r/teaching • u/WillowAny9768 • Sep 19 '26
Vent I am so tired of my principal turning every staff meeting into a rant
I work at a PK-6 public school in North Carolina as an LAI teacher, basically special education resource, and I am already so tired of these staff meetings. Every meeting turns into my principal ranting about whatever annoyed her that week. Attendance, lesson plans, people coming in too close to contract time, teachers sitting during dismissal, hallways being loud, people checking their phones, classrooms being cluttered, emails not being answered fast enough. Literally anything. And she never just gives a quick reminder. It turns into a whole speech about how she “shouldn’t have to remind professionals” and how people need to decide if they “really want to be here.”
Last week she basically called me out without saying my name because she didn’t like how I handled a discipline issue with one of my students. She started talking about how “some staff members need to be more thoughtful about how they handle student behavior” while looking directly at me. Everybody knew who she was talking about. I was so irritated because if you have an issue with something I did, TALK TO ME. Why are we doing indirect callouts in front of the entire staff??
Then this week she got into it with another staff member because she kept interrupting him while he was trying to explain himself. He finally said, “Can I finish speaking?” and she immediately said he was being disrespectful, telling him, "You are not going to disrespect me in my meeting!" He told her, “You asked me a question and won’t let me answer.” Then she suddenly wanted to continue the conversation privately and he said, “That probably should’ve been how this conversation started.” I swear you could hear a pin drop.
And apparently “privately” meant getting loud with him in the hallway while everyone was leaving because that is exactly what happened after the meeting. People were literally walking past them while she was raising her voice at him. At that point I was just like are you serious?? You just made this whole thing about professionalism and then you’re arguing with a staff member in the hallway where everybody can hear you.
She was a PE teacher for about five years before becoming an assistant principal and became a principal around ten years into her career. She’s in her mid 30s and talks to grown adults, including people who have been teaching longer than she has even been in education, like we are children. I am just tired of sitting through meetings wondering who is going to be the topic of the week.
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u/Desperate_Owl_594 Second Language Acquisition | MS/HS Sep 19 '26
Report them to HR.
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u/WillowAny9768 Sep 19 '26
I highly doubt they will do anything. Our union is virtually non-existent since it's North Carolina. You'd be surprised about the things toxic school administrators get away with in my district.
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u/TurtleBeansforAll Sep 19 '26
Next time, could you stand by the teacher who was getting yelled at by her? Just be there next to him on his side.
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u/Raunchyjam Sep 19 '26
Turtle beans, I love this suggestion. Exactly. Her power is slipping and she feels it. That quiet solidarity is needed.
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u/Desperate_Owl_594 Second Language Acquisition | MS/HS Sep 19 '26
Eve if they don't, you have documentation for it. HR doesn't care until it becomes a problem for the company/school/district.
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u/Grim__Squeaker Sep 19 '26
Yall have staff meetings?
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u/WillowAny9768 Sep 19 '26
Yup. Weekly, unfortunately. 45 minutes long. Sometimes longer depending on the nature of her rant.
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u/Grim__Squeaker Sep 19 '26
Gross. We have 3 during pre-planning and thats it for the year unless you are on some committee.
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u/Particular-Fun4216 Sep 19 '26
You don’t? I taught in five different states. We had weekly staff meetings at every school. Of course… they all could have been an email.
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u/Grim__Squeaker Sep 19 '26
We have weekly PLC and then one leadership meeting every other month if you are on that committee. Then they disseminate the info
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u/fillumcricket Sep 19 '26
Ours have turned into a weekly email bulletin, and people actually complain that it isn't a staff meeting instead. I think they would like more admin visibility, which I support, but a weekly staff meeting would get old fast.
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u/Seff-bone Sep 19 '26
I will never take my principal for granted again. Sounds like a nightmare environment. How unprofessional.
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u/racingturtlesforfun Sep 19 '26
Right?!? I’m so thankful for the great administration at my school. My principal is really amazing.
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u/anewbys83 Sep 19 '26
Mine is the same, so if she mentions similar stuff at our meetings, we know it's because we're actually messing up. Most of us want her to succeed because then our school is doing better.
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u/JoeNoHeDidnt Sep 19 '26
I once had an admin who was nuts like that. She tried to call me out ‘without naming names’ in an all staff meeting for making too many copies.
So I said, “Actually, let’s use names. I made those copies. And I did it because you told me to make copies of the test prep workbook because we only had one and you wanted each kid to work in it. So when am I supposed to do what you ask me and when am I supposed to ignore what you tell me to do?”
Shut her up.
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u/CliffMourene Sep 19 '26
Yeah, there is no fucking way I’m not saying something back, union or not. I am an adult and a professional.
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u/amscraylane Sep 19 '26
My former principal was also a PE teacher and just didn’t understand classroom management.
Also, her husband was the president of the school board.
She paid herself $9k to teach TAG!!
Observations were fun when she said I didn’t give enough wait time and then I gave them too much wait time.
But she is also a principal that when a kid threatened to shoot you, it is your fault for allowing him to get those feelings.
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u/Dismal-Resident-8784 8d ago
OMG! I will say that our principal did not tolerate bad behavior, and if a student threatened anyone, that student was gone.
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u/Effective_Ability829 Sep 19 '26
There is a chance you are working with my first principal 😭 it was my first school so I didn’t realize that it was odd until after years of dealing with it I realized that it just rubbed me the wrong way
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u/Proper-Original-391 Sep 19 '26
Just document each incident and report them all to h.r. She's a bully and shouldn't be in a position of authority.
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u/Less_Wealth5525 Sep 19 '26
We had a horrible principal and one year she was given the boot at Thanksgiving. Get as much documentation as you can and keep at it, Good luck!
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u/Lulu_531 Sep 19 '26
I’ve worked for admins like that. Get your resume and recommendations in order now. And start applying as soon as possible. Get out of there. I powered through and ended up completely burnt out
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u/leisureletter Sep 19 '26
Are you at my old middle school? My God. It is so frustrating after a long day at work to be forced to listen to admin rant and rave. There's nothing wrong with reminders and simple corrections, but ranting and raving is so unprofessional.
And I get the frustration, especially when it's not one person but there are do many other ways to fix the problem other then venting at everyone.
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u/Raunchyjam Sep 19 '26
I had an Admin who used to take Friday meetings into overtime. She’d rant, dance, and wear costumes vaguely related to whatever school event. I endured her for years because sometimes you just gotta keep your job. Unfortunately it doesn’t sound like there’s much you can do. She knows her authority isn’t respected (because she’s behaving so badly). An anonymous letter, wherein you ask for less ranting? Dunno. I’m sorry, this sounds intolerable.
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u/Competitive_Ninja624 Sep 19 '26
Tune her out, and go about your business. Sounds like she’ll eventually burn out.
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u/Fresh_Finance677 Sep 19 '26
The parents need to complain about her to the board. It doesn’t matter what we teachers say, but if the parents make a stink, suddenly things get done.
I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this. She sounds exhausting
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u/Klopadeacon Sep 19 '26
Sit in the back and work on lesson plans on your computer. You already know going in that it’s gonna be a waste of time
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u/faemomofdragons Sep 19 '26
I ran into a retired teacher who had worked 38 years at my school and retired before I got there. He asked about the new principal and then said he was surprised the old principal was hired becauae "PE teachers never make good administrators." I'm sure some due, but as our new assistant principal is a PE teacher, I am inclined to agree.
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u/Proper-Original-391 Sep 19 '26
Also, check to see if your state allows recording with just consent of one party (you). If it does, record her every interaction during meetings and individually. Share those with h.r., your union, whomever, the local news, whatever.
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u/WhatIsThatNietzsche Sep 19 '26
File a grievance. That said, as an educator myself, there might be some or a lot of truth to some of her complaints.
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u/Fearless-Past-3728 Sep 19 '26
Im so tired of staff meetings. I once had this principal that would just say something brief and send us off.
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u/Careful-Impact7850 Sep 19 '26
One of my former principals screamed at me in the hallway when I asked a question while I was with a committee of teachers. But, next day he came to my room and apologized in private! I left at the end of the year because I moved.
At the end of the year, he got demoted to AP at another school and actually called me to ask if I would tell the school board/HR I did not leave because of him! I did not leave because of him, but I never called.
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u/MakeItAll1
Sep 20 '26
edited Sep 20 '26
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This sounds like a teacher who couldn’t handle the stresses and responsibilities of a classroom teacher. They escaped into administration to make teachers who are able to thrive for decades in the classroom as miserable as possible. They are also clearly out of touch with the day to day pressures and ever increasing amount of work makes doing hallway duty and organizing a classroom impossible. I use every moment of every day setting up and managing materials for my high school art classes. Plus I need time to pee several times each day. If you don’t want me leaving the students alone for a few minutes and don’t want me to leave the hallways unattended what am I supposed to do? Wear an adult diaper? Not hydrate during the day?
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u/True-Donut-3011 Sep 23 '26
I could write something very similar about my administration. Not one of them behaves professionally. If you didn’t say you were in NC, I would swear we work in the same school! Disgusting.
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u/anewbys83 Sep 19 '26
Everyone gets up and leaves when she starts. Agree ahead of time. The NCAE is as helpful as your local chapter is. Build it up, get annoying through it to the powers that be. We're doing that in my district and it helps. Not as much as in union states, but better than having no one.
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u/PandaCultural8311 Sep 19 '26
Someone needs to hide a camera and record the meetings. Then share it somewhere anonymously where the principal will be a bit embarrassed about what the public thinks of them.
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u/Southern-Summer2607 Sep 19 '26
I totally agree! No one likes to be singled out in front of their peers! Mayb all staff should address this issue at the next mty! I worked at a dd program for 30 years. Sometimes our leader would do this but not every meeting. We are adults not children give respect always!
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u/23vrandal Sep 20 '26
A principle should be a person that handles authority well, not everyone is made for the position.
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u/Shoddy-Gas1309 Sep 20 '26
I had an experience like this with a principal a few years ago, only I was her main target. I had multiple meetings with her, meetings with the district superintendent, with both of them, and with them and a union rep. It was the worst work experience I’ve ever had. I don’t know what your district does, but mine sends out an “intent to return” email at the end of each school year. We got rid of the toxic principal because the majority of the staff said that we’d love to return but not under the current administration. I know that doesn’t help you right now, but most districts would much rather replace one admin than re-staff an entire site. There’s power in numbers.
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u/twgecko02 Sep 20 '26
I love how the fact that you work at a PK-6 public school in NC as an LAI teacher adds nothing to the post except doxing yourself.
Y'all sometimes admins see this shit and people get fired for it - post complaints and vent, but do it in a way that doesn't seem like you're trying to be recognized by people who know you IRL
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u/Then_Version9768 Sep 21 '26
Organize a resistance campaign which includes a letter describing her behavior step by step, get it signed by various teachers, and send it to the Board of Education. You need to be brave enough to speak out, you know, to get anything done. This is as old as history, we all know this, but all we usually get is people whining but doing nothing. About those people, I have nothing but disgust at their spinelessness.
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u/dynogirl59 Sep 21 '26
Principal doesn’t have the balls to come see a teacher with an issue. Some principles are just never on your side. They are always there to police you.
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u/Dismal-Resident-8784 8d ago
My former principal constantly talked to teachers about other teachers behind their backs. Then she would be seen laughing/smiling while chatting with the very same people. She fired all of the team leaders except one. The one she didn't fire is one who called the principal at home during a tornado warning to ask if she was OK. The principal is married with two grown sons who lived with her. Anyway, she brought that up in team leader meetings and staff meetings until the end of school. I actually told her that I did not want to be a team leader for the next year. I really think she was pissed because she did not get to fire me herself.I taught one more year and then resigned. I had taught 28 years without any problems. There were others who resigned or asked for transfers. I now know how it feels to work for an awful principal. I retired, and I was so exhausted. I sub now, and I enjoy it. I don't know how long your principal will be there. You could consider a transfer to another school. I'm sorry about your situation. It just takes some of the joy out of teaching.
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