Giving Back to My Job

After putting the non-contractual employees on five days of furlough, privatizing the janitorial services, turning the lights off at night (duh!) and all sorts of other money-saving schemes. the school system will still fall about $150K short. So they're asking us contractual employees to donate anything but they're hoping for five days of our time. And, we have to tell them by Friday! One of the staff figured out that if every teacher gave $483 back to the system, they won't have to lay anyone off. Obama money doesn't get here until next fiscal year. So between now and the end of school we have to figure out how to not be sick or off from school because they're not able to spring for any substitute teachers. We're lucky though. Carroll County has laid off 243 employees. So far, attrition is what they are using, and no one (other than the janitorial staff) has been terminated.

State law requires the school budget to be balanced so they have to come up with the moola. They changed the state law about contracts too this year. So they don't have to give us our contracts until May 15th. Wow, that's really pushing things to the last possible moment. Teachers are used to getting contracts by late March or early April. If you're not offered a contract, while school is still in session, you can run around and look for a different job. The new date for contract offers means that teachers won't find out until just about when school is over and won't have much time to locate other employment. This is a nerve-wracking time of the year for teachers.

I prefer to give something back than force someone to be laid off. Tough times everywhere. I'm sure that lots of other places would prefer to have their people give something back rather than have to be forced to lay off non-contractual employees. I do feel the school system is doing the best it can. I'm sorry that there will not be a summer school, or than after school tutoring will be as available, and I hate it for our janitors that they become $6.25/hour employees with no benefits and found out about it on e-mail. Very stressful at work right now.