Episode 104: The Emotional Price Tag Of An Ongoing Lawsuit
The Private School Leader Podcast
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Show Notes
A 2022 study by the National Center for Education Statistics found that nearly 40% of private schools reported facing some form of legal action in the past five years.
Of all lawsuits filed against schools, 90% of them are settled out of court. That means that it no longer matters whether or not the person filing the lawsuit has enough evidence to “win”. What matters is if they can find an attorney that will take the case.
These two statistics mean that more private school leaders are dealing with more lawsuits than ever before. Litigation is time consuming, stressful and can become very overwhelming very quickly.
How are you supposed to run your school and deal with a lawsuit? On today’s episode of The Private School Leader Podcast, we are going to discuss 7 strategies to help you navigate The Emotional Price Tag Of An Ongoing Lawsuit.
Thank you for taking me along with you when you are walking the dog, driving to school or running errands. I appreciate you and what you are doing for the lucky kids and teachers at your school.
Thanks so much for listening and thanks for making a difference!
Mark Minkus
I’ve created a FREE RESOURCE for you called “The Top 6 Ways To Protect Your School From a Lawsuit”. This is a 10 page pdf that will help you to keep your staff and students safe and help keep your school out of court. Litigation is expensive, time consuming and extremely stressful. This common sense guide will help you to be more intentional and proactive when it comes to protecting your school. You can grab “The Top 6 Ways To Protect Your School From a Lawsuit” at www.theprivateschoolleader.com/lawsuit. Thanks!
If you have gotten value from listening to the podcast, I would love to work with you 1-on-1.
I help my clients overcome imposter syndrome, set boundaries between work and home and how to actually get important things done instead of having your day ruled by the tyranny of the urgent. Sounds impossible right? It’s not. I can teach you how to make it possible.
I would love to be your coach and I have a few spots open. Go to www.theprivateschoolleader.com/coaching to learn more about working with me 1-on-1.
Being a private school leader is a VERY difficult job. You have to make hundreds of decisions every day, and you have to keep everyone safe, increase enrollment, keep the parents happy, keep the board happy, motivate the teachers, deal with student discipline, beat last year’s test scores and come in under budget.
That can lead to you feeling tired, discouraged and stressed out. I’ve been there. That’s why I created THRIVE Academy just for you. THRIVE Academy is a digital course that will help you get out of survival mode and get back to feeling energized at school. To learn more, go to www.theprivateschoolleader.com/thrive
I want to give you a FREE gift called 7 Strategies To Effectively Deal With Difficult Teachers. Sometimes we need some courage and confidence to deal with difficult teachers. What you need is a plan! This guide is a step by step plan that you can use to help one of your difficult teachers improve their performance and improve their attitude. Go to theprivateschoolleader.com/difficult to grab this free guide!
Please check out all of the free resources on my website that can help you serve and lead your school community. There are "Plug & Play PD's" (45 minute webinars with guided notes) as well as Top 10 Lists of Leadership Books, Productivity Books and TED Talks over at www.theprivateschoolleader.com/resources. You can grab the show notes for today's episode at www.theprivateschoolleader.com/episode104
I want to say thank you for listening to the podcast by giving you a FREE GIFT. It is called The 7 Steps To Having A Successful Meeting With An Upset Parent. This guide is an 11 page pdf that gives you a step by step plan to have better meetings with the parents at your school. Every good coach has a game plan. Every good teacher has a lesson plan. Too many private school leaders don’t have a plan when they sit down to meet with an upset parent. Well, now you have a PLAN! You can grab this FREE GUIDE at www.theprivateschoolleader.com/meeting
I’ve created a free resource for you called “The 6 Things That Every Private School Teacher Wants From Their Leader”. This guide is a 6 page pdf that will be a game changer for you. I guarantee you that if you do these 6 things, the teachers at your school will be happy to follow you. You can pick up your free guide by going to www.theprivateschoolleader.com/guide
I want to give you a gift to say “thank you” for listening to the podcast. I have created a FREE guide for you called “5 Strategies To Help You Work With Difficult Parents”. We know that working with parents is part of the job and most of our parents are great, but some of them can be very demanding and emotional and difficult. This guide will give you the tools that you need to build better relationships and have better meetings with the difficult parents at your school. Go to www.theprivateschoolleader.com/parents to grab the guide. Thank you again for listening every week!
I am excited to share a brand new resource with you. It is a 9 page pdf called: “How To Use Verbal Judo To Have Better Conversations With The Parents At Your School” What is “Verbal Judo”? "Verbal Judo" is a communication strategy that focuses on using words effectively to de-escalate conflict, resolve disputes, and achieve positive outcomes in various interpersonal interactions, particularly in high-pressure situations.
George Thompson and Jerry Jenkins wrote a book called Verbal Judo: The Gentle Art Of Persuasion. So, I have taken several important strategies from the book and applied them to your life as a private school leader. Grab your free copy of “How To Use Verbal Judo To Have Better Conversations With The Parents At Your School” at www.theprivateschoolleader.com/judo
TRANSCRIPT:
Transcript:
Welcome to the private school Leader podcast, where private school leaders learn how to thrive and not just survive as they serve and lead their schools. I strongly believe that it is possible • • to have a long and happy and fulfilling career as a private school leader. And my passion is to help you figure out exactly how to do just that right here on the private school leader podcast. And I'm your host, Mark Minkus. • • • So, it was October of 1999, • • • and it was just a, uh, normal day at my school. • • • And the kids were outside playing on the playground. • • • And there was a second grader, and he was running. • • And he tripped over • • one of those six by six • • • • • • • pieces, um, • of, um, treated lumber that holds the mulch into place on a playground. • • • • He was running. He tripped over that. He stumbled forward • • • • and kind of twisted as he fell, and • • • • the back • • side of him • • hit, um, • • the metal sliding board. • • • And, um, he was hurt pretty bad. He was in pain. • • And • • • what followed • • • was four years • • of interviews • • • and depositions • and court dates • • and documentation and stress • • • and emotional pain and exhaustion. • • • • Because when that little second grader fell • • and hit that • • metal slide, he ruptured his spleen. • • • • And • • • • • like most cases, • • • it was eventually settled out of court • • about four years later. • • • But there was a significant emotional price tag • for what happened that day in October of 1999. • • • And, you know, many of the clients that I coached, many of them, I would say probably close to half of my coaching clients, have • • experienced the exhaustion and burnout and constant stress that goes along • • with an ongoing lawsuit. • • • • And in 2022, there was a study done by the National center for Education Statistics, and they found that nearly 40% of private schools have reported facing some sort of legal action in the past five years. • • • That's a lot. • • • • • So how can you do everything that needs to be done to fight an accusation in court and still run your school and still be there for your family and still try to take care of your physical health and your mental health? • • • • • Well, the answer is that it's very, very difficult. And on today's episode of the Private School Leader podcast, we are going to discuss • the emotional price tag of an ongoing lawsuit. • • And I'm going to give you seven strategies to help you navigate this difficult season • in your school, in your career, • and also give you some resources that may actually help keep you out of court. • • • • And one of those resources is actually • • a, ah, ten page PDF that's called the top six ways to protect your school from a lawsuit. • • And this PDF can help you to keep your staff and students safe and help keep your school out of court, because as we've just been discussing litigation. It's expensive, it's time consuming, and it's so stressful. • • • But this common sense guide can help you to be more intentional and proactive when it comes to protecting your school. And, of course, there's never a guarantee • that you won't • • get sued, that you won't have to deal with an ongoing lawsuit. But there