Ethical Educator
Personal Issues, Professional Impact
School Administrator, June 2022


Scenario: A Title 1 high school with about 2,000 students employs a single social worker, who is stretched thin. For two years, teachers have referred students to him for a wide range of issues, such as suicide ideation, pregnancies and teen conflicts, but rarely hear back. After being tenured in his third year on the job, he becomes morbidly obese due to personal issues – to the point of having difficulty walking the length of the building. He seldom follows through on issues while complaining constantly about his workload. With the unlikelihood of being able to find a long-term or short-term replacement, what should the administration do?

Louis Wool:

There are many distractions in this scenario, but the critical statement is that the social worker seldom follows through on issues. His obesity and complaints about workload are factors. However, the most relevant, time-sensitive issue is that a social worker charged with supporting students' mental health is not performing his job effectively, if at all. 

As with any employee, a district has two responsibilities to support and supervise the individual and to ensure that students are receiving the necessary education or, in this case, mental health support to ensure their emotional well-being. The district must adhere to all rights under his contract and the law, but they should immediately begin a disciplinary action and assign him to home. 

It is the moral responsibility of the administration to ensure students receive this vital service. It is immoral to leave the social worker in place and potentially endangers students' lives. If the district is unable to find a social worker replacement, they should consider every option to find mental health support, including outside agencies, the use of psychologists and school counselors to provide the best support available until this matter is resolved.

Chris Nicastro:

There are two issues here to address. First, for the welfare of the social worker, his principal should reach out to offer support for whatever personal issues he's struggling with and refer him to the employee assistance program if one exists. The principal also might offer some accommodation for the social worker's physical limitations.  

A conversation with the social worker would demonstrate the principal's concern and establish a base line for positive action later. During the conversation, the principal should address the lack of feedback to referring staff, discuss how the social worker might improve and ask what assistance the principal can provide. Regular followup to monitor both his health and his performance would be important. If the employee refuses to seek help and his performance does not improve, further disciplinary action should be taken.

While administrators may be hesitant to address performance issues—especially in hard-to-fill positions—failure to do so sends a very bad message to other staff members. It is the administration's job to establish and maintain high performance standards for all staff members. Students deserve nothing less and students in a Title I school need it the most.  

MaryEllen Elia:

There are several circumstances that are occurring here that are bigger issues for the leadership to address. The district should do an assessment of the social worker demands in this high-need high school and establish a plan to work with referred students and provide their teachers the appropriate feedback so that everyone can be supportive of the students. That may mean addressing student needs with a team approach including guidance, nursing services and outside agencies from the community so that someone is appropriately working with the students—not just the social worker.

Another issue that is equally important is that these guidelines for followup with students and teachers occur so there can be an appropriate evaluation of the effectiveness of the social worker. It is clear this individual was not able to effectively handle the workload during his first two years but he still was granted tenure. Now, as a tenured employee, it is much more difficult to address the non-performance issues. However, that is exactly what needs to be done.  

Having a staff member who is not fulfilling his job responsibilities is not good for the organization and actually undermines the school culture. At this point, the administration should address the performance of the social worker and lay out clear expectations for the employee. If necessary, the arduous task of documenting poor performance should begin. In the meantime, students need to be supported, so a plan must be developed to do just that. Community resources may be a good route to bring additional resources into the school. Additionally, area colleges and/or universities may be willing to place interns in schools in need, while giving graduate students more experience. Ultimately, students’ needs must be addressed and not ignored.

Sheldon Berman:

The personal difficulties evident in the social worker’s behavior and attitude should prompt human resources to engage him in a candid conversation about his job satisfaction and his personal mental health. He may require counseling or therapy support from the district’s employee assistance program to help him address his personal issues that have bled into his professional conduct and attitude. If he isn’t able to face and address his own problems, he is unlikely to be of assistance to the students who need his support. A medical leave may be appropriate in the interim, even though finding a short-term replacement is challenging.

Staffing a large high school whose student body faces economic and other significant challenges with only one social worker can produce an overwhelming caseload. His failure to close the communication loop with teachers should have been an early signal to his supervisor that he needed assistance. His current complaints about workload are clear signs that he has reached the limits of his capability to manage the level and depth of issues confronting him on a daily basis. As a solo practitioner in a building, all the cases fall on his shoulders and, as someone new to the school environment, there is no one to learn from or collaborate with to better address these needs. He might benefit from an opportunity to shadow a willing social worker or two at nearby high schools to see how they fulfill their roles and keep from becoming personally overwhelmed.

Given that he only has been in the position for several years, he may be lacking the supervisory support or mentoring that could counsel him on how to prioritize cases, manage his time, and achieve structure and balance in his workload. It would be beneficial for the district to prioritize the adding of social work positions, although financial constraints and limited availability of candidates may make that impossible. In such a situation, quality mentoring, supervision and support are essential, and the district may have neglected to provide that assistance. Without adequate mentoring and supervision, it is difficult to know if his performance issues have led to the personal difficulties or the reverse. 

In the end, his personal issues combined with his lack of job satisfaction may necessitate that he move to another position either in or outside the district. However, administration should first focus on providing him with counseling and supervision to give him the best chance of changing course personally and enabling him to effectively manage the demands of his position. 
 
 
The Ethical Educator panel consists of Sheldon Berman, AASA lead superintendent, Redmond, Ore.; MaryEllen Elia, senior fellow, International Center for Leadership in Education and retired superintendent; Chris Lee Nicastro, former Missouri commissioner of education and president, Lee Consulting Group, St. Louis, Mo.; and Louis N. Wool, superintendent, Harrison, N.Y.