Anonymous wrote:1803: it sounds like most of the angry people responding though are teachers, not parents

Some of us are both.

OP, we really cannot advise you without knowing the position. The HR department is not very impressive. The other folks I know there work all the time but are very committed and have a public service mindset. It is hard dealing with all the hate from the community. People send really vicious emails to the education focused departments. I don’t think finance and communications and it and legal have to deal with those.

1803: it sounds like most of the angry people responding though are teachers, not parents

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yeesh this is not inspiring -- sounds like from comments here I would either be committing to work with a bunch of incompetent people at gatehouse or a bunch of unhappy people in system at large.

As a parent, am intrigued by idea of working in community, but must admit the past year makes me skeptical and dubious about what I'd be joining.

The only people Left here are angry at FCPS. The vitriol is amazing. You are asking a bunch of people who are completely irate with the school system because they need to blame the effects of a pandemic on the schools if you should work for said schools system. This is you “fair and balanced” answer. Good luck to you whatever you decide to do!

Anonymous wrote:OP here. Yeesh this is not inspiring -- sounds like from comments here I would either be committing to work with a bunch of incompetent people at gatehouse or a bunch of unhappy people in system at large.

As a parent, am intrigued by idea of working in community, but must admit the past year makes me skeptical and dubious about what I'd be joining.

OP, it's hard to respond without knowing what department you're applying to. I know several former teachers who were FABULOUS at their jobs who are now happily at Gatehouse, but they're usually traveling to school sites and helping teachers set up programs in their classrooms/schools, not sitting in an office up top. I also know several people I'd like to kick in the pants because they can barely send an email or their pet projects dictate trouble in my day job. It really just depends what the role is.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Gatehouse should be laying off people, not hiring. Too much redundancy and fat there. Ineffective and incompetent. The students and parents would be better served if Gatehouse was downsized by half and a new school board was elected.

Look at the numbers and budget and you will see this is just one of those things people like to say.

NP. They say it a lot on this forum. I don't think they want to know that the numbers prove them wrong.

Hi Dr. Ivey!

Anonymous wrote:have kids in system. hate current private sector job. pay is a match, private sector benefits way better in terms of time-off/healthcare. but FCPS has pension and some retiree health option though it sounds not as great as people want to pretend it is.

what is awesome about being an FCPS employee that I might be missing?

Gatehouse is a cushy job - not like the actual useful work that is done in the schools. Pays more, too. Take it.

Anonymous wrote:have kids in system. hate current private sector job. pay is a match, private sector benefits way better in terms of time-off/healthcare. but FCPS has pension and some retiree health option though it sounds not as great as people want to pretend it is.

what is awesome about being an FCPS employee that I might be missing?

Do you like scheduling meetings and forming committees and finding outside speakers and consultants to pay while declining to raise teacher salaries? Do you like making critical decisions that impact kids’ learning without ever having to set foot inside a school building? Do you like to complain that “teachers get summers off” while taking a 60 minute lunch every day?

If so, central office might be for you!

OP here. Yeesh this is not inspiring -- sounds like from comments here I would either be committing to work with a bunch of incompetent people at gatehouse or a bunch of unhappy people in system at large.

As a parent, am intrigued by idea of working in community, but must admit the past year makes me skeptical and dubious about what I'd be joining.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are looking to work in HR/benefits/salary....really anything on the non-former teacher sidr, please do if you are actually competent and answer emails. Although I would guess that if you did actually get the job done, you’d be miserable as you’d be surrounded by incompetent nincompoops. Sorry, school personnel do not think very highly of Gatehouse.

I’m a classroom monitor and was shocked how bad the whole hiring process was compared to my private sector experience. School-based staff are much more reliable.

Years ago the sub office was a mess in hiring. I imagine it’s the same.

It still is.