APS 12-month employees at central office get 31 paid holidays plus 14-40+ days of leave

[Anonymous]

I saw this raised in ape a few months ago and honestly didn’t believe it. This is insane. Let’s get rid of all those holidays and do layoffs at syphax. They should be able to accomplish more w fewer people once they work a normal schedule. Teachers also need to be able to take care of HR issues during breaks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I saw this raised in ape a few months ago and honestly didn’t believe it. This is insane. Let’s get rid of all those holidays and do layoffs at syphax. They should be able to accomplish more w fewer people once they work a normal schedule. Teachers also need to be able to take care of HR issues during breaks.

Could you please share this with APE Facebook group?? Thank you!!

[Anonymous]

The community also needs to be able to register students over winter break and spring break. It is so very frustrating to hear parents say they “called central office” but it was closed.

[Anonymous]

Who made this decision?? And why??

[Anonymous]

Please also bring to APE the teacher pay scale issue. Please make the APS school board and admin place teachers at the appropriate pay grade level based on THEIR APS YEARS OF SERVICE. It’s embarrassing what teachers have to go through.

[Anonymous]

APS admin made the decision during covid to give staff a much needed morale boost. It was supposed to be for one year.

Got made permanent later year.

[Anonymous]

Yup. We can’t get substitutes processed and into the system. It’s part of the reason there is a sub shortage in aps.

[Anonymous]

Friend took a job in Fairfax bc aps coukd NOT process her paperwork.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yup. We can’t get substitutes processed and into the system. It’s part of the reason there is a sub shortage in aps.

The whole thing os a mess. Shameful.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Friend took a job in Fairfax bc aps coukd NOT process her paperwork.

The more people they add the less efficient they become.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:APS admin made the decision during covid to give staff a much needed morale boost. It was supposed to be for one year.

Got made permanent later year.

Don’t understand why they had to make it permanent. Obviously it’s a great gig, but at what cost??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They get all the days when teachers are off, (think Diwali, Jewish holidays, etc.) plus 2 week winter break and 1 week spring break, all paid for. Teachers on the other hand, do not get paid during those breaks.

And this is not the norm for employees that accrue leave (as they do). This was new under Duran. Also- someone from central office is obviously on this thread. For every five I’ve met, any teacher does the work of four of them. Syphax is a s—t show, and, yes, teachers in APS are very pissed off about it.

School board should conduct a survey to ask teachers what they think of Syphax, if they actually care about teachers who are at the front line.

Syphax= Ivory Tower... the majority of Syphax people (look for the Rothy's) haven't been inside a school building in years, long before covid. Teachers are sick of them and all the trumped up busy work they throw at teachers in the schools. They certainly didn't come back to work when the rest of us did; Syphax is like a ghost town with a lot of them "working from home" and calling it in. The fact that they are given paid leave is sickening considering what is happening in understaffed, over capacity classrooms filled with highly stressed, needy students. Can't wait to be done with all of them. I hope they are reading this and get a clue how much they are despised.
Signed, longtime APS teacher

This is all 100 percent true. I’m a teacher who goes to Syphax 1-2 times a month for meetings. It’s literally a ghost town, especially on Fridays. I’ve also spoken to a few central office staff members who have outright said they were working at home for an afternoon. APS has come out many months ago and stated that working from home was no longer a thing, but it’s clearly being done under the radar. I know the Syphax staff members aren’t in school buildings, because I’m in a school building, and always have been and never see them. I don’t necessary fault the employees, but rather the system that’s created this inequity. School based staff do not think highly of most central office staff and can validate that the more staff members added centrally, the more work school based staff have put on them (with little to no benefit for students). Something needs to change and I’m very happy this is becoming a public discussion.

[Anonymous]

What about school principals? Are they paid on 12-month salaries with all this vacation or contracts like teachers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about school principals? Are they paid on 12-month salaries with all this vacation or contracts like teachers?

Yes, 12 month employees that are school-based include principals, Assistant principals and Instructional Technology Coordinators (ITC). There’s no reason why an ITC needs to be 12 month, seems excessive. Assistant principals could probably be 11 month easily, like neighboring Alexandria.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why so many chiefs? What was wrong with the previous system? Under other administrations there didn’t use to be so many central office people. They all fit in one small building by the planetarium. As a tax payer, I am paying attention and am glad teachers are speaking up.

There are also lots of retired APS people working on contract...back at APS.