. Work/Life balance is important but sometimes you have to pick your career based on that balance as opposed to setting your balance then expecting your career choice to fit around it. I need ER doctors to work at night. If you want to be a doctor but not work nights then be a pediatrician with your own clinic working 8 to 4. But guess what, even those folks end up working on call hours if they also deal with newborns in the hospitals. I was a different director at 22 with no family versus 35 with young kids at home to 45 with kids involved in activities to 50 when I'm an empty nester and more available again. Work ethic matters. Best piece of advice my grandfather gave me for my career, (mind you he had an 8th grade education and was a self-made blue collar millionaire) was to work 10 hours a day no matter what field you end up in. That leaves 14 hours NOT at work. When I skewed that, I lost my career and family. When it got back into balance, I found both of those things again.

Trust me, I'm not for being walked over or abused. But I see a lot of complaining from folks who just need to do their job. I rarely did sectionals. But that's because I could get the job done during the day, (with how we were structured and the number of folks in the classroom during most classes). It was called collaboration. But when I couldn't do them during the day I did them before or after school. That was the expectation. And at the point I could no longer meet the time requirement for the job, it was time to leave. I've said for years HS band directing is the job for the young and unmarried these days. It is not conducive to having a family. And when it got to that point, I knew it was time to leave. Not time to fight with my head about how I was NOT going to do the job as they saw fit. It was time for me to find something that fit MY time needs instead of the other way around.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Haha on 3/2/2023, 6:38 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

I haven't encountered anybody who acts like that and gets their way. I'm sorry if you have experienced that in your many director years as assistant director. I urge you and other to stand up for yourselves. It is the naive who let these people get away with those things.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Other side on 3/1/2023, 11:39 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

Duties are assigned by the supervisor, which in nearly every case isn't a HBD.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Well on 3/7/2023, 5:35 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

And if you were my assistant I would find every way possible to get you to leave. You can't function in a band hall if your standard answer is "you're not my boss". It doesn't work. Nor does it work for you to decide what is and isn't acceptable in your eyes to what you will or won't do.

So you could play that card and if I found it unacceptable I would make your life uncomfortable to where you wanted to leave. Two can play the document or involve "supervisor" card. Sometimes the employee is the problem and not the manager.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Haha on 3/8/2023, 6:48 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

"my assistant"

Re: Head Director

Posted by Correct on 3/8/2023, 8:53 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

Budgets, ensemble seating, and all class assignments (conducting or responsibilities) ran through me, the head. So yes, MY assistant. Maybe your program is different. In mine the assistant had only the authority to give grades to the students assigned to them in the grade book. I chose to delegate certain things but I sometimes made bad hires and I chose to delegate different things, (like they became a lessons teacher because they couldn't control a classroom but were great 1 on 1). Welcome to the adult conversation of how the world actually works. Some people are in charge and some people aren't. I'm a type A kinda person and in all my decades only had to ask 1 assistant to leave while having many of my assistants eventually take over their own programs.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Haha on 3/8/2023, 6:16 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

For a head director who "owns" the assistants they hire, I find it humorous that you had to "ask" them to leave. What if they would have said no?! Thank goodness that TTESS is done by the principal/administrator (you know, the person in charge of the campus teachers).
Scary to think what a head director like you might do if they could evaluate the band staff on TTESS.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Well on 3/9/2023, 1:00 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

They could have stayed I suppose. But they wouldn't have been a band director. They had a contract with the district and could be reassigned at any time to any other position they were certified for. They would not have been in my band hall whether they wanted to stay or not. I would go through how the process works but you probably don't want to listen. At the end of the day, I had enough documentation to take to a principal and Fine Arts Director to say they needed to be anywhere in the district but a band hall and both entities would have listened and reassigned said individual. They chose to leave knowing that's what was waiting.

At the end of the day, while they were a nice human being they were a horrible teacher. I was protecting the students they were standing in front of. You know, those tax payers that right now are very unhappy and pushing for school choice so they can choose how their kids are educated. Why would we try and keep bad educators in front of students? Would you keep going to a restaurant that served you cold fries? Why would you want an educator that can't educate in your building or on your staff? Put the student first.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Me on 3/8/2023, 11:36 am, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

I fail to understand how you can claim on one hand that you "delegate" the way you do and that you also only ever had one assistant "have to leave."

You're the epitome of a toxic boss. Your assistants left and took over their own programs because frankly you sound like a horse's rear to work with. (And notice I said *with* not *for*)

Re: Head Director

Posted by Sure on 3/9/2023, 12:53 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

One had to be let go because he was incompetent. Couldn't run a rehearsal, couldn't handle delegation. Needed to not be an educator. The others left to take over their own programs because they were type A folks who wanted their own programs. They never left on bad terms. I was in their rehearsal halls when they left because I was invited. Have a great day.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Concur... on 3/7/2023, 8:47 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

...and to carry that point farther...the head director's title is called "head" director for a reason. They make the final decisions on things. They may ask for input from their assistants...and the good ones do...but they make the final call. It is their head in the noose if things aren't going well, and it is up to them to make things right that aren't going well.

They have the authority to put people on, or take them off the podium in the best interest of the band(s)...and to give the assistants assignments within the program.

Sure, an assistant can try to take the "you're not my boss" route, or play the "supervisor" card if they want...but eventually the principal is going to get fed up with them coming to them for every little issue and do one of two things, and maybe both:

1. Refer them back to the HBD and remind the assistant that the HBD runs the program. Someone else mentioned this above...but for some reason other posters want to pretend this doesn't happen while singing "la, la, la" to themselves.

and/or,

2. NR the ABD.

Re: Head Director

Posted by If you've... on 3/1/2023, 10:43 am, in reply to "Head Director"

already spoken with this person about this and there's no flexibility, you should schedule a conference with your administrator and loop them in. In most districts, you don't work "for" the HBD. You work "with" them. Start to document, document, document. If they're asking for an unreasonable amount of time outside of duty hours, you should receive support from your admin.

Re: Head Director

Posted by Wow... on 3/16/2023, 12:44 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

Some of the responses in this thread are just eye opening and sad. So caught up in the dictatorship of being a "head" director giving little to no regard for the education of our students. Any person, head or assistant, that has to have this conversation has either lost or never had the true passion for teaching students. To much selfish mentality in hear. I thank God I don't work for you and that my kids will never step foot in your band hall. Educate the students, get over your ego and help each other.

Re: Head Director

Posted by If you've... on 3/22/2023, 12:33 pm, in reply to "Re: Head Director"

Not sure how you got to where you are from my post. Maybe you intended to reply elsewhere?

I'm encouraging the OP to advocate for him/herself.

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