Ordering superintendents to arbitrarily grade their staff lower than they deserve, with little regard for the truth or the agency’s own standards, is wrong.
WASHINGTON – The Washington Post and other news outlets are reporting today that officials in the National Park Service are pressuring park superintendents to grade their staff lower during performance reviews.
Park Service superintendents use a 1-5 scale to evaluate their employees’ performance.
The Post’s reporting reveals that officials have instructed superintendents to grade the majority of staff at a 3. Some park superintendents, “…questioned the fairness to employees whose work merited a better rating at a time when many staff are working harder to make up for the thousands of vacancies,” per the Post.
This news follows a year of upheaval at the National Park Service, including mass firings and a campaign to pressure park staff to accept buyout agreements and resign. Since January, the Park Service has lost more than a quarter of its workforce. Many of the national park staffers fired this year had recently received positive performance reviews.
Court filings during the recent government shutdown revealed the Trump administration’s plans for additional future layoffs. The most recent Congressional budget agreement reached in November includes key provisions that prevent the administration from moving forward with mass staff termination plans until the end of January.
In response to reporting from The Washington Post and other news outlets indicating that officials in the National Park Service are pressuring superintendents to grade park staff lower than they may deserve, National Parks Conservation Association President and CEO Theresa Pierno released the following statement:
“National park staff have handled a year of unprecedented challenges with unparalleled skill and professionalism. After the National Park Service was decimated by mass firings and pressured staff buyouts, park rangers have been working the equivalent of second, third, or even fourth jobs protecting parks. Park staff went above and beyond, even sometimes working without pay to keep national treasures like Yosemite and Zion safe during the longest government shutdown in history.”
“The Trump administration is pulling the rug out from under their own hardworking national park staff at the last minute. Ordering superintendents to arbitrarily grade their staff lower than they deserve, with little regard for the truth or the agency’s own standards, is wrong. This very well could be an attempt to set up Park Service staff to be cannon fodder during the next round of mass firings. This would be an unconscionable move and national park advocates will not stand for it.“
About the National Parks Conservation Association: Since 1919, the nonpartisan National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) has been the leading voice in safeguarding our national parks. NPCA and its more than 1.9 million members and supporters work together to protect and preserve our nation’s most iconic and inspirational places for future generations. For more information, visit www.npca.org.
