Following the departure of junior administrator, Clark Goosen, AGHS rushed to fill the position. However, finding a replacement hasn’t been easy.
“Mr. Goosen agreed to stay until the [end of the] first semester, and then he [would] start his new job,” AGHS principal Brad Grumbles said. “But, we can’t find somebody to take the job [as junior administrator] right now without creating a waterfall effect. If somebody takes [this] job, that creates another opening, which creates another opening.”
This “waterfall effect” has left the administrators with three long-term substitutes—William Neely, Joseph Williams, and Karl Blum. However, these substitutes aren’t tasked with all of Goosen’s responsibilities.
“Their responsibilities [include] juniors, junior discipline, attendance, and English language development,” Grumbles said. “Those are their big [responsibilities, and] all the other jobs that Mr. Goosen had will be absorbed by the other administrators.”
Goosen, Williams, Neely, and other administrators use teamwork to ensure the increase of student success.
“This next semester is kind of challenging, so we’ve had [to] piecemeal,” Grumbles said. “[We work] together so we have coverage.”
Being an administrator means having a Master’s degree and an Administrators Credential, which shrinks the hiring pool.
“An administrator [position] requires a Master’s degree and an Administrative Credential, and people that fit that bill are either retired or have a job,” Grumbles. “So, it’s all retired [administrators] that are coming in.”
Neely used to work at Atascadero High School as both a teacher and an administrator.
“I got hired at Atascadero, [where] I taught biology and AP Bio for 25 years,” Neely said. “Then, [I] spent the last five years of my career as the principal of the high school.”
Neely retired before the pandemic but was called in to substitute.
“During COVID, the protocol was a 10 or 14 day [quarantine] protocol,” Neely said. “[The Atascadero Unified School District was] having problems [with] principals [getting exposed to COVID-19]. They asked me if I would substitute for principals.”
Neely’s temporary help propelled him into becoming a substitute for many administrators across different districts.
“Lucia Mar [Unified School District] contacted the Atascadero Unified [School District] a couple of years ago, and said, ‘Hey, we hear you have an admin sub up there that is willing to do work,’” Neely said. “Lucia Mar Unified contacted me, and I’ve been [substituting] at Branch Elementary, Oceano Elementary, Paulding [Middle School, and] Lopez [High School]. This is my first time here at Arroyo Grande High School.”
While Neely is experienced in substituting for administrators, this is Williams’s first time substituting.
“[I came across] the specific job [because] my daughter is friends with Mr. Grumble’s daughter, and he told me that he had an opening,” Williams said. “I used to be a principal, vice principal, and teacher in Santa Maria.”
Williams currently works at Diablo Canyon Power Plant as security.
“I currently work at Diablo Saturday through Wednesday,” Williams said. “So, I currently work here on my weekends. That’s why I only [substitute at AGHS] two days a week because I have a full-time job.”
While Williams and Neely came in during the middle of the year, Goosen communicated with them to give them and his old students the best possible experience.
“Mr. Goosen and I did a really good job communicating,” Williams said. “We have a system where we take notes on all the things that I do during Thursdays and Fridays. If there’s questions or parent phone calls, I can read the documents that we create. [It] is a pretty seamless transition because that’s not typical to have somebody job sharing.”
Neely and Williams may be temporary, but they both want to better the school.
As administrators, our #1 job is [to make] sure [students are] safe,” Williams said. “So, I always try to be out every passing period, lunch, break, [as well as] before and after school to make sure that [students] are being safe and following rules, [and] not using profanity.”
Williams is here for the rest of the year Thursdays and Fridays, while Neely is here every Monday through Wednesday until March. Blum plans to take over for Neely in March. Being a new administrator is difficult, but Williams, Neely, and Blum intend to make AGHS a better place.
