I did something today that I have never done before ...

roeroe1005 · ‎03-13-2010

I retired in June after working for 12 years as Secretary to a high school Principal. Prior to that I worked 30 years in corporate, until our company moved to Illinois. I started there when I was 19, right out of secretarial school.

In my job as HS secretary, I assigned substitutes to fill in for teachers who were out. This could be ill, personal day, meetings, conferences, etc. There were days that more teachers were out than subs, but I always managed to get it to work. Like doing a puzzle!

I've been filling in for the secretary to an Assistant Principal in a local school district. The secretary covers teachers' absences. I can do this I thought. They use the system AESOP, which I never used before, but had to learn pretty quickly. To me there is no accountability, no need to let the secretary know beforehand of their absence. I don't really like it, my teachers in my old job always gave me advance notice, unless of course, last minute emergencies.

Where I am now, barely anyone give me any advance notice. Last week was a field trip, you know what teachers would be going beforehand, right?? I asked the teacher running the trip twice - please give me the names of the teachers going so I can plan ahead. Never did.

Looking ahead on AESOP I saw that today there was going to be Special Ed meetings, but I was able to work it out. Then everytime I looked at it again, another teacher listed themself out. One teacher told the secretary to the Principal that she would be out ill. Didn't tell me WHO takes care of it. By the end of the day, in addition to the 5 teachers who were in meetings, 4 more were listed as sick. Nine teachers marked out, 4 subs to work with. And that was still early in the evening.

So today, after working 45 years, most of those years working 2 jobs, I called out (on AESOP) because I don't want to deal with the stress. I won't get paid, I don't care. And yet I feel guilty doing it, as that is not my work ethic.

For an 8 week leave replacement, I've been very stressed, working more hours per day than I did in my previous job. I'm in the office at 7:30a every morning, working until 3:30p or 4p (suppose to leave at 3:15p). The secretary I work with is retiring at the end of the school year, she's been taking 2 days off per week. Those days I don't get a lunch break and eat at my desk, which I've been logging. So I am AT my desk 7:30a to 4p with no break. It's crazy!

Thanks for listening (reading). I needed to get this off my chest. My last day is April 8. I told my sister this job may have cured me of ever wanting to work in a school district again!

hennypenny · ‎03-10-2010

I am so sorry to hear your story. It seems that courtesy and respect for others have gone out the window. My youngest who is in his thirties, said his bosses don't expect employees to call in sick until just before work even though the employee is already ill or has a dr. appt. --I find it an appalling sign of the times.

decbabe · ‎03-11-2010

Although I am not in the work force anymore, I can tell you, you situation is no different than many in different sectors. My daughter, who works in insurance, has the same scenerio ...she's lucky if she gets to eat her lunch before she goes home...it just seems no one takes responsibility for their job; who's out on a cigarette break, who takes their phone to the ladies room, in the meantime the calls have to be directed to someone and it's the one sitting working at their desks...It's a crazy world out there today and not like it used to be.

PamfromCT · ‎05-22-2014

I do think what you are experiencing is not abnormal. Sad to say, isn’t it? I am 74, retired for many years now. At the end, I was so ready to retire. As fate would have it, about a couple weeks later, my mother started with illnesses. So I would have retired anyway. Thankfully, I was not the breadwinner for our family, and our kids were long out of college.

Try to look at this through a positive lens. When retired, all that stress will be erased. I wish you well, and I am sorry for what you are having to deal with. I bet they will miss you when you are gone!

SXMGirl · ‎07-07-2010

@roeroe1005 They don't make them like you any more, which is such a shame. We see this attitude everywhere today.

I retired from public school, and I always let our secretary know when I would be out and I always left detailed instructions in my folder for the substitute. That was not only a matter of courtesy, but it was essential for the students in the classroom. I also had a favorite substitute that would get a heads up if I knew that I would be out.

I know that you will be glad when April 8 comes, but I wonder why the principal has not stepped in, especially since you are not getting a break for lunch.

The next time that I hear salt and ice together, it better be in a margarita!

JeanLouiseFinch · ‎10-03-2011

@roeroe1005 I'm sorry you feel stressed in your job lately. I was a high school sub for 13 yrs. or so. In the beginning, I would get those early morning calls but the majority of the time if a teacher knew of their absence in advance and wanted me, they would ask me directly and then we'd notify the office secretary. I was fortunate to have a good rapport with the faculty and they believed I did a good job with their students so my assignments were more often arranged in advance than not. I'd also do long term assignments that were arranged in advance. Things worked like this for many years and then our school corporation adopted the AESOP system as well. It actually reduced some of the chaos in the office/for the secretary early in the mornings. Teachers could access AESOP to put in their absence. Subs could access AESOP to see where there were openings and accept the assignment. Even with this system in place, some teachers still wanted to make sure they got me so we'd agree and ask the office secretary to log it in rather than the teacher put the absence on and risk another sub snagging it before I got online. For last minute absences, AESOP would make the early morning calls. For those that weren't filled, the office secretary would still make some calls or sometimes try to piece things together. Isn't there something on your end of AESOP where you can see a list of teacher absences and the subs who filled in, done in daily, weekly, or pay period format? I guess with your assignment ending, it may not be that important to you at this point. Enjoy the rest of your day off. It'll all be over soon.

libbyannE · ‎10-27-2010

I have no idea what Aesop is, but it’s obvious that the school has a major management issue.

roeroe1005 · ‎03-13-2010

@SXMGirl

This job reports to the Assistant Principal. The Principal doesn't have a clue, he doesn't come in until 9ish (first period begins at 8:10a), then gets his coffee/breakfast and then begins his day. I've never seen anything like this! Yesterday, the AP was out and the Principal did not show up until 10a. There were no administrators in the building. God forbid something serious happened. That gives you an idea why the teachers act they way they do.

Nine more days of this! I cannot work in chaos, I'm way too OCD.

roeroe1005 · ‎03-13-2010

LibbyAnnE,
AESOP is a software system used in schools for employees to report their absences. In my former job, teachers had to call in to a central phone number.