Positive work year practices promote wellness and rejuvenation
Encouraging and promoting not working is an important step a district can take to support the social , emotional and mental health of its administrative leadership .
18 Leadership
A school or district administrator ’ s job is a jealous lover – it constantly craves more of our energy ; it relentlessly demands our thoughts , and whether we like it or not , there always seems to be more to do to support students and staff .
Keeping perspective is always difficult , and when we are out of kilter , it ’ s particularly difficult to make wise decisions . We need to be at our best to do our best for the students , families and staff we serve .
Most districts in the state have job descriptions that set specific expectations around the number of days an administrator works and then , after subtracting holidays , derive the number of vacation days the employee receives . This practice has the potential to conflict with other efforts one might devise to promote healthy work / life balances among district leaders because in this model people have an incentive to “ store ” days in exchange for money at retirement .
Instead , we believe that having a specific number of work and non-work days for each position and no accrued vacation – what is known as a positive work year – is far superior for multiple reasons , and in no small part because it promotes the wellness of the district ’ s leadership team in a way that sets the example for others .
Loving the work we do is a good thing , but , like every relationship , our love affair with our work must be healthy . While there ’ s no panacea for the challenge of worklife balance , we believe that sometimes encouraging and promoting not working is an important step a district can take to support the social , emotional and mental health of its administrative leadership .
We are convinced that positive work year calendars promote employee health and are sound personnel management practice .
The value of vacations in creating a healthy work-life balance
We educational leaders , like everyone else , need recharging and rejuvenating . Our positions entail punishing hours , including multiple night meetings and weekend commitments . The school year rushes by . Others look to us for strength and a giving spirit no matter the circumstances . Every parent group and school activity “ expects ” to see administrators at their meeting , activity or contest .
We often feel that the highest compliment we can hear is “ she ’ s everywhere ” or
By Kevin Skelly and Kirk Black
Positive work year
practices promote
wellness and rejuvenation
Encouraging and
promoting not working
is an important
step a district can
take to support the
social, emotional
and mental health
of its administrative
leadership.
18
Leadership
A school or district adminis-
trator’s job is a jealous lover – it constantly
craves more of our energy; it relentlessly de-
mands our thoughts, and whether we like it
or not, there always seems to be more to do
to support students and staff.
Keeping perspective is always difficult,
and when we are out of kilter, it’s particu-
larly difficult to make wise decisions. We
need to be at our best to do our best for the
students, families and staff we serve.
Most districts in the state have job de-
scriptions that set specific expectations
around the number of days an administrator
works and then, after subtracting holidays,
derive the number of vacation days the em-
ployee receives. This practice has the poten-
tial to conflict with other efforts one might
devise to promote healthy work/life bal-
ances among district leaders because in this
model people have an incentive to “store”
days in exchange for money at retirement.
Instead, we believe that having a specific
number of work and non-work days for each
position and no accrued vacation – what is
known as a positive work year – is far su-
perior for multiple reasons, and in no small
part because it promotes the wellness of the
district’s leadership team in a way that sets
the example for others.
Loving the work we do is a good thing,
but, like every relationship, our love af-
fair with our work must be healthy. While
there’s no panacea for the challenge of work-
life balance, we believe that sometimes en-
couraging and promoting not working is an
important step a district can take to support
the social, emotional and mental health of
its administrative leadership.
We are convinced that positive work year
calendars promote employee health and are
sound personnel management practice.
The value of vacations in creating a
healthy work-life balance
We educational leaders, like everyone else,
need recharging and rejuvenating. Our posi-
tions entail punishing hours, including mul-
tiple night meetings and weekend commit-
ments. The school year rushes by. Other ����\��܈��[��[�H�]�[���\�]��X]\��H�\��[\�[��\ˈ]�\�H\�[�ܛ�\[������X�]�]H8�'^X���'H��YHYZ[�\��]ܜ]Z\�YY][��X�]�]H܈�\����Hٝ[��Y[]HY�\���\KB�Y[��H�[�X\�\�8�'�x�&\�]�\�]�\�x�'H܂��H�]�[���[H[��\���X�