I didn't learn pugilism in superintendent school.

As I watched my high school principal sprint from his office with an enraged parent closing in at a full gallop, I had a hunch this was not going to be an ordinary day at least not one you prepare for in superintendent school.

Only after the dust settled did I appreciate the concept of ordinary. As the unexpected becomes the expected, I wonder whether superintendents can be truly prepared for everything they need to know before they reach the superintendency. Is experience more valuable than graduate program preparation?

Just the Facts

Eldred Central Schools is a small (810 students), land rich and income poor rural district about 100 miles northwest of New York City. The student population is homogenous (97 percent white). Discipline is no more an issue than anywhere else.

On Dec. 1, 2004, the high school principal issued an out-of-school suspension to a student for several days for making a prank 911 call. Her father came in to discuss the incident and the penalty with the principal. Shortly after the meeting started, the principal's secretary asked me to join them.

The conference was getting loud. Before I could walk the short distance down the hall, I witnessed the principal dash out of his office yelling for help. The father was right behind, so close he was able to shove the principal into a wall.

Once I caught up, I inserted myself between the parent and the principal. This was no small undertaking--literally. I have what some might say is a large physical presence. I also am reasonably athletic, having qualified for the final trials in Greco-Roman wrestling for the 1988 U.S. Olympic team. I was a two-time state weightlifting champion and hold a black belt in Tang Soo Do.

However, in physical situations, I usually can calm things down verbally through de-escalation techniques that I have learned as an athlete and in my experiences as a school administrator. In this situation I thought my stature as the superintendent, if not my hefty presence, would begin that de-escalation process. Instead the parent struck me in the face twice.

Rather than resort to force, several teachers and I contained the parent in the building without physical contact. The parent was escorted out of the building and arrested. He was charged with assaulting a school official, which in New York is a felony equivalent to striking a police officer. The parent was sentenced to six months in jail with five years of probation.

The support I received from my colleagues and my state association, the New York State Council of School Superintendents, was incredible. NYSCOSS prodded the district attorney to address the incident with the utmost gravity and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. He did.

Alternative Preparation

Measures to maintain control in a hostile situation need to be a point of focus of administrator training. This type of crisis can happen in any school building. The training might include a review of best practices to build safety systems so volatile incidents defuse quickly.

The training also might address improvements to school safety plans relative to conducting drills that mimic a variety of crises so that building teams are practiced and ready to act.

School districts might consider amending policy to address violent outbursts on school property. When it comes to actions toward their children, parents may not be able to hold their emotions in check. A parent may redirect his or her anger with a child's actions at the school official.

On a broader level, I continue to reflect on this incident in the context of my preparation to become a school leader. To resolve the hostile episode, I drew less on administrative courses I had taken in my graduate work and more from the experiences on the road to the superintendency. Instinctively knowing the appropriate tone of response to avoid escalation is not a skill I learned in "Incensed Parent 101." Our school attorney told me he was impressed I did not lose control or resort to my combat training in the martial arts to subdue the out-of-control parent.

This does not diminish the value of graduate-level coursework. But formal schooling for superintendents must be better focused. Current changes to school leadership certification criteria, such as those now taking place in New York state, miss this. Instead of placing more emphasis on real-world experiences and the leadership skills of the individual, the focal points are mandatory assessments and a minimum internship.

Unexpected and potentially dangerous situations that arise in schools are perhaps the most challenging and least-addressed aspects of classroom instruction in graduate degree programs or in the one-size-fits-all assessments. Placing too much emphasis on the latter and failing to offer alternative means of demonstrating an ability to resolve an issue do little to ensure the preparedness of the next generation of school leaders.

Our school district has learned a lot from this incident and we are stronger for it. I am too, and my learning continues. Now policymakers should consider a similar lesson.

Ivan Katz is the superintendent of the Eldred Central Schools, P.O. Box 249, Eldred, NY 12732. E-mail: [e-mail]. The author acknowledges the help of Douglas Gerhardt, legislative counsel for the New York State Council of School Superintendents, for his assistance in preparing this column.