Director leaving for vacation?

[Anonymous]

Does your daycare center let you know when the director leaves on vacation? I found out today ours is gone for 2 weeks, and we weren't told. Also, our center doesn't have an assistant director, so a very nice woman, who is a volunteer, but who is there all the time, is left in charge.

[Anonymous]

So, not even a paid employee, but a volunteer is in charge? How large in this daycare center?

[Anonymous]

Correct- she is not paid. She is there every day, and she's been volunteering for ever, so it's like she's an employee, but she's not. Center - about 60 kids.

[Anonymous]

I'm no lawyer, but that seems... highly problematic. Major liability issues.

[Anonymous]

I would never expect to be notified when our director was going on vacation (and I'm sure we've never been officially notified, though I think sometimes I've heard about it informally). I would expect for a suitable replacement to be put in charge (either an assistant director or a senior teacher/worker).

[Anonymous]

For me, it's less about the notification (it's not like elementary school's notify parents when the principal is away for week) but the fact that the person in charge is a volunteer. That just seems deeply weird. Make this person a paid employee!

[Anonymous]

This seems weird. Ours is going away too. We found out in her month newsletter and she named three paid staff that will be managing her duties.

[Anonymous]

No we were not notifed, it was not a big deal. They are open year round so I kind of assume that they will all take vacations at different times.

[Anonymous]

Is the volunteer "in charge", or is she handling the front desk type responsibilities that are part of the work of a director in a small center, while someone else takes on the decision making functions and other things that require expertise.

At my son's school, an experienced teacher was always "in charge" when the director was away, but since she was also teaching, the directors administrative assistant ended up picking up many of the smaller duties.

[Anonymous]

Our center always lets us know when staff--administrators or teachers--are out, and who is covering for them. It's basic professionalism: Jane is out, but Susan is covering for her. The volunteer in charge thing is weird, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our center always lets us know when staff--administrators or teachers--are out, and who is covering for them. It's basic professionalism: Jane is out, but Susan is covering for her. The volunteer in charge thing is weird, too.

Yeah, ours lets us know when the director is out, and a statement of who is in charge in her absence and how to contact them.

[Anonymous]

We are at a large center. I don't expect to know when director is out. I do expect that a qualified person is left in charge. Is the volunteered qualified?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our center always lets us know when staff--administrators or teachers--are out, and who is covering for them. It's basic professionalism: Jane is out, but Susan is covering for her. The volunteer in charge thing is weird, too.

Director here:

While I'd love to do that, if I did that every time someone called out or left early, took vacation or came in late, I'd do nothing but send emails or post notices. I do tell parents when I am on vacation and who will be in charge in my absence.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our center always lets us know when staff--administrators or teachers--are out, and who is covering for them. It's basic professionalism: Jane is out, but Susan is covering for her. The volunteer in charge thing is weird, too.

Director here:

While I'd love to do that, if I did that every time someone called out or left early, took vacation or came in late, I'd do nothing but send emails or post notices. I do tell parents when I am on vacation and who will be in charge in my absence.

Question for you director. For me, the weirdest part of this is not the absence, not even the notification. It's that a volunteer is being left in charge. OP says this is a center with 60 kids. Having a volunteer in charge seems really, really weird to me (above I speculated on possible liability licensing issues.) Your thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Our preschool director informed us that she will be out on maternity leave and the new assistant director will be in charge while she's out - she also said she'd be available via email and might come in once a week to check on things.