I Told a Superintendent to Mind His Own Business
This story is one of the wildest moments from the five chaotic months I spent at a school that damn near broke me. That place was insane — and believe me, there will be more stories from there. But today’s blog is about a day I stood my ground in the face of one of the Catholic board’s loudest, most arrogant blowhards: a superintendent who didn’t know when to keep his mouth shut.
Let me set the scene.
I had supplied at this school before and already knew what I was walking into. One of the students I worked with was a grade 5 boy with autism who was extremely violent and self-injurious. When he got overwhelmed, he’d lash out — hair-pulling, punching, and sometimes he’d slam his head into the floor or wall. Watching that is something that sticks with you. It’s not something you get used to, and it's certainly not something you ignore — no matter what you’re told. And yes, I was told to just let him do it. Let that sink in.
I’ll write more about this student in a future blog, because he deserves a proper story — but this incident is about what happened one day when I was walking him to the quiet room and all hell broke loose.
Recess was about to start, and I knew the hallways would flood with noise and chaos. I wanted to wait, but my student had other plans and took off. Halfway down the hall, the bell rang and the other kids came pouring out. It was too much for him. He dropped to the floor, started smashing his head, then jumped up swinging and grabbing at kids. I knew I had to act — not just for his safety, but for every student in that hallway.
I used a board-approved hold, one I was trained to use, to get control of the situation. Out of nowhere, some guy in a suit started yelling at me to stop. I didn’t know who he was, didn’t care either — I was doing my job. I ignored him and kept calming the student. He wouldn’t let up. So finally, I turned to him and said:
“Mind your own business.”
That didn’t go over well. He shouted, “Do you know who I am?”
I said, “At this moment, I don’t care who you are. Mind your own business.”
He stormed off, obviously rattled, and I assumed he went straight to the SERT and principal to complain. I got my student calm and into the quiet room, and about 15 minutes later, two EAs came to tell me I was wanted in the SERT’s office. Great. Just want to point out that when I was given breaks 2 EAs would come to cover me all the time. Let that sink in, I worked alone with this student but when I was relieved for a break 2 EAs would take over.
When I walked in, it was the full circus: SERT, principal, the angry suit (now confirmed to be a superintendent), and two other board people I didn’t recognize. It was a full-on ambush.
He lit into me, going on a five-minute rant about how disrespectful I was. All that classic power-tripping nonsense these Catholic board higher-ups love to throw around.
I didn’t back down.
I calmly told him I was doing my job the best I knew how, using the training provided by the very board he works for. I told him he was the one being disrespectful by interfering while I was trying to keep a student and an entire hallway safe. I told him he owed me an apology.
He lost it. Started yelling at me again.
I just smiled.
I could see how used to getting his way he was — and how little he liked being challenged. But I wasn’t about to be bullied into silence, and surprisingly, the SERT backed me up. That shifted the whole tone. The principal tried to demand that I apologize, and I said no. He needed to apologize. And again, the SERT agreed with me.
It was dead silent after that.
Suddenly the two people demanding my apology didn’t have much to say. I told them flat-out: if they were thinking of disciplining me for this, I’d push back harder than they were ready for — because this super was way out of line, and I could prove it.
And guess what? Nothing happened. No discipline. No punishment. I kept working with that student for a few more months — until the next time that school screwed with me. But that’s a story for another time.
What I want every EA reading this to remember is: Never back down.
You are the front line. You deal with the worst of the worst and the hardest of the hard, and you do it for next to nothing. You do it because you care. That means you also have to protect yourself and your integrity. Don’t let these board suits walk all over you just because they think their title means they’re better than you.
I don’t care if you’re a principal, a superintendent, or the Pope himself — if you talk down to me while I’m protecting a student, I’m going to say something. And you should too.
Hold the line, EAs. You’ve got more power than you think.
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