Benchmark – Adverse Situations

Benchmark – Adverse Situations

Katia Sachoute

College of Education, Grand Canyon University

EAD-536- Strategic Leadership and Management in the Principalship

Professor Tammie Patterson

October 4th, 2023

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Management and Operational Systems

Sunset Hills is a K-8 school that has a population of 800 students. The school is in

Phoenix, Arizona where the temperature outside can reach up to 98 degrees or higher. The

central air conditioning unit on the main campus building has malfunctioned and the students are

not able to complete the school day in the classroom with these types of conditions. Currently the

principal of Sunset Hills, the decision must be made on the necessary steps that will be needed to

handle this current situation. The school day is not scheduled to end until 3:45pm and it is noon,

and the students will not be able to function for the remaining hours within the classroom.

It is important that the priority is to ensure the safety and well-being of all students and

staff members that are in the main building. We need to take immediate actions to ensure that

there are no heat-related risk and prevent any possible health risk that may occur. First, we need

to determine the amount of time it may require fixing this problem and if this is an isolated issue

to the main building or other areas of the school. The students and staff should be immediately

relocated to another location of the school where the air conditioning is currently working. If this

is a temporary solution that will work for the few hours left in the school day this will be the best

alternative for now.

The additional information that is needed to make the decision is mainly the magnitude of

the outage. If this is to a specific area of the school, deciding to relocate the students and staff is

manageable. However, if this is an issue not limited to a particular wing of the school and is

affecting the entire campus different measure would have to be taken on a larger scale.
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Human, Fiscal, and Technological Resources

Communication and the organization of the staff during this situation is important to

ensure the safety of students and the consistency of response. During any type of emergency or

crisis the steps taken by the response team dictate the response of others. Establishing that clear

and open line of communication with those involved regarding the plan of action would ensure

that the same message is being delivered. If the decision is to have an early school dismissal, the

same communication will need to go out to all parents. Transportation arrangements will have to

be made. Teachers will have to use the school’s messaging app to inform parents of this

emergency and ensure that each student is picked up from school or has someone home when

dropped off early.

It would also be beneficial to investigate temporary cooling options, this could come in

the form of portable fans, or air conditioning units, or other measures that could help to assist in

lowering the temperatures in the classrooms until the repairs are made on the main unit. The

overall goal should always be attempting to find the solution that will cause the least amount of

interruption to the instructional day of our students. Considering the financial implications of the

repairs or replacement of the unit is also to be taken into consideration. This will be something

that will have to be assessed through the schools budgeting, to determining what funds are

available to be allocated to that specific need.

Safety and Welfare of Students and Staff

In the face of unexpected incidents, it is important to identify previous legal rulings that

may assist in the decision-making process when it comes to evaluating the welfare of students
Benchmark – Adverse Situations 3

and staff. As a principal it is your legal duty to care for the staff and the students that are on your

school campus daily. As addressed in the case ruling Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Co. (1928)

provided the precedence of the duty of care when it comes to officials and those that are under

their supervision. During this case Palsgraf was injured as she attempted to board the the train

due to the negligence of the guards Palsgraf sustained injury when a box of fireworks fell off the

train and hit the tracks, exploding, and striking her. This legal ruling is one to keep in mind when

dealing with a situation like this, the wrong decision can lead to injury and that can be viewed as

a lack of fulling the principal’s role.

School environments must also comply with health and safety regulations under the

Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA). This protects the employees and ensures that they

are working in healthy and safe work environments. Therefore, a location where a broken air

condition unit will cause students and staff health issues would not meet the OSHA regulations

and no one should have to be left in those conditions.

Our district policy states that we must notify them directly when, “a. not operating as

intended, b. new or used replacement parts are not available, c. system failure presents no

imminent danger or personal injury, and d. the building by law must have a cooling system.

Section R7-6-280 states that we must notify the Board immediately when we are not meeting

guidelines and if there is a critical safety issue that is preventing students from achieving

academic standards” (Arizona School Facilities Board, 2006). In Title 7 of the Education

Chapter, it states that when there is building or system failures the board will be involved by

coming to make a site visit to provided assessments and approvals to determine what decisions

will be made to fund any replacements or repairs.

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Collaboration with Faculty and Community

The stakeholders that will be involved in the decision-making process that will be

affected by the recommended solution will first start out with the district level representatives,

superintendents and those that make decisions when it comes to how this situation will be

handled. Staff, students, and the administrative team will the school level stakeholders that will

be involved in this decision-making process. Within the community, in this emergency I would

say the community leaders and the first responders if medical assistance happened to be

necessary.

Solution and Rationale

In the provided scenario being the principal of Sunset Hill, facing the challenging

situation of the air conditioning unit breaking down in the middle of a heatwave, it is important

to handle the situation quickly and keeping the welfare of staff and students at the highest

priority. There are a few solutions that have come to mind, some temporary to handle the day-to-

day logistics as we attempt to fix the problem permanently. The day that the unit breaks down

the only option would be is to relocate the affected classroom to other areas of the campus with

proper ventilation or function air conditioning. Teachers would be notified on the intercom to

check their emails and instructed via email of the school map and the resigned location until

further notice. During this transition we would have to make sure that each location had adequate

seating, and the necessary resources to continue with instruction.

Once the relocation has been implemented, this may be in place for the first few days or

so, hoping that the AC malfunction is not the entire campus. We would then execute the second
Benchmark – Adverse Situations 5

temporary solution, which would be to contact a local rental company and see if we can inquire

about portable units or fans and is that something that could be delivered within the hour. This

would have to be arranged for immediate delivery and installation. We would instruct our

maintenance staff to monitor the classroom temperatures through the day during this temporary

solution. Once the classroom remained at the appropriate temperatures for a day or so, we would

move the staff and students back into the rooms as we worked with the district towards the

approval process of the replacement or repair of the unit.

As a school we would communicate the plan of action to our distinct officials, parents,

staff, and students through all platforms of communication that we have. It is important that they

have a timeframe of how long this process might take to make the repairs. Through transparency

and communication, the implementation of the solutions will hopefully allow our staff and

students to return to a healthy and safe learning environment in a timely manner.

The proposed solutions aim to prioritize the welfare and safety of students and staff while

complying with relevant laws, rights, and policies and involves appropriate stakeholders. We

ensure that we are keeping the needs of our students and staff at the highest level. We are

providing them with an alternative location to continue instruction to prevent any additional lost

time outside of the classroom. The installation of the temporary AC units and fans reflects the

proactive approach that we have towards their well-being and safety. Also, keeping stakeholders

involved in the communication plan creates the culture of transparency and trust which aligns

with our overall vision.

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References

Arizona School Boards Association. (2018). Policy Manual and Administrative Regulations.

Agua Fria Union High School District No. 216. Accessed from

https://policy.azsba.org/asba/browse/allmanuals/aguafria/root Retrieved on October 2nd, 2023.

Arizona School Facilities Board. (2006). TITLE 7. EDUCATION CHAPTER 6. SCHOOL

FACILITIES BOARD. Rules and Policies. Accessed from

https://www.azed.gov/sites/default/files/2017/02/SFB_Rules%2006.pdf?

id=5893a64d1130c0097c4e62a1. Retrieved on October 2nd, 2023.

Arizona State Legislature. (2022). Title 15 Education. Retrieved from

https://www.azleg.gov/arsDetail/?title=15. Accessed on October 2nd, 2023

FindLaw. (n.d.) Palsgraf v. Long Island Railroad Case Summary.

https://www.findlaw.com/legal/law-students/surviving-law-school/palsgraf-v--long-island-

railroad-case-summary.html