I Blew It!

Things were going great for my first drill week as an Interim Superintendent. No major snafus, no serious gaffes, no minor miscues. Then came the lockdown drill last Thursday. 

It started off strong. I learned how to dial the phone on my desk to make an "all-school" announcement. I had locked the doors to my office (more on that later) and was settling in as I presumed this would be an extended drill. 

A staff member was in the District Office when I made the announcement, and they ended up in my office space due to the drill. We were sitting quietly, listening to the activity of our law enforcement partners in the hallway as they jiggled multiple door handles. To my utter surprise, a few moments later, I saw one of our local police officers stick their head into my office - one of my own doors was unlocked! For the record, it was this door: 

I've never used that door - either coming in or out of my office. I presumed, incorrectly, that it was locked. OK, that was my first mistake of the drill... But wait, there's more!

After working their way through the building, our law enforcement team returned to my office and shared a script with me about what to say to end the drill. I took it, started to dial the all-call number, and stopped. What I was reading was confusing to me, so I expected it to be potentially confusing to others as well. I quickly reviewed it and edited it on the fly with our Safety Team. I made the announcement. But even when I hung up the phone, I knew I had goofed. 

My instructions were contrary to what we had reviewed with our Faculty and Staff during their safety training. Due to the scope of our drill, we had law enforcement partners from several jurisdictions in South County, and one of them does their lockdown drill slightly differently than we do in SBRSD. Fortunately, we held a debriefing session immediately afterward, inviting staff to share their experiences and insights. We will be asking all faculty and staff to reflect on these drills during meetings this week. That feedback will be shared with our District Safety Team and local first responders at our meeting this Wednesday. 

Yup, I blew it. But that's what it means to be human. Even superintendents make mistakes. 

When visiting classrooms, I often ask students what they think a superintendent does. Typically, I get some version of "You're the boss of the principals," or "You're in charge of all the schools," and my favorite is "You give us snow days!" I usually shrug off the first two and embrace the third!

For me, a superintendent's job is to ensure students feel safe, welcomed, and included when they come to school, so they can learn to the best of their ability. Learning involves mistakes, pretty much every time. I've yet to encounter a life lesson, let alone an academic one, that I get right every time. Certainly, the harder the lesson, the greater the chances of a mistake. However, this also increases the likelihood of a meaningful outcome. 

One thing I'm proud of is that I rarely make the same mistake twice. I'll make different mistakes. So the next time we have a lockdown drill, I'll be sure all my doors are locked and we will have carefully reviewed the ending. 

And I'm sure somewhere else this year, I'll trip up again. 

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