Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/principal-works-to-improve-failing-inner-city-school Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript The last installment in a series looking at an inner-city school in Richmond, Va., tracks "turnaround specialist" Parker Land's efforts to fix Boushall Middle School's troubles with discipline and incentives. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. PARKER LAND, Principal: You're my first group of students that I get to give a chance to ask me some questions, if you have any questions. JOHN MERROW: Boushall students had already heard that their new principal had a special title. STUDENT: What is a turnover teacher? PARKER LAND: She said, "What's a turnover teacher?" Actually, my title is a turnaround specialist, but all I am is a principal. STUDENT: What kind of training did you have to go through to become a turnaround specialist? PARKER LAND: I had to go to about two weeks of classes on all kinds of different things, like how to set goals and objectives for staff, how to work through problems, those kinds of things. Yes? STUDENT: How long do you plan on working as a principal? PARKER LAND: I plan on working as a principal for at least three more years, and I hope to be longer than that.My commitment is three years. I tell everybody that. JOHN MERROW: But by the beginning of this school year, Park Land was no longer Boushall's principal. PARKER LAND: You know, there's just this pervasive sadness about leaving. JOHN MERROW: He'd been reassigned to this Richmond high school. PARKER LAND: It was out of the blue. I never, never thought that that would happen. I really did expect to be here for three years.