[note: I was working on this blog post on
6/3/2020 when the Honolulu Police Department came to my apartment building to
serve me a Temporary Restraining Order (T.R.O.) from Natalie Lum. After that, I stopped working on this blog
post. T.R.O. has since been withdrawn. This post doesn't threaten any violence, it's just a written expression of disagreement ]
2 weeks ago, I went public about why Natalie Lum
(aka Miss Lum), the head librarian at Kalakaua Middle School is a repulsive and
problematic person to deal with
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2020/05/im-done-with-miss-lum-repulsive-head.html
It is a long blog post, which mentions the
following
- her horrible people skills
- her racist comments about Micronesians, which got
reported to school administration and the DOE's Office of Civil Rights
- her lack of clarity, and her horrid response when I
mentioned her lack of clarity
- her over-reaction when I mentioned that I wasn't given
information regarding new procedures moving forward in response to the
coronavirus crisis
I published the blog post very early on May 20,
and I mean early, nearly 1am early.
In the daytime that same day, I went to the
campus as part of the staff sign-out procedures for the school year. The staff
members had assigned days to clean out their stuff so that the custodial staff
can properly clean out everything in response to the coronavirus crisis.
My actual assigned day was the day before (May
19) but I wasn't able to finish before it was time to lock up. Miss Lum
wasn't there that day. But at night, Miss Lum wrote an angry response to my
email (that I sent days earlier). I detailed that issue on my previous
blog post.
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2020/05/im-done-with-miss-lum-repulsive-head.html
May 20, after posting my blog post, I was back
on campus to continue clearing some student artwork from the library (under
admin orders to return items to students). I also did my final cleanups, and I
made this video speech for YouTube while I was still in the library!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvFnZ3eITR0
In that video, I mentioned the blog post, saying
that either Miss Lum leaves or I leave, and I gave my reasons including
- Miss Lum's racist comments about Micronesians
- her unclear instructions and her reactions to my
reaction to her unclear instruction
Then I mentioned I will take what will likely be
my last walk around the library.
Then I went to the office so that one of the
Vice-Principals (this school has 5 VP's this year) can sign off on my papers.
That VP wasn't the one that supervises library staff, so I explained nothing to
her about my situation because I already explained my situation to the other VP
that is in charge of library staff. I voluntarily turned in my keys
saying "I might not be back next year".
The next morning (May 21), the staff had a
teleconference, where we had updates, as well as time for staff to share
whatever they want about coping with the coronavirus lockdown. That day was for
the staff whose last names start with the last few letters of the
alphabet. So being that my last name starts with W, it was my turn. I
stated the following
- the lockdown felt like a vacation, which I didn't have
last year because I'm a 12-month employee who works when students
& teachers were on break.
- I had time to re-organize my stuff at home
- I had time for hobbies like electronic music, blogs and
videos.
- I declared I had a new blog post and YouTube and that
it was the realest stuff I ever wrote
- Lastly, I said I probably will not be coming back next
year
The staff members were in shock about the last
part, and some said their farewell wishes in the chat!
A few hours later, I noticed my blog post and
YouTube video had greatly increased views.
My decision to stay or go relied on whether Miss
Lum stays or go.
The school year officially ended on May
29. 12-month employees were expected back on the jobsite on June 1.
Decisions, decisions.
I wasn't willing to wait any longer to make a
decision. I'm DONE, I'm OUT!
So as of June 1, I am a former library
assistant of the school.
On May 30, I filmed my 2nd video on this issue,
which you can view at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tlasqk4VHEE
It is a much longer video than the 1st one, I
explained more about the situation.
====================
Now, for this part of the blog post, I will more
about why Miss Lum is poison to the work environment, and the school in
general.
The juiciest details were explained in my
previous blog post
https://pablowegesend.blogspot.com/2020/05/im-done-with-miss-lum-repulsive-head.html
But there's more details that I didn't mention
in that blog post!
After my initial meetings with the VP that is in
charge of the library staff about Miss Lum's racist comments about
Micronesians, and her rude persona in general, I did share a Google Doc with
the VP.
Here are the contents of the Google Doc
Note: This documents communication with Miss
Natalie Lum after 9/11/2019 (when I had the meeting with Vice-Principal
Randiann Porras-Tang)
9/12/2019
- Miss Lum was out today. She sent a text
claiming that easy & genre labels are missing from the new books on
small carts. They already on there, we just didn’t talk about it the day
before. I shared a photo of the completed labels, Lum ask “why are the
easy labels not consistently placed?”, though the books with easy labels that
existed on the shelves before I was hired were not consistently placed. I
decided to put the easy labels on the same place.
9/13/2019
- We had 4 classes in the library at the
same time.. Ames & Nishioka were here due to power outage in the
portables. Santos & Toynton were here for scheduled class visits where
they can borrow books at the end of the period. It was decided that we would do
circulation in an assembly line (one staff member scan, the other one stamp
& desensitize). Miss Lum was mad that I didn’t slide the book directly
to here. I then said “Sheeze” (an expression some people make when the other
person over-reacts). Miss Lum has not apologized for her rudeness.
In other words, Miss Lum lacks basic people
skills. She has a lack of chill! More importantly, Miss Lum apologizes for
NOTHING!
9/19-2019
- This
morning, Miss Lum noted flaws on the protective covers that I placed on the
books. She then mentioned that some boxes will need to be discarded. Just
when I was about to place boxes on the carts, she then said “you need to finish
those library books, you need to learn how to prioritize.” I told her “you come
across as very rude”. She replied that “I’m just saying what we’ll have to do.”
On that statement "you need to learn how to
prioritize"
That right there shows a lack of people skills! That right there shows a
lack of clarity!
If you're a leader and you think your assistants should "learn how to
prioritize", don't you think you as a leader should explain clearly how to
prioritize?
Phrases like "you need to learn how to prioritize" mean 100%
pure nothing (besides the fact that person who says it lacks basic
people skills) if you have no clear explanation on what that means.
As I mentioned that situation to the VP, the VP then ordered Miss Lum to make a
form listing how to prioritize tasks.
In other words, Miss Lum had to be told by the VP to provide basic clarity!
In other words, VP told Miss Lum to prioritize clarity when giving out tasks.
And going to the boxes, all Miss Lum could have politely said was "after you're done with those library books,
you can discard those boxes".
I guess simple politeness is too much to ask from Miss Lum. Miss Lum needs to
learn to prioritize politeness before resorting to bossy mode.
- I saw an email from Vice-Principal
Porass-Tang about the summary of the conference on 9/11/2019 and said
she’ll follow up with my concerns.
10/25/2019
- During the last period of the day, me and
Miss Lum were helping Toynton’s class with circulation. Miss Lum noticed one of
the books that had a fixed page that wasn’t aligned with other pages. Miss Lum
asked me if I taped the page, which I did. Miss Lum said “you need to do a
better job” without specifying how I could improve on fixing pages. I had to
ask Miss Lum how she would fix the page, and she mentioned using small amounts
of glue. My interpretation is that the statement “you need to do a better job”
itself doesn’t mean anything except that the person who said it lacks proper
communication skills.
Again, I had to ask for
clarity from Miss Lum!
Saying "you need to do a better job" isn't clarity!
Explaining HOW to do a better job is clarity!
=============
There has been some improvements on clarity since then when it came to tasks.
However, when one problem goes away, another one appears.
At the end of a semester, the library staff provides a celebratory luncheon for
the student assistants. It's supposed to be a happy occasion.
The student library helper luncheon for the Spring 2019 semester went very
smoothly. We served the students some food and when all the students got their
food, I went to make my plate and ate with them. The students had to leave when
the bell rang (this is why I wish this was afterschool instead of lunch time,
but that's an issue to discuss for another time), and I cleaned everything up
afterwards. Then I took my usual half-hour break outside! No
drama!
The one for the Fall 2019 semester was a different story. Just like the
previous semester, the students made their plates, and then I made mine and sat
with one student who was at a table by himself.
(note: for a school that emphasizes "positive relationships with
students" in their mission statement, you would think that's a good example of that)
Then the students left when the bell rang (again, this is why I wish this
was afterschool instead of lunch time), I cleaned up, and took my
usual half-hour break outside!
Then I got this idiotic email from Miss Lum later in the afternoon.
Problem:
30 minute lunch taken with
students, additional 30 minute duty free lunch taken after students leave
The following needs to be
corrected:
1(one) 30 minute duty free lunch
period allowed per work day
1 (one) 15 minute duty free break
allowed per work day.
Solution/Resolution:
If a 30 minute lunch is taken on
library appreciation days with the students, you have chosen not to have a duty
free lunch. An additional duty free period of 30 minutes should not be
taken.
In the past the library staff
usually eats after the students leave (as was explained to you in the Spring
2019 appreciation luncheon) because the luncheon is for the students and the
library staff are the hosts. When the library helper group is large
(greater than 10), it is often too busy during the appreciation events to be
actually sitting and eating with the students for the full period. When
the groups are small (less than 10) as was in the Spring, it was easier to meet
everyone's needs and there was time to sit with the students.
I did send an email to VP Randiann Porras-Tang
about that situation!
in
regards to yesterday's lunch break, when I was eating lunch with the students
during the Library Helper Appreciation Lunch, I did not regard that time as an
official break being that I was still officially in charge of the students
during that time. I took what I regarded as my official half-hour break
outside after I cleaned up,
and
Also,
in regards to this statement
In
the past the library staff usually eats after the students leave (as was
explained to you in the Spring 2019 appreciation luncheon)
Actually,
this wasn't explained to me at all in Spring 2019 or any time until that email
yesterday.
In regards to this
statement from Miss Lum
If a
30 minute lunch is taken on library appreciation days with the students, you
have chosen not to have a duty free lunch. An additional duty free period
of 30 minutes should not be taken.
It turns out, Miss Lum was WRONG!
The VP told Miss Lum that being that I'm a HGEA
union member, that does NOT apply to me at all!
When I was sitting with the students &
eating during the luncheon, it was NOT my official break, because I'm still
supervising them!
In that situation, I was "eating on the
job" and sometimes, it's OK! Some of the other HGEA members on
campus (ie office clerks, security) do eat on the job as long as it doesn't
interfere with urgent work duties.
And if I'm supervising students in the luncheon
and cleaning up after them, then legally, I'm allowed to take an outside break
afterwards.
So Miss Lum telling me I can't take that break
would've been classified as a "prohibited practice" had I report her
idiotic enforcement on non-existent rules to HGEA!
And the interesting thing is this - there have
been PLENTY OF TIMES when Miss Lum was eating while sitting in front of her
work computer. And I NEVER had a problem with that!
As of today, Miss Lum still has never
apologized about this issue (or anything else, really).
------------
During the coronavirus lockdown, Miss Lum set up
an Instagram account for the Kalakaua Middle School library.
How did I find out?
I didn't find out directly from her, even though
I'm part of the library staff.
I found out while searching on Instagram for
anything related to Kalakaua Middle School.
How do you think that makes me feel?
I would assume that if you're in charge of a
library, and if you set up a social media account for the library, you would at
least notify others on the library staff!
I learned through the teleconference that the
school uses Instagram as their preferred social media platform since
that's what's most popular among our students.
Only because of that did I search Instagram for
the school's account and I found out about this.
========
If you're in charge of a school library and
you're going to be distributing books to students engaged in distance learning
during the summer, wouldn't you tell the other library staff about it?
If your name is Miss Lum, the answer is no.
I had to learn about the summer book
distribution plan from the teleconference, and it wasn't Miss Lum who said it,
it was an instructional coach involved with the English/Reading departments
that mentioned it!
How do you think that makes me feel?
I mentioned that issue and more in an email to
Miss Lum and our supervising VP Porras-Tang
I
was unaware of Miss Lum's effort to notify AA teachers & counselors on
overdue books. I wasn't notified that books were already returned by students
since the shutdown. Even the details about how the staff have been
distributing books during packet pickup days was never explained to me. I feel
that some information was hidden from me, even if it was unintentional. I would
like to be updated on these things in case some only people ask me (for
example, that student library helper that emailed the question about the
borrowed books didn't add Miss Lum to the email).
VP Porras-Tang said we didn't intend to hide
information, and then clarified the issues.
That is professional, that is basic people
skills.
I was willing to take that as an apology.
Miss Lum said "nothing was hidden from
you", claimed that the procedures were already discussed with me!
That right there is a lack of people skills, a
lack of clarity, a lack of professionalism.
There's a difference between "there was no intent to hide information" versus "nothing was hidden from you"!
Just like a difference between "I didn't mean it that way" versus "it didn't happen, suck it up"
Phrases like "there was no intent to hide information" and
"I didn't mean it that way" acknowledges that communications could've better on my part.
Phrases like "nothing was hidden from you" is what you call gaslighting!
It's like "I didn't do it and even if
I did, get over it! This is Donald
Trump behavior!
Phrases like "nothing was hidden from you" are fighting words and therefore unprofessional.
Yes, I know it's not realistic to expect
instructions to always be clear. I've been a substitute teacher for 13 years, I
know what it's like for students to be confused by instructions. I've learned
that if students are confused by instructions, I have to adjust how I instruct
them so it becomes clear. Phrases like "nothing was hidden from you" provides absolute zero clarity, but it
sure provides a lot of resentment.
Also, if my initial instructions weren't clear,
I usually would apologize to my students and I clarify as best I can!
Miss Lum literally apologizes for nothing!
That was the final straw! After all this
trouble, it's time to move on!
=====
As for Miss Lum's interaction with other staff,
I don't want to get too much into that, as it is their story to tell.
But I did notice when teachers ask her for help
about doing their classroom book inventory (note: our school's library staff is
also in charge of book distribution to the classrooms), Miss Lum just says
"here’s the instructions” and act as if that’s
enough. Some people don’t learn from just reading the instructions, you
have to go through the instructions step by step. Just saying “here’s the
instructions” and saying nothing else is just rudeness and degrading!
I was the one that helped the teachers go over the steps on how to do the
inventory. The teachers were not only happy that I helped them with
learning the procedures, they more happy that I showed them respect.
They were happy that I used basic people skills with them, something
that Miss Lum wasn’t willing to do.
[note: I was on this part when the Honolulu
Police Department came to my apartment building to serve me a Temporary
Restraining Order (T.R.O.) from Natalie Lum.
After that, I stopped working on this blog post]
