My Perspective: What It Was Like Working for the Current Administration

My History

My name is Donna Urban.  I moved into CASD in 1986 and became a regular attendee at school board meetings beginning in 1991, during the elementary redistricting process to open Reeceville.  That began a decades-long commitment of being an active stakeholder in the district.  I left behind a professional career as a Human Resources Manager to become a stay-at-home mom around 1988.   When my youngest entered first grade, I re-entered the workforce in 1992 with the perfect part-time “mom” job.  I accepted a four-hour position in the school office.  This enjoyable position eventually evolved back into full time work and a second career.  Over the next 23 years, I obtained great insight on how our district operates; the good and the bad, the successes and the failures.    

I spent 16.5 years actually working for Coatesville, from 1992 until early 2003 and again from 2010 until 2016.   I spent seven years working for Downingtown SD from 2003 until 2010, while serving on Coatesville’s school board from the end of 2003 through late 2009.  In the summer of 2010, I returned to work at Coatesville as the Child Accounting Administrator working in the administration’s business office.  During the 23-year span I was involved with the district, I’ve worked for and with four different superintendents and three interim superintendents.  So, I’ve been exposed to all types of management styles.

2014 – A New Beginning

After the 2013 turmoil and corresponding superintendent search, most of the administration building staff was excitedly looking forward to welcoming our new boss and starting fresh.  She would be the first female superintendent in our district’s history.  We were sorry to see our interim, Dr. Fitz, go because he was a steady ship; a sweet man who walked through our office each day and offered a warm smile and morning greeting to everyone.  It had been a very difficult 18 months including protesters outside our office, television cameras greeting us, and even a rally on our doorstep.  Surrounded by turmoil, those on the inside tried to just keep our heads down and do our job.

When Dr. Taschner arrived, we anticipated meeting her and getting a feel for the new boss.  But that anticipation quickly changed.  She had been in our building for nearly a month, only one floor above us, and had yet to introduce herself to the majority of staff.  We kept asking our boss when she might come through our department and introduce herself.  We got tired of asking and began to feel like unimportant peons who loyally came to work for someone who didn’t seem interested in meeting her staff.

Hope Changed to Intimidation and Fear

Changes were coming fast and furious.  For those of us who’d been around a while, it wasn’t unexpected.  But, this was different.  We started noticing changes in the work environment.  The higher-ups were tense, people talked in whispers, reassignments were being made, but not communicated down the chain.   You never knew who was in charge anymore.  Outside consultants were brought in to replace staff, but again due to a lack of communication, no one knew who or why.   I would ask my boss to enlighten me on all the changes, but I’d get a shoulder shrug and “don’t ask.”  I initially thought he just didn’t think it was my business, but soon realized he was really protecting me from unnecessary targeting.  It became chaos.  As more time went on, long time staff member would disappear and no one knew what happened.  Were they fired, did they quit, were they suspended?   You didn’t dare ask, even if it affected your work, or you’d be accused of gossiping.  A collegial, friendly workplace had become a place with people ducking for cover when the superintendent walked through, because no one wanted to be seen talking with a co-worker.  I remember one honest conversation I would later have with the superintendent when I told her the district wasn’t the same.  She asked what I meant and I said that we used to feel like family here.  Her response chilled me.  “It shouldn’t.  Because you would do things for family that you wouldn’t do for anyone else.”  That’s when I realized she viewed the staff she inherited as part of her problem, not a bridge to the future.  She didn’t trust any of us.  All we heard was everything prior to her arrival was bad, a failure, and needed to be changed.  Instead of fixing what was broken, it was a “throw the baby out with the bathwater” approach.

The atmosphere had gone from one of hopefulness, to intimidation, to fear.  There was an epiphany, real or imagined based on the ever increasing turnover, that if you were viewed as being a “loyalist” under the previous administration, you were targeted for removal, one way or another.  Demands on your time, outside normal work hours, became overwhelming for some.  If you made a mistake, you were written up, suspended, transferred, demoted, or removed.  You were given false promises or lied to, saying the changes were temporary.  Many felt safe if they were good at their job, but she made them miserable enough to quit.  I saw a lot of good employees, from administrators to support staff, finally give up and walk away.  Today, I barely know anyone left in the administration building.  There’s no institutional memory and maybe that was the point.  Open positions weren’t being posted and temporary agencies and the CCIU were supplying most replacements.

I sadly remember the day our building receptionist, a 25+ year employee who loved her job, came to work one day to be told she was being transferred to a new position in another building.  No notice, no seniority consideration, no discussion, nothing.  Just pack up your stuff and go to another building immediately.  She left the office in tears.  This dedicated employee submitted her retirement notice within 24 hours and was gone by the end of the week.  Another employee was on the verge of a literal nervous breakdown.   I came in one morning to find this co-worker shaking uncontrollably and saying they couldn’t take the treatment and lack of respect anymore.  All I could do was offer support and say we had their back.  This person also became a casualty of the superintendent.  However, through a successful legal endeavor, my co-worker was eventually victorious!  The public at large doesn’t hear about these things because they are under the shadow of confidentiality. 

I could go on and on with individual stories and examples.  I did what I could to alert superiors about what I saw.  Their hands appeared tied or maybe they were self-protecting.  After seeing the chaos up close and personal, I even met in 2015 with my two Region II school board members for help.  Unfortunately, I don't think I was taken seriously and was actually told I didn’t understand the whole story.  I eventually became a casualty of this administration.  Although I loved the work I did and many of my co-workers I, too, gave up and submitted my retirement papers in March 2016.  Before I left, I gave an extensive, honest exit interview to HR.  Did anyone read it or take notice?  I’ll never know.  Now I am free to fight from the outside.  No one has the power to silence me.

It’s this simple.  You just don’t treat staff this way if you want to be a successful leader.  To earn trust, you need to be trustworthy.  People will go above and beyond when they feel appreciated.  Unfortunately, I just don’t view our superintendent as trustworthy and many still don’t feel appreciated. 

Written By Donna Urban