Constant teacher absences

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It sucks. It all sucks. But it’s not the teachers fault, it’s not the principals fault, it’s not your child’s fault, and it’s not your fault. You can complain all you want, but your child’s teacher can’t magically make daycare take her kid when he’s sick. Your principal can’t magically find an amazing substitute that can make up for everything. There is a huge teacher and sub shortage. You need to accept the reality of the situation and you as the parent have to do what is best for your child. That may include making up lost curriculum at home.

The OP expects the teacher to figure it out! Get a nanny or something!

Why? That’s what leave us for - to use when you have a period of issues that arise.

[Anonymous]

OP here. So the principal did call me and was very understanding about my concerns. She assured me that the teaching team meets every week to plan their agenda and every class is on track. She also talked about the lack of quality subs and how they are severely understaffed now. She wanted to facilitate a meeting between me and the teacher but I said that won’t be necessary. Today the teacher did reach out to me herself to schedule a conference if I have any more concerns. I guess the principal spoke to her. All in all, I’m glad I spoke to the principal and looking forward to talking to the teacher as well. I’m also glad my concerns were heard and nobody deflected or minimized my concerns as so many did here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I mean “their teacher going on mat leave”

I know!! Couldn't she just drop the kid and keep teaching? And then she might have appointments. Why is she allowed to do that? I mean, is there a union or something?

Do you not know how to read? She was on mat leave for 4 months and just got back in Jan and ever since she has been back she is constantly absent at least two days every week. She was actually absent for one entire week in late Jan. She is allowed to do whatever she needs for her child and my child is also allowed to get a proper education form a teacher who takes her job responsibilities seriously.

So volunteer to watch the teachers kid!

I have a full time job where I am expected to show up everyday and where I am expected to arrange for childcare so my work doesn’t suffer.

I thought sick leave was a federal law thing you may want to
Consult a labor attorney because sick leave covers immediate family as well. Sorry you found slave labor camp
to work in! Don’t you have a bike tinboard in the break room outlining this mandated by OSHA!? Lemme guess you work white collar where you don’t have to know about break rooms and leave posters ;$

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. So the principal did call me and was very understanding about my concerns. She assured me that the teaching team meets every week to plan their agenda and every class is on track. She also talked about the lack of quality subs and how they are severely understaffed now. She wanted to facilitate a meeting between me and the teacher but I said that won’t be necessary. Today the teacher did reach out to me herself to schedule a conference if I have any more concerns. I guess the principal spoke to her. All in all, I’m glad I spoke to the principal and looking forward to talking to the teacher as well. I’m also glad my concerns were heard and nobody deflected or minimized my concerns as so many did here.

The principal told you want you wanted to hear. She’s clearly a good politician and got you to shut up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. So the principal did call me and was very understanding about my concerns. She assured me that the teaching team meets every week to plan their agenda and every class is on track. She also talked about the lack of quality subs and how they are severely understaffed now. She wanted to facilitate a meeting between me and the teacher but I said that won’t be necessary. Today the teacher did reach out to me herself to schedule a conference if I have any more concerns. I guess the principal spoke to her. All in all, I’m glad I spoke to the principal and looking forward to talking to the teacher as well. I’m also glad my concerns were heard and nobody deflected or minimized my concerns as so many did here.

The principal told you want you wanted to hear. She’s clearly a good politician and got you to shut up.

Gosh so much animosity! All because I was concerned about my child’s quality of education. The principal discussed the issue with the teacher and wanted to set up a meeting. And then she talked to the teacher who reached out to me herself to address my concerns. Please stop being so upset. You are not under attack.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gosh I’m so sorry I expected the teacher to have reliable childcare when she came back to work. You know how every other professional does when they have to go back to work? Yes we have been in this pandemic for the last two years!! Of course there will be closures and kids getting sick. So have all of us not planned for this so we are not constantly running around last minute when we have to show up to work? Like I said most of the teachers have little kids too but I don’t see them being absent so frequently. Those teachers take their job seriously

Taking a few hours off or a day off for an appointment or child’s sickness is completely different than literally not showing up 2-3 days every single week! Please stop being so defensive. And FYI other professionals get fired or get a warning if they are sporadically and frequently absent.

How do you even know childcare is the issue? Maybe it’s for medical reasons. And how do you know that she hasn’t received a warning. I have worked in an office for 25 years for a variety of companies. Even in those settings, it’s very hard to fire someone - especially if they are sick or caring for a sick family memever.

Exactly, people have lives and families and bodies. My kid’s friends have a middle school teacher who apparently has cancer so she’s been out a lot. The Sun situation isn’t good. What do you expect to happen in that situation???? As so many have expressed, the fix is to pay subs more so they have more available and maybe have a cadre of floating teachers to cover long absences. The OP seems to want to put the onus on the teacher.

I totally understand the frustration. Pre-Covid I have friends whose kids were really impacted by teacher absences for maternity leave or illness and difficulty getting qualified long term subs. But the answer isn’t to blame the teacher.

How dare she not prioritize her JOB?!
/s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. So the principal did call me and was very understanding about my concerns. She assured me that the teaching team meets every week to plan their agenda and every class is on track. She also talked about the lack of quality subs and how they are severely understaffed now. She wanted to facilitate a meeting between me and the teacher but I said that won’t be necessary. Today the teacher did reach out to me herself to schedule a conference if I have any more concerns. I guess the principal spoke to her. All in all, I’m glad I spoke to the principal and looking forward to talking to the teacher as well. I’m also glad my concerns were heard and nobody deflected or minimized my concerns as so many did here.

The principal told you want you wanted to hear. She’s clearly a good politician and got you to shut up.

Gosh so much animosity! All because I was concerned about my child’s quality of education. The principal discussed the issue with the teacher and wanted to set up a meeting. And then she talked to the teacher who reached out to me herself to address my concerns. Please stop being so upset. You are not under attack.

Being disingenuous often stokes “animosity.”

[Anonymous]

The PP that pointed that the principal is a politician is actually quite correct. FCPS chooses principals who can manage parents and teachers. This usually results in someone who says one thing, but does another. Teachers fully realize this, but it usually takes parents many years.

OP, I would 1) send a follow-up email summarizing what you discussed so that there is a written record and 2) don’t just trust that the principal will actually do anything, you need to stay on it. Written record is very important!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP here. So the principal did call me and was very understanding about my concerns. She assured me that the teaching team meets every week to plan their agenda and every class is on track. She also talked about the lack of quality subs and how they are severely understaffed now. She wanted to facilitate a meeting between me and the teacher but I said that won’t be necessary. Today the teacher did reach out to me herself to schedule a conference if I have any more concerns. I guess the principal spoke to her. All in all, I’m glad I spoke to the principal and looking forward to talking to the teacher as well. I’m also glad my concerns were heard and nobody deflected or minimized my concerns as so many did here.



The principal told you want you wanted to hear. She’s clearly a good politician and got you to shut up.



Gosh so much animosity! All because I was concerned about my child’s quality of education. The principal discussed the issue with the teacher and wanted to set up a meeting. And then she talked to the teacher who reached out to me herself to address my concerns. Please stop being so upset. You are not under attack.



Being disingenuous often stokes “animosity.”

+1 If you were just concerned about your child's education, you wouldn't have posted here on DCUM. You would have just gone to the principal and teacher, and not also whined about it here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP here. So the principal did call me and was very understanding about my concerns. She assured me that the teaching team meets every week to plan their agenda and every class is on track. She also talked about the lack of quality subs and how they are severely understaffed now. She wanted to facilitate a meeting between me and the teacher but I said that won’t be necessary. Today the teacher did reach out to me herself to schedule a conference if I have any more concerns. I guess the principal spoke to her. All in all, I’m glad I spoke to the principal and looking forward to talking to the teacher as well. I’m also glad my concerns were heard and nobody deflected or minimized my concerns as so many did here.

The principal told you want you wanted to hear. She’s clearly a good politician and got you to shut up.

Gosh so much animosity! All because I was concerned about my child’s quality of education. The principal discussed the issue with the teacher and wanted to set up a meeting. And then she talked to the teacher who reached out to me herself to address my concerns. Please stop being so upset. You are not under attack.

Teacher here. I understand your concerns. I think you should have reached out to the teacher first vs going to the principal. I usually always email parents if I will be out with a general explanation ( not going into too much detail). All I know is a lot of teachers are struggling right now. So a new mom, during this climate is struggling even more. With that being said, the principal should try to give the kids as much consistency as possible. My school had a teacher leave and for a month they had two people alternating in the room till a long term sub came.

[Anonymous]

The PP that pointed that the principal is a politician is actually quite correct. FCPS chooses principals who can manage parents and teachers. This usually results in someone who says one thing, but does another. Teachers fully realize this, but it usually takes parents many years.

OP, I would 1) send a follow-up email summarizing what you discussed so that there is a written record and 2) don’t just trust that the principal will actually do anything, you need to stay on it. Written record is very important!

The system listens to parents. You need to go higher up the chain. Go above the principal to a school board member or the instructional central office management. The principal will thank you for it. What needs to happen is a reorganization of the substitutes and coverage in schools. The principal cannot come up with money to hire a floating substitute at real teacher pay (which is what needs to happen). When I was in New York they had people hired for this purpose. They need to pay qualified subs what they are worth. Instead they get people who are just warm bodies and of course parents are not happy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The PP that pointed that the principal is a politician is actually quite correct. FCPS chooses principals who can manage parents and teachers. This usually results in someone who says one thing, but does another. Teachers fully realize this, but it usually takes parents many years.

OP, I would 1) send a follow-up email summarizing what you discussed so that there is a written record and 2) don’t just trust that the principal will actually do anything, you need to stay on it. Written record is very important!

Just because they “hear” your concerns doesn’t mean anything will change in the next few weeks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP here. So the principal did call me and was very understanding about my concerns. She assured me that the teaching team meets every week to plan their agenda and every class is on track. She also talked about the lack of quality subs and how they are severely understaffed now. She wanted to facilitate a meeting between me and the teacher but I said that won’t be necessary. Today the teacher did reach out to me herself to schedule a conference if I have any more concerns. I guess the principal spoke to her. All in all, I’m glad I spoke to the principal and looking forward to talking to the teacher as well. I’m also glad my concerns were heard and nobody deflected or minimized my concerns as so many did here.

What a pompous ass who has absolutely no capability for self reflection or empathy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
OP here. So the principal did call me and was very understanding about my concerns. She assured me that the teaching team meets every week to plan their agenda and every class is on track. She also talked about the lack of quality subs and how they are severely understaffed now. She wanted to facilitate a meeting between me and the teacher but I said that won’t be necessary. Today the teacher did reach out to me herself to schedule a conference if I have any more concerns. I guess the principal spoke to her. All in all, I’m glad I spoke to the principal and looking forward to talking to the teacher as well. I’m also glad my concerns were heard and nobody deflected or minimized my concerns as so many did here.



The principal told you want you wanted to hear. She’s clearly a good politician and got you to shut up.



Gosh so much animosity! All because I was concerned about my child’s quality of education. The principal discussed the issue with the teacher and wanted to set up a meeting. And then she talked to the teacher who reached out to me herself to address my concerns. Please stop being so upset. You are not under attack.



Being disingenuous often stokes “animosity.”

+1 If you were just concerned about your child's education, you wouldn't have posted here on DCUM. You would have just gone to the principal and teacher, and not also whined about it here.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The PP that pointed that the principal is a politician is actually quite correct. FCPS chooses principals who can manage parents and teachers. This usually results in someone who says one thing, but does another. Teachers fully realize this, but it usually takes parents many years.

OP, I would 1) send a follow-up email summarizing what you discussed so that there is a written record and 2) don’t just trust that the principal will actually do anything, you need to stay on it. Written record is very important!

Just because they “hear” your concerns doesn’t mean anything will change in the next few weeks.

The teacher herself reached out to me obviously because the principal spoke to her. At least they will know that parents are taking notice about the lack of consistency in the classroom. The principal did say they have assigned a sub now especially for my child’s classroom and I guess that is the best that we can ask for given the circumstances. .