Duties of a School Principal

Are you interested in being a school principal?  This article can help you by outlining:

• The duties of a school principal
• The average salary of a school principal
• The challenges of being a new school principal
• The qualities of a good school principal

Being a school principal is certainly not an easy job where you can kick back and collect your paycheck each month.  On average, principals work more hours than classroom teachers.  And their responsibility and stress level can be high as a result of frequent meetings with disgruntled parents, unruly children, and budget-conscience district leaders.  In many ways, being a principal is comparable to being the CEO of a small company.

After-school Event Attendance

Principals of all school levels – elementary through high school – have community and event responsibilities outside of regular school hours.  However, high school principals tend to have more of these commitments due to sports and other extracurricular activities that don’t exist with younger age groups.

High school principals are usually expected to be at most big varsity sporting events – in part to show their support but primarily to ensure a safe and orderly event.  Boys basketball and football are mandatory, especially if it’s against a rival team where tensions run high.  Some of the evening is spent in the parking lot defusing potential fights and looking for underage drinking.  Quite often, parents at these types of games can be as disruptive as the kids.

Other activities that often require a principal’s attendance include PTA meetings, theatre performances, orchestra, band and chorus concerts, student art exhibits, graduation ceremonies and academic events such as spelling bees, back-to-school nights, honor society inductions and science fairs.

School Budget and Human Resources

Most people don’t realize that one of the duties of a school principal is to control the budget of the school.  They are responsible for making sure the funds allotted by the district are spent correctly and not exceeded.  Principals report directly to the executive level at the district in regards to any and all budget matters.

Additionally, school principals are in control of the hiring and firing of certified and classified employees.  This includes narrowing down a resume pool, the interviewing process, and finally contacting human resources to generate an offer letter.  Once an employee has been hired the principal is required to provide written evaluations to that person on a regular basis.

Student Discipline

Discipline is another large part of a principal’s duties.  At the high school level there is often a “Dean of Discipline” or a group of assistant principals who rotate through and help the principal with disciplinary matters.  At the middle school level, there may be an assistant principal who helps with discipline, but the principal is still involved.  At the elementary level, having an assistant principal is often an exception to the rule so principals will handle most if not all of the discipline.  With all of the other responsibilities within an elementary school this can be a heavy burden and can take up much of your time.

Working with Parents

Parents come in all shapes and sizes.  Some are very hands-off with their children to the point that they require incentives such as raffles to get them to attend even the most important school events.  Others are extremely involved and want to be part of every decision regarding their child.  Some have tempers and will yell and curse and even threaten violence.  Others will be calm, polite and reasonable.  In all cases, principals need to apply diplomacy and care to each parent situation in order to best meet the educational, social and safety needs of the child.

Salary of a School Principal

Principal salaries depends on the school level (e.g. elementary, middle, high), years of service and educational credits.  In general, you can expect a principal starting salary to be approximately double that of the starting salary for a teacher, which offers a compelling reason to make the shift from teaching to administration.

Salaries can vary widely between states.  Below are some sample salaries for California, Florida, Texas and New York to give you an idea of the variation.

Note:  Information was gathered as of September 2010 and numbers were rounded.  Assumes a Master’s Degree.  Ranges within a given state depend on the school district as well as the level (high school, middle school, or elementary school).  We recommend that you contact a specific school district to get a precise salary schedule for a principal position.

Challenges for New Principals

New principals should realize that they will typically be placed in a challenging school.  It may be in a low socio-economic area and/or have a poor academic record.  New principals not only have to navigate a new position with more responsibilities, but also face some tough day to day school challenges.  Being a school administrator is stressful, demanding, and requires many different levels of diplomacy and patience.  With that said, it can be very rewarding to see students succeed and watch a community come together around a school.

Qualities of Good School Principals

Based on the aforementioned duties, school principals need to have the following characteristics:

• Enjoys working with children and the community
• Has business smarts to effectively control the budget and deal with human resource duties such as hiring and firing
• Has a great deal of patience to effectively work with upset parents and students
• Can effectively discipline students
• Has a flexible schedule to accomodate student events outside of normal school hours

If a school principal’s job still interests you, we recommend that you read the article How to Become a School Principal to learn what education and training you will need to be eligible to apply for principal jobs.  Or, go straight to browsing our list of online Master’s degrees in Educational Leadership and Administration.