School leadership is synonymous with challenge. However, some school
leaders face true crises - situations threatening the continuing
existence of their school. Leading Schools During Crisis analyzes
leadership and behaviors of principals in these extraordinary
circumstances. A simultaneously scholarly and practice-oriented book,
Leading Schools During Crisis proposes the first school-specific model
of defining and analyzing crises. Through authentic case studies,
Leading Schools During Crisis offers a detailed theoretical and
practical analysis of each crisis and the lessons from it for all school
leaders. Highlights of the twelve case studies include: P.S. 234,
Manhattan. At nine a.m. on September 11, 2001, the thirty-seven teachers
and 650 elementary students of P.S. 234 were twelve hundred feet from
Ground Zero. Principal Anna Switzer states, [r]ight when the second
plane crashed--that's when we knew that it wasn't an accident. George
Washington Carver H.S., New Orleans, Louisiana. Principal Vanessa Eugene
believed Katrina would be another chapter in New Orleans' long history
of near-miss hurricanes. Carver's campus was soon under ten feet of
water. Sobrante Park E.S., Oakland, California. Like many schools,
Sobrante Park only slowly realized the paradigm shift associated with
the No Child Left Behind Act--until the fifth year of failing to make
Adequate Yearly Progress. What do you do when all the data is bad? asked
Principal Marco Franco. Platte Canyon H.S, Bailey, Colorado. Principal
Brian Krause was approached by a frantic student who reported:
'[T]here's a guy in the English classroom with a gun' . . . . I
remember thinking, okay, he said guy. He didn't say student or kid or
Johnny. Other case studies include the challenges inherent in starting
charter schools, discovery of systemic and deliberate grade fraud,
rezoning of 95 percent of a elementary school's student population, and
leading a school populated by changing--and often contentious--re
