For some reason, Orange County Public Schools flipped the schedules for middle schools and high schools this year. Yeah, yeah I know that the change will supposedly save money for transportation. At least that’s what the school board told us.
In the long run, though, I think the district will end up losing money.
First of all, they didn’t flip the schedules exactly. High schools now start half an hour to an hour later than the middle schools started last year. We have to arrive at work at 9 am and don’t get off until 4:30.
So what happens if we need to see make an appointment for a doctor or just about anything else? Well, we’ll have to take 1/2 day off. Hell, if we have to take a half day to go to the dentist we might as well take the whole day to get everything else done that we didn’t have time to do thanks to the schedule change.
Today I had to race to my vet’s office to get my dog’s special dog food. I barely made it there before they closed.
Previously, if one of my pets were sick I could call and make an appointment for the afternoon and not miss any work. Now if I don’t take time off then they will just have to wait until Saturday when I have only 1/2 a day to get them to the vet.
Or take time off to take the pet to the vet.
If I need to take myself to the doctor or the dentist, I’ll have to take time off when previously I could do it after work.
Yes, I understand that middle school teachers had this problem last year, but I don’t think it was quite as bad. Remember, high schools are starting and finishing even later than the middle schools did last year.
The district has guaranteed that the need for substitutes will be higher this year. Since people only get 6 days of personal leave (that has to be asked for at least 5 days in advance), they’ve also guaranteed that more people will be calling in sick.
That doesn’t even take into account that these days seem to be the longest I’ve ever worked.
I really hate this new schedule.
