The Impact Support Staff has on School Climate at Comprehensive High Schools from the Perspective of Principals

Purpose: The purpose of this phenomenological study was to identify and describe how high school principals perceive the actions of support staff impact school climate in the areas of safety, teaching and learning, interpersonal relationships, and the institutional environment in comprehensive public high schools in Riverside County, California. Methodology: The researcher identified comprehensive public high schools within the state of California. Of this target population, purposeful sampling was applied to identify participants that were rich with information and that met specific criteria, and 12 principals were identified. The researcher collected and coded data from in-depth interviews; interview protocol directly correlated with the research questions of this study. A variety of related artifacts were additionally gathered and analyzed for the generated codes to triangulate the interview data. Findings: Examination of qualitative data from the 12 comprehensive high school principals were organized by sub research questions and aligned to the school climate theoretical framework based on Jonathan Cohen and the National School Climate Council research, identifying the impact support staff has on school climate in the areas of safety, teaching and learning, interpersonal relationships, and the institutional environment. Conclusions: The study supported the conclusions that support staff create a feeling of physical safety on campus. Support staff also create a feeling of social and emotional safety on campus. Support staff are key players in the development and implementation of the safe school plan. Additionally, conclusions were that support staff impact teaching and learning and interpersonal relationships. Furthermore, support staff show pride and effort in the institutional environment. Lastly, support staff are more that “just” support staff. Recommendations: Eight areas of further research were recommended to increase the body of literature related to these variables