The school district called an emergency meeting and the "instructional support staff"
I included, sat dumbfounded in the audience as the big shots explained there would
be budget cuts. You could hear a pin drop. The meeting came the first week of January and no one quite expected the news. Oh, there was talk before the holidays. In fact, there had been talk about phasing out certain positions for at least two years.
But when the meeting was called and all of us sat there with dread, we hoped against hope it wasn't going to happen. My friend who had just gotten hired before December whispered under her nervous laugh, "well this is my first meeting and my last."
So, it's been a few weeks since that horrible meeting and Human Resources has begun the tedious job of calling each and everyone of us to see if we would consider other positions; with less pay, ofcourse. When my call came last week, I was open and even welcomed the idea of going back to the classroom. For me, teaching has always been my calling and it is what I do best. But the uncertainty of the whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth. Being the committed person that I am, I realize I still have a lot of work to do at my campus. In other words, my job is not done.
And not knowing if I'll even be here next week or wondering if I'll be called for an interview to be placed in another school makes me feel like an orphan without a home. Quite frankly, I don't like how they've handled this at all. Why the heck did they hire all these new people (myself included) if they were going to dissolve the position? When you're on the receiving end of the chopping block, it feels like you are last year's leftovers and you have to be thrown away. They are simply throwing us away to save a little money. So, we are the budget cuts? Couldn't they have phased us out gradually? Couldn't they have done a hiring freeze? For goodness sakes, they were still hiring new people in December!!! We are being treated like a surplus of numbers instead of human beings with families to support.
O.K. I tell myself, it's a new year and I'm desperately trying to be optimistic. I want to stay positive in the midst of all this gloom.We were reassured at the "meeting" that we would be displaced but be given priority where ever there were openings. I guess it's luck of the draw. If we don't sign papers in Human Resource and be "good little boys and girls" willing to go back to the classroom, will we be out of luck and out of a job? Thank fully, I haven't placed my faith in these paper pushers. Nope, no siree. I just don't trust them. The only reason I'm not screaming, or drowning in my sorrow is because I refuse to give up. After all, I may not be in control of any of their decisions or what they ultimatley decide to do with me. But I am still in control of how I choose to react to all of this. Oh, and I do have control of my attitude. So, I've chosen to have a positive attitude and look at all of this as a "fortuitous accident" After all, throughout my life,when everything appeared to go down the tubes, the only thing that got me through was my faith in God. Thank fully, I have faith in HIM. So, for now I'll hang in there, look to HIM for guidance and counsel and believe I will be where God wants me to be.
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