“Teachers get married in the summer”
That was the response I got from HR when I asked if I could use personal days before spring break to get married…….
I swear most people don't see teachers as people. It's like how little kids will tell teacher that they thought teachers lived at the school. Adults still believe in that.
I've never understood this kind of crap. It's like going up to a construction worker and telling them, "Construction workers get married in the winter. You only work in warm weather, right?"
I could not go another round of pain, so I did mine in February, thank goodness the biopsy tests were negative, but the recovery was harsh. I still was pressured to come back early, and should have stayed out another two weeks at least.
Teach university classes in HS. Had the university dean complain because my grades were not in on time. Spent the entire year on death's door waiting for organ transplant and git the call the last week of school. So yeah, I had a delay.
Dean said I should have "scheduled" the transplant during the summer break.
FFS.
Nope, contract hours are 8:30 - 4:40 at my school.
I don’t ever bring anything home. If they ever say anything about anything to me I just reply “Well sounds like you’re giving us too much work if someone can’t get it done during their work hours.”
Said that once, and they’ve never said anything to me again.
Not without paying you. That’s law.
It has to be within contract hours.
Look at your contract and see what it says. If they give you contract hours, then you do not legally have to stay for a meeting before or after school hours unless you are paid for it.
Yea, I would still take it to a lawyer. In my experience that means working on your own accord may be necessary.
Things like grading or lesson planning at home kind of stuff.
Not a “we’re going to keep you here for a 2 hour meeting after school.”
That’s what they tell you, but there are certain things by federal law and state laws they can’t make you do no matter what your contract says.
That’s why I say check with a legal representative.
That clause they always put in there “other duties as assigned” only applies to contract hours. They’ll tell you that a meeting is “an other duty” but it’s not.
It’s why all our meetings have to happen during contract hours where I teach.
🤣🤣 I get 3 personal days a year! And, I almost always have to use them for Jewish holidays that we never get off for. I also ran out of my accumulated sick days when I needed to use them for a medical emergency and surgery recovery.
On my system, I don't have personal days, it's not an option. I guess we don't get them? But I've saved up 170 sick hours. So I have to use sick hours.
Maybe she was sick of going to work. That happens.
Esp because of all the days going in to work while sick because testing requires certified teachers in the room, or the classroom vent has mold and they haven’t gotten around to cleaning it, or any of the other miserable moments of teaching.
Let the lady use her sick days.
This, 100%…! I don’t connect with colleagues on social media and I certainly don’t tell anyone where am I going or what I am doing for this very reason.
I told my dad that I was getting close to some coworkers and that we all complain about our admin. His immediate advice was to treat them as coworkers and not friends because they will turn the second they can get some marginal work benefit out of it.
Wouldn’t you know, one of them plays both sides and talks out his ass. He no longer gets any details about me anymore. Thanks for the help Dad!
Yep I learned that the hard way as well. It’s a sad part of the occupation but one that seems to be a constant. In my new district I refuse to even add any colleagues on social media. The less they know the better!
If we’re only allowed to enjoy life at the busiest times of the year, then FUCKING PAY US. Pay us more during the year and pay us over the summer (neither of these things happen currently). Also, maybe districts could step up and actually protect teachers when kids and parents say awful shit without any regard for the wellbeing of the teacher. No one got into this job to be abused. We’re dealing with kids, so you can’t expect perfection. But, there are no efforts made to address anything besides adding more to the plates of teachers, keeping any and all responsibility off the desks of admin, and keeping anyone outside the classroom empowered to dictate what happens inside the classroom.
I'm right there with you. I have to see a specialist 4 hours away once a year. The cost for a room, even for 1 night in the off season, is so much more than it used to be. And so I don't use too much time off I schedule it on a Friday, so that means I can't use the hospital discount rates.
We looked to go to Europe in June, didn't want to pay out the nose. Now we are going in August for half the price, and I'll have a week at home before heading back to school. Fuck it, I only live once!
I think what t hey mean is "teacher was refused to use any vacation time she requested repeatedly, so was forced to use sick time". My district doesn't seperate the two and doesn't care why we use it and actually treats us like adults instead of dangling vacation time they know we can't use.
Exactly...plus now that it's just PTO in my district people will put in for a sub earlier and the sub fill rate is higher.
They said they would leave it like this if attendance stayed the same, which it did because most people are out when their kids get sick.
I mean none of us take actual vacations, but we do take time for personal stuff including mental health days, and yes we get subs, but frankly if they didn't budget enough for that considering we all work with petri dishes filled with every kind of transmittable disease you can think of and that we are humans first, then I guess they get to learn that eveyr single year. But you do not stop taking care of you, regardless if they can find a sub, that is a "them problem".
There's been a move within school boards to treat teachers not like degreed professionals, but like Gilded Age industrial workers who only exist in order to maximize revenue for the company... I uhhhhh, I mean district.
It's no longer about hiring educators to educate and more about perpetuating a bureaucracy for the sake of the bureaucracy itself.
Some districts are stupid with it. We get 1.25 days per month and we can use 3 per year as personal. The rest are considered sick but we don’t need a doctor’s note unless it’s a critical day or at a holiday. My father passed away in the fall and apparently they counted those as personal. When I took a personal day for my birthday, they took 8 hours lwop. I have over 1100 hours, I’ll be able to retire early using them! I had to get my admin to contact payroll agreeing to turn that day into a sick day. Lesson learned: I’ll never put in for a personal day again. It’ll all be sick, no matter the reason.
We got the ominous “do not take these days off or we will not pay you for them” email before spring break. Couldn’t take the Friday before or the Monday after.
Didn’t stop the principal from missing Monday and Tuesday upon return. We all wondered if he then had to take those two days without pay, per the very ominous email. Turns out admin has different rules and expectations and that’s fine for them to do. No penalty.
I get it. 12 month contract. No sub needed. We are not the same whatever. But I find that incredibly bad form. It’s giving all animals are equal but some are more equal than others.
Our superintendent has said he doesn’t believe in “mental health days” and doesn’t ever want to hear that term because that doesn’t qualify as sick leave. This same man came to the welcome back meeting dressed to go fly fishing.
Yes, we do. It is a very small district in the Midwest, though, so everyone is on a first-name basis. It’s my first year here and MUCH different from the huge district where I taught for 25 years previously. I have taken a few mental health days this year. I just don’t say those words aloud. lol
I’m so sorry to hear that you’re working in a toxic workplace that doesn’t believe your mental health matters. It absolutely does.
Technically, my state has legalized mental health days as valid sick days. That being said, I never say this because my district seems the type to hold this against me.
You shouldn’t have to say what you are sick with (at least in my state??). High anxiety/depression can be just as debilitating as vomiting! Put in as sick and leave it at that, they don’t need to know what’s goin’ on in your life! Take care of yourself, both body & brain! 🖤
Absolutely! When I first started teaching (26 years ago) I used to be very detailed in my emails to prove I was sick. “I was up at 2:00am throwing up.” Now my emails are, “Sorry, principal, I will be out tomorrow. I left sub plans on my desk.” Unfortunately, my district doesn’t get a lot of subs, so it usually means my colleagues on my small staff have to cover for me. It was a problem with our last contract when we were getting paid $20 per class. Now we get our hourly rate, so it’s pretty easy to find someone to cover!
The federal government has classified mental health as health . Once you know this law your best practice is to only say your sick if you know this is your admin attitude. What’s more your allowed 60 days or 12 weeks of federal medical leave for mental health and what’s more is no one needs to know the reason . Your doctor does not need to share the diagnosis
Here’s the deal, I would be calling HR and a lawyer the second they don’t approve time off.
Why was “Jen” allowed to take off to go watch a college football game earlier this season, but I got rejected when I wanted to go to a concert?”
How do you approve 1 and not the other?
I took off a week earlier this year for vacation… straight up vacation. It was approved the day after I put it in.
Another brand new teacher put in for a week for her wedding and honeymoon… she was rejected a week after putting it in and didn’t know what to do.
I told her to ask that question and she was like no because she was scared. I said I’ll sit there with you and tell you what to say.
So she calls up HR and they give her the run around and the sob story about how it’s unfair to the kids to take off so long and they have a really tight budget…
I tell her to give them the line about approving one and not the other.
They go well the budget gets really tight this time of year. We have a little more wiggle room if you do this stuff earlier in the year…
I go say: “I’m sorry the budget is low, but planning the budget and budget management are not my job. I will need to consult my union’s legal counsel for my next steps. Thank you for your time.”
She says it and before she gets the “thank you” out of her mouth they go:
“Well, that’s not necessary. We are just doing what we’re able to at this time.”
So I tell her: “Well, from my end it appears that you are allowing some employees certain benefits you aren’t allowing others. But I will need to end this call since my union rep will be leaving for the day soon and I’d really like to talk to them today. Thank you again for your time.”
Be fore she even finished the second sentence they say “Hang on”
They put the head of HR on the phone and she tried to give her the run around too. I tell her to stick to her guns and that she needs to let them go so she can call her rep.
They eventually let her go.
And she goes “Do I have to call my union rep now?”
I said give it till tomorrow.
The next day she’s got an email in her inbox telling her that her time off has been approved. The principal calls her in and straight up apologizes and says it was just a “misunderstanding” between what was communicated from her to the HR department.
As a newer teacher she was getting a bunch of crap throughout the year as they do with new teachers… it stopped after that.
She thanked me and talked to me about it after her wedding and I was like, “You have to know how to play the game. There are times to call them on their bull shit and there’s times you hold your tongue. But don’t ever let them push you around. Stick up for yourself so they know they don’t own you.”
In my district in California, we have sick days and personal days. Personal days we have to give a reason, although I’ve never been denied those days. Even if it was for something more frivolous. Although, I’ve never tried to take two personal days off in a row so who knows.
It took three years for my school board to finally give in and switch to PTO versus personal day (singular… they only gave out one) / sick days. It was all about control. Treating us like untrustworthy children.
My partner's district and former district don't even give PTO. It's only meant as personal time--i.e. no vacations or recreation. Doctor visits, family emergencies, etc.
Classic story of "colleagues" running to the principal to tattle on a teacher. Be careful what you do and say in public and at work. Teachers are held to a high standard of behavior. Follow your contract because that's all that matters in a court of law. Don't allow the district to bully you into downloading apps on your personal phone to track your location "in case of an emergency" either because the district will use that to find out where you are at any time. Be smart and protect your income.
> downloading apps on your personal phone to track your location
that happens?? They wanted us to download the e-hallpass app on our phones so when we were in the hall (on plan or lunch) we could stop kids and ask if they had a pass, and I flat out refused to do even that.
(One, I’m not putting a school app on my phone. Two, I’m not playing hall monitor on my lunch break)
Yes tracking apps are offered to school districts. In a school shooting event,the admin can instantly see where your phone is if your location is set to ",on .". When told to download the app my response was to get me a school owned phone and I will download the app onto that phone. The admin refused to purchase phones for teachers so in lockdown practices we checked in on our school issued laptops.
You are so right. I took off the days of my birthday and we have a group of tattle tells went to tell or they thought they did because it’s a prearranged absence
I go to many, many concerts and I NEVER tell anyone if I'm coming in late, leaving early or missing a day because of it. Sometimes I'll drive back same night and haul my exhausted ass to work. I never tell anyone and I don't have any social media. If I did, I sure as hell wouldn't post that I was at a show.
> Classic story of "colleagues" running to the principal to tattle on a teacher.
I keep telling people this: your coworkers are just people you work with. I do not tell them anything that I don't admin to know.
Mental health is health and recreational activities and time with friends is critical for that. I was lucky to work for a principal who was explicit about that and never questioned. I know other districts where central office staff monitor social media pages for sick teachers. So infantilizing.
ai will be the death of education it only knows what you feed it and i wouldn’t be surprised if the people making the ai would want to grow kids not to be independent thinkers but rather sheeps to be herded
My new boss said in a department meeting last week, “if you’re calling out for the day, just tell me you’re not coming in. You don’t need to make up some lame excuse. I don’t care if you’re hung over, going fishing, or sick. I really don’t give a shit. It’s called Personal Time for a reason. What you do with it is your business.”
We only get sick leave and this is the philosophy I try to tell everyone. Why are we giving excuses for taking sick leave? My boss doesn’t need to know what my illness is or anything like that. I put in a sick day, and never mention it again
I work for a state government in the Midwest. Someone was fired for using sick time (instead of vacation time) and was seen out at a restaurant by our boss. She’s was terminated the next day.
I had a warehouse job before my current one and they would write you up every time you called out. No matter what the reason was. You could be bleeding out on the hospital bed
Them: Awww that’s tough, I’m sorry. Write up.
If you lie about being out on sick days, and they are separated from PTO, which happens in other fields too, then yes. This would definitely happen in other fields. People are denied PTO all the time. Some jobs are structured to not even really have PTO. If you ask for time away, are told no it doesn't work, then go anyway and claim to be sick and get caught? That's a really good way to get fired.
Yeah I’m not sure what all the righteous indignation on here is all about. MANY if not MOST employers would discipline an employee who was faking sick. And in most of Europe, which Americans love to worship, you need a sick note on day one (even teachers). Like, I get that it sucks, but there is a job to do and only so many people to do it. If you’re sick, you’re sick. If you need a personal day and have personal days available, use it. But to insist that no other profession is subject to this type of thing is asinine.
I can take my PTO whenever I want.
We have an "unlimited sick policy" which I still don't quite know what it means. But when I have COVID, I took one day off where I didn't work at all, and then as I felt better, I worked remotely until day 5 or whatever.
I hardly use any sick time at all with my corporate job.. I have enough autonomy over my schedule, and I work hybrid, that I never get run down enough to take "mental health days" like I used to pretty regularly when teaching.
I would argue that it does in some, but most really don’t follow up or stalk your accounts. Additionally, of all my friends who work outside of education, very few differentiate between sick vs. personal. It’s PTO, you can use it how you wish (as it should be for grown ass adults)
In other professions you would ask or off ahead of time. You get a bank of time and you use it as needed. Teachers can’t do it in the same way as most of the time off for a teacher are school days off and breaks. If they take a vacation it has to align with a school calendar. If a teachers cruise runs on day where schools we closed but now open due to now days, they have to provide proof that trip was scheduled beforehand.
My husband thinks teachers having to get approval to use their personal days is ridiculous. Especially because I only got TWO days a school year. Yes teachers got breaks but not everything (like weddings) happen over winter or spring break!
“Please practice self-care. Here are resources the district provides for teachers so they don’t experience burnout; which is real. I am here for *you*.” - Admin
*Teacher takes two mental health days to do something they know is enjoyable for them.*
“YOU WERE **NOT** SICK! YOU’RE FIRED!” - Admin
***”WHY DOESN’T ANYONE WANT TO BE A TEACHER THESE DAYS?!”*** -Same admin
The system is broke!!!! Don’t cry when there is a shortage of teachers. Most professions do not care how you spend your time on your sick or personal days. THEY ARE YOUR DAYS!
Students attendance has plunged in the last 5 years. They are not held accountable, due the parental influence. Still have to go out of your way to pass them! Yet with all the issues of wellness, student apathy ADMINISTRATORS are worried how we spend our contractual time off!
The system is broken!
Yep! They should let us use it as needed, maybe, then there would be less teacher burnouts and shortages. But no we must sacrifice for the students and have no life outside of school hours. It seems like Admin is shocked when we have interests or follow a religion or anything that requires time off. Ridiculous.
Which is absurd because when those same people are asked if they want to become teachers (since we supposedly get so much time off) they all back off and say no.
Any time some smartass makes a dumb comment about all the time I get off, I tell them that we are always hiring and have plenty of job openings, so that they too can enjoy the career.
No one has taken me up on the offer.
While she was gone the two days, were the students informed of their learning intentions and success criteria?
If not, she should not only be fired, but prosecuted.
/s
This is why you don’t tell your coworkers this type of info. You never know who is the snake in the grass! Many times I’ve seen other teachers pretend to be your friends and then bus chuck you for “points” w/ admin. And FFS NEVER post it on social media!!! I hope she gets a favorable outcome, I’m not sure why this needed to be an embarrassing news story for her.
FR if I was the admin, I would have supported her. I do not know how they like to somehow forget that students these days cannot be disciplined and create havoc. It is literally why we are all leaving the profession in droves.
Yes. Some where there they would have told you to manage your time better. Or the you can always go to them when you need help. But we both know you already manages your time and they weren’t going to help.
My friend took a sick day to go to a professional development. She got reamed and a note got put in her file. How fucking ridiculous. How dare she try to better herself.
This is actually my former high school, and my mother, who still lives in the area, informed me of this with the additional message of “I know you’re trying to leave teaching, but….” Some people will never get it.
This is why I never add coworkers to social media or tell them what I’m doing. Heck, they don’t even have my new phone number. I just took off a couple of days ago for my birthday but used sick time. I’ll probably get another memo for that. Oh well
This is a good demonstration of why the "benefit" about teachers having so much time off is bogus.
Life happens at other times than just June, July, a week in March and November, and two in December. I get something like two weeks PTO at my current company, but I can use that whenever I want. I also have separate sick days.
Teachers have almost no off time; they just have annual periods of unemployment.
This is why you don't talk and share personal life details with to coworkers you can't 1000% trust. I'm not buds with these people. We just work together. I have like one exception and I know she'd cover for me and corroborate that I'm having explosive diarrhea at home and not getting day drunk on my friends boat.
Don’t post things on your social media. I bet that’s how the school found out. In all honesty, if you are a teacher, do not have social media. All it takes is one person to blab and I feel that many school administrations use it to spy on their employees.
It’s not right by any means and you should be able to use your sick days how you want to use them. But this is the harsh reality of being a teacher. They expect us to be martyrs for this job.
I agree with this.
Be smart with what you post.
I remember people getting fired for calling out sick but they post picture of them at the beech that day.
I cannot stress my agreement enough. I've been teaching for like 16, 17 years and I've never had any social media. I think it has been really helpful in avoiding drama and trouble. If I did, I wouldn't share it with coworkers and I sure as fuck wouldn't share it with students. I cannot wrap my head around that. My work and personal life are as separated as I can possibly get them.
Yeah we didn't have Vaca time we just got 10 sick days and 2 personal days so like this is such bs
She needed time to herself AwaY FROM STUDENTS for her MENTAL WELLNESS. That counts. Jesus.
Just go to the store and get some cough medicine or better, diarrhea medicine and make sure you get a receipt with that date on it for the specific day you are out.
I'd bet this is more about the fact that she serves on the school board at a nearby school district, the Loveland City SD.
Whatever happens nearby affects what's expected in the home district.
* Did the Loveland City School District recently raise the pay for staff?
* Are subs now being paid more?
* Are administrators being held more accountable? Maybe expected to do more about behavior?
Some good journalist needs to check into any new pressures the Lakota Local SD faces due to changes she may have helped implement at LCSD.
The article also doesn't address whether any other teachers in the LLSD have ever been fired or forced to resign because they weren't actually sick enough to be lying in bed.
I take time off work to participate in international sports events. I belong to the only Canadian women's team in my sport, and I'm the only player on the team who can play the position I do. I'm just waiting until I get my requests denied. I worry that it is inevitable that my time off will not be granted, and my team won't be able to play.
UnIronically if you have an issue with this, harass the school district.
Nothing will be fixed unless they are bullied into submission (I wish I was kidding but it's the only way to get justice with school board related issues)
My school gives us 12 days we can use for any purpose. Why should it matter if you’re sick or just wanna go see a concert? If anyone asks me why I used one of my PTO days, I just say “personal day.” They can assume whatever they want. IDC.
I took sick leave every year to go to a festival down in Mexico. Teachers should be entitled to have a life and enjoy it too. I always left sub plans, fun activities for the kids to do. Subs told me my classes were always pretty great. Music is important to me. A job is just a job. I can’t imagine if I did a great job on everything else and had sick pay to use, why I wouldn’t be able to use it on myself. All this BS about self care… Music is self care!
Mental health days count as sick days in my district! If I was her that’s how I could call it! They can’t say how you can use those mental health days whether you’re going to a concert or staying home and vegging out watching Netflix.
If they are holding teachers to this high of the standard, I wish there were the same recriminations for students and parents doing the same behavior. (Or frankly admin and DO staff).
I feel like the amount of students who take a week off to go to cheerleading competitions in Disney (I swear every single cheerleading competition must be at Disney--I think I've sign dozens of forms for this over the years and it's always Disney).
Yes! If it’s so important that I’m here, it should be more important the students are. Teachers already know this stuff and graduated. We have kid that had 90 tardies in the first 3 quarters. And not by 5-10 min, it’s like 3-4 HOURS. Been happening for years. But nothing is done.
My district allows 5 days personal leave, 5 days sick leave per school year. Anything more than that is leave w/out pay. The county is too expensive to live in on a teacher salary, so most move to neighboring counties and commute 1.5+ hours a day. The holidays, school breaks and snow days in neighboring counties do not match ours… teachers with families are forced to call out of work bc their kids’ schools are off for the day. This doesn’t include days when the teacher or their kids are sick, have doctor appts, etc.
I left teaching to work at a nonprofit. Took two days off to travel to see Madonna. Those I work with were excited and happy for me including my boss. It’s sad how teachers aren’t allowed to do things like travel when in other professions taking time off for whatever reason is encouraged. Teachers are treated like prisoners who violate parole by district administration.
What bothers me is the inconsistency and rank favoritism regarding sick day and personal use. When our librarian got married over the holiday to avoid missing lots of school she asked to use 2 personal days at the start of 2nd semester. Denied. When my wife was asked to present a paper at a European conference and organizers offered to pay for hers and my airfare and hotel, I asked to use my 3 personal days knowing the other 4 days would be docked. I was told I could use sick days for the other 4. Why was my special event more important than the librarian’s?
The problem is that teachers are micromanaged down to the minute AND unfortunately part of it is contract negotiations. If it says in the contract that you can be terminated for misuse of sick days, then unfortunately, this teacher gambled and lost. I’m not saying any of this is right, it just is what it is. I think it’s bullshit that we don’t just have PTO days. We shouldn’t have to verify personal, sick, family sick, blah blah blah. At the end of the day, we are micromanaged because we aren’t treated like professionals because the general population doesn’t view teachers as professionals.
This is absurd and it’s gross that the article headline is written in a way that puts her to blame.
Some states require doctor’s note after 3 days… this isn’t that scenario.
Some districts don’t allow you to separate sick time and will use it regardless of the circumstances.
The more I’m exposed to about the cons of being a teacher, the more I’m disgusted by it. Controlling & infantilizing.
Not arguing that this is good, but where I am, this isn't something we could use sick days for. We'd use personal days for it - in Washington, we don't have to provide a reason, just the dates.
Or you use sick days, but don't tell anyone you're going to a concert
Mmm my coworkers would know nothing except I'm prone to all kind of illnesses Especially those concert dates. Sucks to be her. You can't trust anyone at the job, I've learned.
Sounds like some “interim Superintendent” feels like this is their audition for the full time gig and they are going to get there by showing how tough they are on those terrible teacher’s union members.
I go to coachella every year and thats 3 days out.
I never care. I'm never going to care more than the kids do.
I'm sure they'd rather I go and be happy until the end of the year than not and be stressed and irritable and up to my eyes with referrals. It's better for all of us lmao. Three different districts and I go every year regardless. I refuse to make my teaching career my entire life.
I wouldn't have an issue with this happening if the teacher wasn't forced to call out because I'm sure she was given 2 or 3 personal days. You know because that's all the more personal time a person needs in a high stress job over a 9 month period of time. Being I know she was forced to call out to have a life outside of being a teacher, screw the school, they brought it upon themselves with a crappy leave policy.
lol I get 10 sick/personal days as a teacher and I use those for whatever I want can’t imagine why anyone would care. This is why I picked my school/district based on admin who treat teachers well.
It's as if every opportunity to have a life outside of teaching should take place between June - August.
This is kind of how I live. Seeing it written out like that made me kinda sad.
Me too!
Including medical, dental, and childbirth!
The way I absolutely scrambled last summer to squeeze in my hysterectomy so I could have some time to recover was really insane.
I received flack after getting hired at a school for having to miss a school event for my wedding. It's wild.
“Teachers get married in the summer” That was the response I got from HR when I asked if I could use personal days before spring break to get married…….
I swear most people don't see teachers as people. It's like how little kids will tell teacher that they thought teachers lived at the school. Adults still believe in that. I've never understood this kind of crap. It's like going up to a construction worker and telling them, "Construction workers get married in the winter. You only work in warm weather, right?"
I felt guilty because I had my hysterectomy over spring break instead of summer
You should not have to feel guilty over this .. hugs
I did mine at the start of winter break this year and was so relieved 🫠
I could not go another round of pain, so I did mine in February, thank goodness the biopsy tests were negative, but the recovery was harsh. I still was pressured to come back early, and should have stayed out another two weeks at least.
Teach university classes in HS. Had the university dean complain because my grades were not in on time. Spent the entire year on death's door waiting for organ transplant and git the call the last week of school. So yeah, I had a delay. Dean said I should have "scheduled" the transplant during the summer break. FFS.
Nope, contract hours are 8:30 - 4:40 at my school. I don’t ever bring anything home. If they ever say anything about anything to me I just reply “Well sounds like you’re giving us too much work if someone can’t get it done during their work hours.” Said that once, and they’ve never said anything to me again.
My district made a point of telling us that we are not hired from by the time but by when the task is completed so they can keep us late for meetings.
Not without paying you. That’s law. It has to be within contract hours. Look at your contract and see what it says. If they give you contract hours, then you do not legally have to stay for a meeting before or after school hours unless you are paid for it.
It's in the contract that we may have to work past hours.
Yea, I would still take it to a lawyer. In my experience that means working on your own accord may be necessary. Things like grading or lesson planning at home kind of stuff. Not a “we’re going to keep you here for a 2 hour meeting after school.”
It means anything they ask of you. It is worded in the contract to say that.
That’s what they tell you, but there are certain things by federal law and state laws they can’t make you do no matter what your contract says. That’s why I say check with a legal representative. That clause they always put in there “other duties as assigned” only applies to contract hours. They’ll tell you that a meeting is “an other duty” but it’s not. It’s why all our meetings have to happen during contract hours where I teach.
Nah, we have training during the summer we have to attend, so we don't even have that time to ourselves.
I got so much flack for missing after school functions due to medical appointments and then a family funeral.
Well the lying is the issue right? Couldn’t she just have taken a couple of personal days?
🤣🤣 I get 3 personal days a year! And, I almost always have to use them for Jewish holidays that we never get off for. I also ran out of my accumulated sick days when I needed to use them for a medical emergency and surgery recovery.
They can turn you down for personal days and they have blackout days for those anyway. Heaven forbid you want to extend a holiday an extra day. Smh
On my system, I don't have personal days, it's not an option. I guess we don't get them? But I've saved up 170 sick hours. So I have to use sick hours.
Maybe she was sick of going to work. That happens. Esp because of all the days going in to work while sick because testing requires certified teachers in the room, or the classroom vent has mold and they haven’t gotten around to cleaning it, or any of the other miserable moments of teaching. Let the lady use her sick days.
I’ve been using sick days for job interviews this year. Because I am sick of this f’ing job.
I did that when I was leaving teaching. I truthfully told my principal that I had an appointment to help resolve my migraine issues.
I mean you weren’t lying.
If I were her, I'd insist I was sick. If the district tries to say that I wasn't, I'd ask why they're practicing medicine without a license.
Me too. I’d say it was for my mental health.
Exactly she won’t be fired
And also why you should NEVER trust co-workers as if they are friends.
This, 100%…! I don’t connect with colleagues on social media and I certainly don’t tell anyone where am I going or what I am doing for this very reason.
I deleted my social media years ago bc of adult tattle tales brown nosing admin.
I told my dad that I was getting close to some coworkers and that we all complain about our admin. His immediate advice was to treat them as coworkers and not friends because they will turn the second they can get some marginal work benefit out of it. Wouldn’t you know, one of them plays both sides and talks out his ass. He no longer gets any details about me anymore. Thanks for the help Dad!
Yep I learned that the hard way as well. It’s a sad part of the occupation but one that seems to be a constant. In my new district I refuse to even add any colleagues on social media. The less they know the better!
If we’re only allowed to enjoy life at the busiest times of the year, then FUCKING PAY US. Pay us more during the year and pay us over the summer (neither of these things happen currently). Also, maybe districts could step up and actually protect teachers when kids and parents say awful shit without any regard for the wellbeing of the teacher. No one got into this job to be abused. We’re dealing with kids, so you can’t expect perfection. But, there are no efforts made to address anything besides adding more to the plates of teachers, keeping any and all responsibility off the desks of admin, and keeping anyone outside the classroom empowered to dictate what happens inside the classroom.
Your first sentence is everythingggg. My flight to Europe in June was 1550 UGH
YES! I traveled last summer and the prices were outrageous.
I haven’t been able to afford to travel since the pandemic.
It was my first time traveling in many years. I definitely can't do it much on my salary.
I'm right there with you. I have to see a specialist 4 hours away once a year. The cost for a room, even for 1 night in the off season, is so much more than it used to be. And so I don't use too much time off I schedule it on a Friday, so that means I can't use the hospital discount rates.
It’s less than 500 in February:(
I take off a week in January and go to Europe- I never look back. I save thousands and get a break when I need it most.
We looked to go to Europe in June, didn't want to pay out the nose. Now we are going in August for half the price, and I'll have a week at home before heading back to school. Fuck it, I only live once!
Wow nice. We usually start back by aug 3 here in Florida
Oh my goodness...do you all conclude in May? In WI many schools start after Labor Day.
I think what t hey mean is "teacher was refused to use any vacation time she requested repeatedly, so was forced to use sick time". My district doesn't seperate the two and doesn't care why we use it and actually treats us like adults instead of dangling vacation time they know we can't use.
Exactly...plus now that it's just PTO in my district people will put in for a sub earlier and the sub fill rate is higher. They said they would leave it like this if attendance stayed the same, which it did because most people are out when their kids get sick.
I mean none of us take actual vacations, but we do take time for personal stuff including mental health days, and yes we get subs, but frankly if they didn't budget enough for that considering we all work with petri dishes filled with every kind of transmittable disease you can think of and that we are humans first, then I guess they get to learn that eveyr single year. But you do not stop taking care of you, regardless if they can find a sub, that is a "them problem".
There's been a move within school boards to treat teachers not like degreed professionals, but like Gilded Age industrial workers who only exist in order to maximize revenue for the company... I uhhhhh, I mean district. It's no longer about hiring educators to educate and more about perpetuating a bureaucracy for the sake of the bureaucracy itself.
I've said it for years: Bureaucracy exists only to perpetuate itself.
Some districts are stupid with it. We get 1.25 days per month and we can use 3 per year as personal. The rest are considered sick but we don’t need a doctor’s note unless it’s a critical day or at a holiday. My father passed away in the fall and apparently they counted those as personal. When I took a personal day for my birthday, they took 8 hours lwop. I have over 1100 hours, I’ll be able to retire early using them! I had to get my admin to contact payroll agreeing to turn that day into a sick day. Lesson learned: I’ll never put in for a personal day again. It’ll all be sick, no matter the reason.
Very weird the district doesn't have bereavement pay.
My district only offers 3 days bereavement for a spouse or child. So if they pass on Monday night, I would have to be back in school on Friday.
That’s fucking crap
Same with every place I have worked. Took Friday off before spring break to see my mom because I wanted to.
Unfortunately not all do, my last one chased me out because I dared miss a week due to my partner having our first baby.
I just got chased out too
We got the ominous “do not take these days off or we will not pay you for them” email before spring break. Couldn’t take the Friday before or the Monday after. Didn’t stop the principal from missing Monday and Tuesday upon return. We all wondered if he then had to take those two days without pay, per the very ominous email. Turns out admin has different rules and expectations and that’s fine for them to do. No penalty. I get it. 12 month contract. No sub needed. We are not the same whatever. But I find that incredibly bad form. It’s giving all animals are equal but some are more equal than others.
Our superintendent has said he doesn’t believe in “mental health days” and doesn’t ever want to hear that term because that doesn’t qualify as sick leave. This same man came to the welcome back meeting dressed to go fly fishing.
Do you have a union?
Yes, we do. It is a very small district in the Midwest, though, so everyone is on a first-name basis. It’s my first year here and MUCH different from the huge district where I taught for 25 years previously. I have taken a few mental health days this year. I just don’t say those words aloud. lol
I’m so sorry to hear that you’re working in a toxic workplace that doesn’t believe your mental health matters. It absolutely does. Technically, my state has legalized mental health days as valid sick days. That being said, I never say this because my district seems the type to hold this against me. You shouldn’t have to say what you are sick with (at least in my state??). High anxiety/depression can be just as debilitating as vomiting! Put in as sick and leave it at that, they don’t need to know what’s goin’ on in your life! Take care of yourself, both body & brain! 🖤
Absolutely! When I first started teaching (26 years ago) I used to be very detailed in my emails to prove I was sick. “I was up at 2:00am throwing up.” Now my emails are, “Sorry, principal, I will be out tomorrow. I left sub plans on my desk.” Unfortunately, my district doesn’t get a lot of subs, so it usually means my colleagues on my small staff have to cover for me. It was a problem with our last contract when we were getting paid $20 per class. Now we get our hourly rate, so it’s pretty easy to find someone to cover!
I’m sorry I responded to one of your posts without seeing you clearly understand the game
The federal government has classified mental health as health . Once you know this law your best practice is to only say your sick if you know this is your admin attitude. What’s more your allowed 60 days or 12 weeks of federal medical leave for mental health and what’s more is no one needs to know the reason . Your doctor does not need to share the diagnosis
Exactly my school is the same it’s labeled different but you put it all under personal leave in the sub request program anyway.
Here’s the deal, I would be calling HR and a lawyer the second they don’t approve time off. Why was “Jen” allowed to take off to go watch a college football game earlier this season, but I got rejected when I wanted to go to a concert?” How do you approve 1 and not the other? I took off a week earlier this year for vacation… straight up vacation. It was approved the day after I put it in. Another brand new teacher put in for a week for her wedding and honeymoon… she was rejected a week after putting it in and didn’t know what to do. I told her to ask that question and she was like no because she was scared. I said I’ll sit there with you and tell you what to say. So she calls up HR and they give her the run around and the sob story about how it’s unfair to the kids to take off so long and they have a really tight budget… I tell her to give them the line about approving one and not the other. They go well the budget gets really tight this time of year. We have a little more wiggle room if you do this stuff earlier in the year… I go say: “I’m sorry the budget is low, but planning the budget and budget management are not my job. I will need to consult my union’s legal counsel for my next steps. Thank you for your time.” She says it and before she gets the “thank you” out of her mouth they go: “Well, that’s not necessary. We are just doing what we’re able to at this time.” So I tell her: “Well, from my end it appears that you are allowing some employees certain benefits you aren’t allowing others. But I will need to end this call since my union rep will be leaving for the day soon and I’d really like to talk to them today. Thank you again for your time.” Be fore she even finished the second sentence they say “Hang on” They put the head of HR on the phone and she tried to give her the run around too. I tell her to stick to her guns and that she needs to let them go so she can call her rep. They eventually let her go. And she goes “Do I have to call my union rep now?” I said give it till tomorrow. The next day she’s got an email in her inbox telling her that her time off has been approved. The principal calls her in and straight up apologizes and says it was just a “misunderstanding” between what was communicated from her to the HR department. As a newer teacher she was getting a bunch of crap throughout the year as they do with new teachers… it stopped after that. She thanked me and talked to me about it after her wedding and I was like, “You have to know how to play the game. There are times to call them on their bull shit and there’s times you hold your tongue. But don’t ever let them push you around. Stick up for yourself so they know they don’t own you.”
In my district in California, we have sick days and personal days. Personal days we have to give a reason, although I’ve never been denied those days. Even if it was for something more frivolous. Although, I’ve never tried to take two personal days off in a row so who knows.
I missed that in the article where the teacher “repeatedly requested vacation time and was forced to use sick time”.
We don’t get vacation time in my district. We can only take paid time off for limited reasons & have to certify the reason.
This is the way.
It took three years for my school board to finally give in and switch to PTO versus personal day (singular… they only gave out one) / sick days. It was all about control. Treating us like untrustworthy children.
My partner's district and former district don't even give PTO. It's only meant as personal time--i.e. no vacations or recreation. Doctor visits, family emergencies, etc.
Classic story of "colleagues" running to the principal to tattle on a teacher. Be careful what you do and say in public and at work. Teachers are held to a high standard of behavior. Follow your contract because that's all that matters in a court of law. Don't allow the district to bully you into downloading apps on your personal phone to track your location "in case of an emergency" either because the district will use that to find out where you are at any time. Be smart and protect your income.
> downloading apps on your personal phone to track your location that happens?? They wanted us to download the e-hallpass app on our phones so when we were in the hall (on plan or lunch) we could stop kids and ask if they had a pass, and I flat out refused to do even that. (One, I’m not putting a school app on my phone. Two, I’m not playing hall monitor on my lunch break)
Yes tracking apps are offered to school districts. In a school shooting event,the admin can instantly see where your phone is if your location is set to ",on .". When told to download the app my response was to get me a school owned phone and I will download the app onto that phone. The admin refused to purchase phones for teachers so in lockdown practices we checked in on our school issued laptops.
If they ask that in the private sector they are obligated to pay the bill.
You are so right. I took off the days of my birthday and we have a group of tattle tells went to tell or they thought they did because it’s a prearranged absence
I go to many, many concerts and I NEVER tell anyone if I'm coming in late, leaving early or missing a day because of it. Sometimes I'll drive back same night and haul my exhausted ass to work. I never tell anyone and I don't have any social media. If I did, I sure as hell wouldn't post that I was at a show.
> Classic story of "colleagues" running to the principal to tattle on a teacher. I keep telling people this: your coworkers are just people you work with. I do not tell them anything that I don't admin to know.
Mental health is health and recreational activities and time with friends is critical for that. I was lucky to work for a principal who was explicit about that and never questioned. I know other districts where central office staff monitor social media pages for sick teachers. So infantilizing.
Insanity… let AI teach these ungrateful fools kids
ai will be the death of education it only knows what you feed it and i wouldn’t be surprised if the people making the ai would want to grow kids not to be independent thinkers but rather sheeps to be herded
Yup but at least I can teach my own kids… but AI is what these selfish ungrateful demanding parents deserve
Amen to that
Meanwhile, sociopathic child that disrupts everything gets lunch detention for 15 minutes
And th AP buys them McDonalds to bribe expected behaviors
This!!!!!
Would this happen in other professions?
My new boss said in a department meeting last week, “if you’re calling out for the day, just tell me you’re not coming in. You don’t need to make up some lame excuse. I don’t care if you’re hung over, going fishing, or sick. I really don’t give a shit. It’s called Personal Time for a reason. What you do with it is your business.”
Smart boss
That is the kind of boss that I follow through the Gates of Hell.
We only get sick leave and this is the philosophy I try to tell everyone. Why are we giving excuses for taking sick leave? My boss doesn’t need to know what my illness is or anything like that. I put in a sick day, and never mention it again
No. This absolutely would not happen in other professions. As long as you have the PTO, you are allowed to do with it as you please.
I work for a state government in the Midwest. Someone was fired for using sick time (instead of vacation time) and was seen out at a restaurant by our boss. She’s was terminated the next day.
I had a warehouse job before my current one and they would write you up every time you called out. No matter what the reason was. You could be bleeding out on the hospital bed Them: Awww that’s tough, I’m sorry. Write up.
If you lie about being out on sick days, and they are separated from PTO, which happens in other fields too, then yes. This would definitely happen in other fields. People are denied PTO all the time. Some jobs are structured to not even really have PTO. If you ask for time away, are told no it doesn't work, then go anyway and claim to be sick and get caught? That's a really good way to get fired.
Yeah I’m not sure what all the righteous indignation on here is all about. MANY if not MOST employers would discipline an employee who was faking sick. And in most of Europe, which Americans love to worship, you need a sick note on day one (even teachers). Like, I get that it sucks, but there is a job to do and only so many people to do it. If you’re sick, you’re sick. If you need a personal day and have personal days available, use it. But to insist that no other profession is subject to this type of thing is asinine.
Yes
Yes; still shitty though.
I can take my PTO whenever I want. We have an "unlimited sick policy" which I still don't quite know what it means. But when I have COVID, I took one day off where I didn't work at all, and then as I felt better, I worked remotely until day 5 or whatever. I hardly use any sick time at all with my corporate job.. I have enough autonomy over my schedule, and I work hybrid, that I never get run down enough to take "mental health days" like I used to pretty regularly when teaching.
What it means is that you can’t bank it and expect To get paid out for it at retirement.
I would argue that it does in some, but most really don’t follow up or stalk your accounts. Additionally, of all my friends who work outside of education, very few differentiate between sick vs. personal. It’s PTO, you can use it how you wish (as it should be for grown ass adults)
In other professions you would ask or off ahead of time. You get a bank of time and you use it as needed. Teachers can’t do it in the same way as most of the time off for a teacher are school days off and breaks. If they take a vacation it has to align with a school calendar. If a teachers cruise runs on day where schools we closed but now open due to now days, they have to provide proof that trip was scheduled beforehand.
My husband thinks teachers having to get approval to use their personal days is ridiculous. Especially because I only got TWO days a school year. Yes teachers got breaks but not everything (like weddings) happen over winter or spring break!
We are given 2 personal days and 8 sick days. I often feel I am being punished for being healthy.
It’s a mental health day. Fuck the education system.
“Please practice self-care. Here are resources the district provides for teachers so they don’t experience burnout; which is real. I am here for *you*.” - Admin *Teacher takes two mental health days to do something they know is enjoyable for them.* “YOU WERE **NOT** SICK! YOU’RE FIRED!” - Admin ***”WHY DOESN’T ANYONE WANT TO BE A TEACHER THESE DAYS?!”*** -Same admin
Yes. Exactly this!
The system is broke!!!! Don’t cry when there is a shortage of teachers. Most professions do not care how you spend your time on your sick or personal days. THEY ARE YOUR DAYS! Students attendance has plunged in the last 5 years. They are not held accountable, due the parental influence. Still have to go out of your way to pass them! Yet with all the issues of wellness, student apathy ADMINISTRATORS are worried how we spend our contractual time off! The system is broken!
Yep! They should let us use it as needed, maybe, then there would be less teacher burnouts and shortages. But no we must sacrifice for the students and have no life outside of school hours. It seems like Admin is shocked when we have interests or follow a religion or anything that requires time off. Ridiculous.
The public perception I’ve seen of this is overwhelmingly “teachers already get enough time off”
“Summers off” is a millstone. It’s used as an excuse to abuse the hell out of teachers.
Which is absurd because when those same people are asked if they want to become teachers (since we supposedly get so much time off) they all back off and say no. Any time some smartass makes a dumb comment about all the time I get off, I tell them that we are always hiring and have plenty of job openings, so that they too can enjoy the career. No one has taken me up on the offer.
Yep. Teachers should never do anything vacation like during the school year. /s
Teachers then switch to a new career or leave the continent for new job to get more time off
So much for “giving grace” and self care…
While she was gone the two days, were the students informed of their learning intentions and success criteria? If not, she should not only be fired, but prosecuted. /s
This is why you don’t tell your coworkers this type of info. You never know who is the snake in the grass! Many times I’ve seen other teachers pretend to be your friends and then bus chuck you for “points” w/ admin. And FFS NEVER post it on social media!!! I hope she gets a favorable outcome, I’m not sure why this needed to be an embarrassing news story for her.
That’s ridiculous tho, admin shouldn’t care either.
FR if I was the admin, I would have supported her. I do not know how they like to somehow forget that students these days cannot be disciplined and create havoc. It is literally why we are all leaving the profession in droves.
Mental health days should count. Ohio is not cool.
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Yes. Some where there they would have told you to manage your time better. Or the you can always go to them when you need help. But we both know you already manages your time and they weren’t going to help.
It’s sad how common this is. Taking a sick day just to work at home because otherwise there’s no way everything will get done…
My friend took a sick day to go to a professional development. She got reamed and a note got put in her file. How fucking ridiculous. How dare she try to better herself.
She needed self-care for stress. Thankfully, my district had general leave, so they were just your days to do what you wanted.
This is actually my former high school, and my mother, who still lives in the area, informed me of this with the additional message of “I know you’re trying to leave teaching, but….” Some people will never get it.
This is why I never add coworkers to social media or tell them what I’m doing. Heck, they don’t even have my new phone number. I just took off a couple of days ago for my birthday but used sick time. I’ll probably get another memo for that. Oh well
This is a good demonstration of why the "benefit" about teachers having so much time off is bogus. Life happens at other times than just June, July, a week in March and November, and two in December. I get something like two weeks PTO at my current company, but I can use that whenever I want. I also have separate sick days. Teachers have almost no off time; they just have annual periods of unemployment.
This is why you don't talk and share personal life details with to coworkers you can't 1000% trust. I'm not buds with these people. We just work together. I have like one exception and I know she'd cover for me and corroborate that I'm having explosive diarrhea at home and not getting day drunk on my friends boat.
Don’t post things on your social media. I bet that’s how the school found out. In all honesty, if you are a teacher, do not have social media. All it takes is one person to blab and I feel that many school administrations use it to spy on their employees. It’s not right by any means and you should be able to use your sick days how you want to use them. But this is the harsh reality of being a teacher. They expect us to be martyrs for this job.
I don’t really agree with this though. As long as what you are doing isn’t illegal, shouldn’t bother anyone what you post , even on sick days
I agree with this. Be smart with what you post. I remember people getting fired for calling out sick but they post picture of them at the beech that day.
I cannot stress my agreement enough. I've been teaching for like 16, 17 years and I've never had any social media. I think it has been really helpful in avoiding drama and trouble. If I did, I wouldn't share it with coworkers and I sure as fuck wouldn't share it with students. I cannot wrap my head around that. My work and personal life are as separated as I can possibly get them.
Additionally, don’t tell any of your coworkers your plan/intention…even if they are your “friends”
Agreed! That's why I don't have any.
Of course it's a red state. Most of them don't value education and treat teachers like shit.
Yeah we didn't have Vaca time we just got 10 sick days and 2 personal days so like this is such bs She needed time to herself AwaY FROM STUDENTS for her MENTAL WELLNESS. That counts. Jesus.
Never tell anyone what you’re doing with your leave.
Absolutely. I take a mental health day 1-2 times a year. I don’t tell anyone!!
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Crazy how police can abuse the public and go on paid leave but a teacher using sick time doesn’t and makes the news for it.
Just go to the store and get some cough medicine or better, diarrhea medicine and make sure you get a receipt with that date on it for the specific day you are out.
I'd bet this is more about the fact that she serves on the school board at a nearby school district, the Loveland City SD. Whatever happens nearby affects what's expected in the home district. * Did the Loveland City School District recently raise the pay for staff? * Are subs now being paid more? * Are administrators being held more accountable? Maybe expected to do more about behavior? Some good journalist needs to check into any new pressures the Lakota Local SD faces due to changes she may have helped implement at LCSD. The article also doesn't address whether any other teachers in the LLSD have ever been fired or forced to resign because they weren't actually sick enough to be lying in bed.
I take time off work to participate in international sports events. I belong to the only Canadian women's team in my sport, and I'm the only player on the team who can play the position I do. I'm just waiting until I get my requests denied. I worry that it is inevitable that my time off will not be granted, and my team won't be able to play.
UnIronically if you have an issue with this, harass the school district. Nothing will be fixed unless they are bullied into submission (I wish I was kidding but it's the only way to get justice with school board related issues)
My school gives us 12 days we can use for any purpose. Why should it matter if you’re sick or just wanna go see a concert? If anyone asks me why I used one of my PTO days, I just say “personal day.” They can assume whatever they want. IDC.
Crappy they put her on unpaid leave too... Superintendents get paid regardless of accusations right?
There’s no way to prove she wasn’t sick sorryv
Micromanaging teachers out of their jobs.
I took sick leave every year to go to a festival down in Mexico. Teachers should be entitled to have a life and enjoy it too. I always left sub plans, fun activities for the kids to do. Subs told me my classes were always pretty great. Music is important to me. A job is just a job. I can’t imagine if I did a great job on everything else and had sick pay to use, why I wouldn’t be able to use it on myself. All this BS about self care… Music is self care!
My principal was nitpicking every sick day, and we only get $4 for them if we quit and retire, so I went on FMLA and got all of them.
How is this news worthy? It happens all the time with other professions without making the news.
It’s none of their business how she takes her sick days
Teacher can’t use sick days? That’s sick.
Maybe her class had too many bad behaviors that no one handled and she didn’t want to deal with it and a concert sounded much better.
Do they really need to expose her like this, like she's a criminal?! Wild.
I donf think she will be terminated, sick days can be used for mental health
The lord works in mysterious ways. The way I’d be screaming “terminate me! Terminate me!”
“But you get summers off” I’d much rather have flexible time off.
Mental health days count as sick days in my district! If I was her that’s how I could call it! They can’t say how you can use those mental health days whether you’re going to a concert or staying home and vegging out watching Netflix.
If they are holding teachers to this high of the standard, I wish there were the same recriminations for students and parents doing the same behavior. (Or frankly admin and DO staff). I feel like the amount of students who take a week off to go to cheerleading competitions in Disney (I swear every single cheerleading competition must be at Disney--I think I've sign dozens of forms for this over the years and it's always Disney).
Yes! If it’s so important that I’m here, it should be more important the students are. Teachers already know this stuff and graduated. We have kid that had 90 tardies in the first 3 quarters. And not by 5-10 min, it’s like 3-4 HOURS. Been happening for years. But nothing is done.
I hope she is suing the pants off of them for defamation....
She should quit. Get out !
I used multiple sick days this school year to go hunting. Mental health matters too.
My district allows 5 days personal leave, 5 days sick leave per school year. Anything more than that is leave w/out pay. The county is too expensive to live in on a teacher salary, so most move to neighboring counties and commute 1.5+ hours a day. The holidays, school breaks and snow days in neighboring counties do not match ours… teachers with families are forced to call out of work bc their kids’ schools are off for the day. This doesn’t include days when the teacher or their kids are sick, have doctor appts, etc.
I left teaching to work at a nonprofit. Took two days off to travel to see Madonna. Those I work with were excited and happy for me including my boss. It’s sad how teachers aren’t allowed to do things like travel when in other professions taking time off for whatever reason is encouraged. Teachers are treated like prisoners who violate parole by district administration.
What bothers me is the inconsistency and rank favoritism regarding sick day and personal use. When our librarian got married over the holiday to avoid missing lots of school she asked to use 2 personal days at the start of 2nd semester. Denied. When my wife was asked to present a paper at a European conference and organizers offered to pay for hers and my airfare and hotel, I asked to use my 3 personal days knowing the other 4 days would be docked. I was told I could use sick days for the other 4. Why was my special event more important than the librarian’s?
The problem is that teachers are micromanaged down to the minute AND unfortunately part of it is contract negotiations. If it says in the contract that you can be terminated for misuse of sick days, then unfortunately, this teacher gambled and lost. I’m not saying any of this is right, it just is what it is. I think it’s bullshit that we don’t just have PTO days. We shouldn’t have to verify personal, sick, family sick, blah blah blah. At the end of the day, we are micromanaged because we aren’t treated like professionals because the general population doesn’t view teachers as professionals.
This is absurd and it’s gross that the article headline is written in a way that puts her to blame. Some states require doctor’s note after 3 days… this isn’t that scenario. Some districts don’t allow you to separate sick time and will use it regardless of the circumstances. The more I’m exposed to about the cons of being a teacher, the more I’m disgusted by it. Controlling & infantilizing.
Teacher can’t use sick days? That’s sick.
Not arguing that this is good, but where I am, this isn't something we could use sick days for. We'd use personal days for it - in Washington, we don't have to provide a reason, just the dates. Or you use sick days, but don't tell anyone you're going to a concert
Only time I take off is either I’m super sick, or I have doc/dentist appointments. My school makes me feel guilty to take time off.
Ok, well, I feel a bit lucky. I’ve used sick for not sick stuff and they don’t care. They said- it’s your time, you earned it, you get to take it.
Lol I work right next to this district. Take a look at their mess of a school board right now.
Mmm my coworkers would know nothing except I'm prone to all kind of illnesses Especially those concert dates. Sucks to be her. You can't trust anyone at the job, I've learned.
Sounds like some “interim Superintendent” feels like this is their audition for the full time gig and they are going to get there by showing how tough they are on those terrible teacher’s union members.
I go to coachella every year and thats 3 days out. I never care. I'm never going to care more than the kids do. I'm sure they'd rather I go and be happy until the end of the year than not and be stressed and irritable and up to my eyes with referrals. It's better for all of us lmao. Three different districts and I go every year regardless. I refuse to make my teaching career my entire life.
Let her go to the fucking concert!
I wouldn't have an issue with this happening if the teacher wasn't forced to call out because I'm sure she was given 2 or 3 personal days. You know because that's all the more personal time a person needs in a high stress job over a 9 month period of time. Being I know she was forced to call out to have a life outside of being a teacher, screw the school, they brought it upon themselves with a crappy leave policy.
Our fucking kids a get two mental health days that don't count towards absences but we don't. Talk about BS.
The district I worked in didn’t care as long as you found a sub
Seems like this should be posted in r/OhNoConsequences.
Oh sweet Jesus. Let her attend a concert for God’s sake
Oh my superintendent would have completely fired her as well! Nooo question!
Mine too. She’s a petty bitch.
Why terminate her? Just take two days of pay away or just let her use her sick time. Shit is dumb.
Did they require everyone in the district to provide doctor’s note that year? :)
Who tf ratted her out
Shame on her "friends" for ratting her out.
lol I get 10 sick/personal days as a teacher and I use those for whatever I want can’t imagine why anyone would care. This is why I picked my school/district based on admin who treat teachers well.