We're already into April of 2011. A third of the year down and three quarters to go.
I really like to write, but I haven't posted here for a while. I spend most of my time on my other blog which is about autism, so this is a place for me to write about more personal subjects, political topics, or to blow off steam when I'm really bugged about something. I was feeling kinda down when I posted here last December, but I'm in a completely different place now that I have a new job. It's a truly awesome opportunity, almost too good to be true.
I used to run a school for children with autism and special needs, and it started with this same feeling. When I was hired, the founder presented the job as an incredible opportunity. It was a place where I could grow professionally, and my salary would mirror this. She was an expert fundraiser, and there would be chances to get a percentage of this as well. The future was bright, and I was going to be a part of it. And the location was just four blocks from my home. How much more perfect could it be?
When I started in March of 2009, 18 students were enrolled and there were soon to be many more because we were applying with the local school district to become an Non Public School. An NPS is a school vendored by districts to educate students that can't access the curriculum in their school of residence. Once the NPS was approved, our enrollment would dramatically increase. And this was only the beginning. The plan was to use the school as a pilot program, then we'd replicate our cutting-edge idea to cities throughout the US and abroad.
We were the first school in the world to incorporate into its curriculum a parent program that was developed to help children with autism and other developmental disabilities. In the program, parents re-establish the parent-child relationship through shared activities. These positive experiences create new neuropathways in the child's brain, and he learns how to become more flexible and adaptable, stop being cognitively rigid, perceive how others feel, and adapt to change without becoming overwhelmed. By coincidence, I had just enrolled in this same program with my son so I was incorporating it into our own lives. Another sign that my new job as Principal was going to be a life-altering and lifetime commitment.
At first, I loved what I was doing because it (1)combined a paying job with my personal interest in autism , (2) incorporated the parent-based program in which the school was based and I was personally enrolled, (3) gave me an opportunity to work directly with the doctors that founded the parent-based program, and (4) was an opportunity combine all of these interests into a paying gig. The pay was low, and I was making less than any of the four teachers on staff. This was ok, because it was only temporary. Soon, enrollment would grow and I would be compensated. Most of the families and students were great, and I bonded with a few. So going to work each day, waking up at 5AM to arrive by 8, and walking four blocks to work, it was all good.
I soon discovered that the school was anything but paradise.
The founder was very upfront about her own ADHD and that she was on medication. She could be a very charming woman and was very persuasive in selling the idea of the school. At first, there was constant email communication. She was at the campus most of the time though I knew this would lessen as I assumed more responsibility. But I soon learned that she was scattered. We'd make plans to do something and it was very important. Then, it would fade away and it wasn't discussed anymore. We were hiring more staff. I'd place an add on Craig's List, interview a few candidates, then she wouldn't follow up to meet with them herself. I started sending a daily status report which included action items for which I needed answers. I hardly got a response. I was responsible for managing the expenses, but I never received a budget. I soon realized that I had to do the best I could with the information I had. Sometimes I had enough to made decisions, but a lot of the time I didn't so there were always projects left unfinished.
I really liked working with the doctors, and I thought they were partners in the school. Turns out they were actually paid consultants. I discovered much later that annual amount of each of the doctor's consulting fees was more than my annual salary to run the school. They had the background and experience to justify this, but the doctors would soon find out that any agreements made with the founder didn't usually work out.
Over the summer, I found out that the Planning Department of the city where we were located would be conducting an inspection of the facility. I hadn't been told any of the details, but when the founder purchased the property, she did extensive renovations to the buildings and the grounds. She added a back stairwell and demolished one of the two structures on the property. Before the project was completed, the original contractor quit without completing the final inspection or obtaining the Certificate of Occupancy (or C of O) from the city. I had no experience managing a commercial construction project and had no knowledge of the legal requirements to complete one. I was about to learn that in addition to being hired as the school's Principal, I was also hired as the founder's de facto construction project manager.
A C of O is issued upon the completion of a major remodel or the construction of a commercial building. It's issued after all of the building permits are signed off by the inspectors in the city's Building and Safety Department and the final inspection is signed off by the head of the Planning Department. To not get the C of O prior to opening the school could be potentially serious for the administrators and the staff, because by issuing the C of O, the city's was saying that all the safety issues and building requirements had been satisfied. Without it, anyone associated with the school could be held liable should anyone get hurt while on the premises. The founder had friends in high places at a big entertainment company that had clout with the city, so I suspect that a few strings were pulled so the school was allowed to open without the obtaining the C of O.
A meeting was scheduled with the founder, the project architect and representatives of the city's Planning, Building and Safety, Fire, and the Parks Departments (they oversaw the landscaping plans). It turned out that the contractor left a lot of unfinished projects. There were open issues that had not been completed for the electrical and plumbing permits. The landscaping was missing a operational irrigation system, and the contractor didn't install an in-ground planter facing the alley in the back of the building. Handrails were missing on all of the exterior stairwells. The Fire Department was requiring the installation of several safety features, and a few things that were done were out of compliance. There was a lot more, so I made detailed notes during the meeting. My job was to transcribe this list then go over it with the head of the Planning Department to prioritize what needed to be done and to finalize the timeline for completion. He and I got along very well, and within a couple weeks, we had a plan with a final deadline by the last day of June 2010. I eventually got to know all of the heads of the various divisions of the city's Building and Safety Department and developed a friendly relationship with each of them. I think they felt some sympathy for me because they realized that working with the founder wasn't easy.
I had ten months to complete all the projects, but I didn't think this would be a problem. Boy, I was wrong. When I asked the founder for approval to hire the workman and order the supplies, sometimes she'd say yes but most of the time she would just ignore the email and I never got an answer. She actually kept adding new projects. Wallpaper this room, install a door in that room, have a wall of mirror installed the other room. One day I received a call about an estimate for an $9,000 rolling metal gate to close off the parking lot. It was being done without getting approval from the city, and I knew it would never pass inspection and I was right - the city eventually ordered us to have it removed. I continued to email my daily report to the founder so I could keep track of everything as well as keep her in the loop. I was ignored more times than I was answered. I soon learned to just go with it and not worry when stuff didn't get done. Not really the way I like to work, but she was the boss.
She was also in the middle of her own personal construction project, the building of a lavish 12,000 square foot home. A lot of her personal items were stored at the school, and sometimes with no advance notification, furniture, artwork, or anything else that she had purchased or gotten donated would be delivered or removed, sometimes when the school was in session and parents or professionals were visiting. Some of the school's bathrooms were equipped with expensive faucets and toilets, but these were only installed temporarily because there were really intended for her personal residence. When it was time to have them installed in her new home, it was my job hire a workman to have the fixtures removed, packed, and delivered to the construction site. Then I had to purchase cheaper fixtures and hire a workman to re-install those back into the school's bathrooms. This was definitely more of a personal assistant's job than it was for a Principal, but I had learned that sometimes there was no line of separation between her personal life and the professional running of the school, so I just took care of it. Once, she and I had a miscommunication about the location of a bathroom faucet that she thought had been taken out of one of the bathrooms. She thought I'd lost it, then she berated and yelled at me over the phone for over a half hour. Turns out she never asked to have it removed, and it was still installed in an upstairs bathroom. The founder had never before verbally abused me like this, but I was already starting to have my doubts about my future with the school. She later apologized, but I wasn't convinced. I was seriously thinking that it was time to look for a new job.
The doctors finally left soon after the start of 2010. I got a call one day from their company's accounting department because neither had been paid their consulting fees for almost a year. The founder said she settled the dispute by paying them a large monetary settlement. This really annoyed me because I was still waiting for the raise that was promised to me over a year ago.
Enrollment steadily declined. Some families voluntarily left, others didn't pay their tuition and were asked to leave. There were two students that should have never been accepted because their behavioral issues were outside of the scope of our capabilities; one family left on their own and the other was asked to go. These parents were a bit of a pain so their departure was a relief, but I can't blame them for their attitude. The founder was really the cause of their frustration. I enrolled my own son for the 2009 school year. Overall, it was a mediocre experience, definitely not great but it wasn't harmful either. The only student close to his age left a couple months into the semester, and the rest of the students were a lot younger than him. I made him stick it out until the end of year, and it was good for us to spend a lot of time together. I think it helped to strengthen our relationship, and I know we got a lot more out of the parent program on which the school was based.
Any enthusiasm I still had for my job died in summer of 2010 when I was working on the project to finalize the plumbing permit.
According the architectural plans approved by the city, we needed to install an interior and an exterior drinking fountain. A licensed plumbing contractor would know which ones could be installed and how to properly install them, but I'm not a licensed contractor. Luckily, the city's plumbing inspector liked me so he gave me all the information I needed to get the project completed. First, the fountains had to be ADA compliant. Second, because the city didn't have their own list of approved interior fountains, he would accept the make and model of any fountain that was approved by the Building Department of our larger, neighboring city. Third, he'd accept any exterior fountain that was also approved by city's Parks Department.
I conducted my own online research into commercial, ADA-compliant drinking fountains and learned this meant it must have two faucets with staggered heights with enough space underneath to accommodate a wheelchair. After numerous calls and emails, I finally got the list of approved interior fountains from our neighboring city. I contacted the friendly head of the Parks Department, and he emailed the contact information for two companies that sold exterior fountains that he had used for previous city projects. I checked with the plumber to be sure there would be no issues in installing both fountains, and I confirmed with the suppliers that they could deliver the correct fountains in time to meet our July 30th deadline which was now only three weeks away. This was a month past the original deadline set last summer with the head of the Planning Department. He was nice enough to grant a 30-day extension when I knew I couldn't get the project completed on time, when, you guessed it, the founder waited until the last minute to give her approval to order the fountains.
After hours and hours of researching, calling and emailing, I finally had identified the two least-expensive fountains that met all the requirements that could be ordered and installed in time to meet our deadline. I sent the founder a detailed email that outlined exactly why we needed to order these fountains from these suppliers and a breakdown of the cost for materials and equipment. Her response: the expense was too high so she'd find someone to donate the fountains.
After I read her email, I almost called her to tell her I quit, but instead, I called a good friend to vent. (Thanks goodness for good friends!) It took hours and hours to finalize all the details, and now I couldn't get her approval to finish. Not only were we blowing the city's deadline, but unless she was able to get a donation of the exact same make and model for the interior fountain and from one of the same vendors for the exterior fountain, the city probably wouldn't issue the plumbing permit. Out of the blue a couple months later, I received an email giving me approval to order the fountains that I had originally recommended. It was three months past the original deadline set last summer with the head of the city's Planning Department, but I was finally able to get the fountains installed and the inspector to sign off on the permit.
The situation got worse. She vacated her rental house right before the end of the school year and right before summer break, she moved her furniture and a lot of her belongings into the classrooms. The school was beautifully decorated, but now it looked like a storage facility or a badly merchandised thrift store. Her three big dogs also moved in, and, to take care of them, the guy that did gardening and janitorial moved in too. I'm an animal lover, so, at first, it was kind of fun, but it soon became an annoyance, especially when the youngest dog chewed up my favorite pair of flip flops. They were allowed to run loose in the school and the yard. They pooped and peed everywhere, and the stink got really bad. Some of the neighbors weren't too happy either, because they complained about the excessive barking. I'm not sure why the dogs weren't moved, but I'm guessing the founder probably pulled some strings with the city just like she did with the C of O. Luckily, the teachers were working off-site for the summer and there were no students due to the cancellation of summer school, so the gardener/janitor and I were the only people at the school each day. We commented many times about our frustrations on how the school was being run.
The founder originally told me that the plan was to move her dogs and stuff out of the building before students returned in the September, but her house still wasn't ready by the first day of school. Most of her belongings were moved, but because she was living in a hotel, her dogs couldn't stay with her. Her solution: let the gardener/janitor and dogs continue to live on the second floor after school resumed. I learned about her change in plans during a conversation with one of the teachers, not directly from her, which in retrospect was probably a good thing. I know my reaction would not have been positive or supportive, and it would have been difficult to hold back my negative feelings during a face-to-face conversation. I did feel really bad for the dogs. They were stuck in an upstairs classroom, locked inside almost all day with very little human contact, and the smell was awful. Only the teachers used second floor, so at least the students and parents were away from the dogs. But when they barked, everyone in the building could hear. I know some of the parents were annoyed but they were afraid of saying anything that would make the founder angry and give her a reason to have their child kicked out of the school. Little did they know about the sorry state of the school's finances, and the founder needed them more than they needed her.
By August, I decided to leave. My original plan was to take a class or two at the local community college, reapply for Jacob's SSI and find a part-time job. The job market was still pretty sucky, and I wasn't having much luck in finding new employment. When I gave notice, I was surprised that the founder offered to let me stay part-time and work any hours I wanted. I figured I could handle 20 hours a week and not be too miserable.
I finally left last January when I was offered my new job. A for sale sign appeared on the front of the building a couple of weeks ago, so the founder is getting out too. The week before I left, the dogs had moved into the founder's new home, but, as of my last day, there were projects left unfinished from the original list compiled almost two years ago with the city building inspectors, the final inspection hadn't been completed, the C of O still needed to be issued, and the NPS application had yet to be approved by the school district.
Am I sorry that I spent a couple years of my life at the school? No, not really. I actually learned a lot. The founder facilitated a weekly parent meeting where we discussed issues about our children, and these were a great help in getting more out of the parent-based program in which my son and I are still enrolled and continue to benefit. I still really like this program, and I recommend it often to other parents. I met some great families, a couple of which I'm still in contact. I liked the staff, but, except for one teacher that I had to lay off (due to the shrinking school finances, not her job performance), I haven't talked to any of them since I left. The experience of running a school, however difficult the founder made things, really was an asset when I interviewed for my new job. All in all, it was a more of a positive than frustrating experience.
I'm disappointed that something that I was so excited about didn't work out, but I'm on to a bigger and better experience with my new company. I completely believe in our mission, and the pay is decent. So far, the founder, executive director and the staff at the other programs have been wonderful and they've said all the right things. Because of my experience at the school, I'm being ultra focused to notice anything that seems amiss, but so far so good.
I can't change the past, but I did learn from it. And really, isn't that only thing we can do about any of our life experiences, good or bad?
I really like to write, but I haven't posted here for a while. I spend most of my time on my other blog which is about autism, so this is a place for me to write about more personal subjects, political topics, or to blow off steam when I'm really bugged about something. I was feeling kinda down when I posted here last December, but I'm in a completely different place now that I have a new job. It's a truly awesome opportunity, almost too good to be true.
I used to run a school for children with autism and special needs, and it started with this same feeling. When I was hired, the founder presented the job as an incredible opportunity. It was a place where I could grow professionally, and my salary would mirror this. She was an expert fundraiser, and there would be chances to get a percentage of this as well. The future was bright, and I was going to be a part of it. And the location was just four blocks from my home. How much more perfect could it be?
When I started in March of 2009, 18 students were enrolled and there were soon to be many more because we were applying with the local school district to become an Non Public School. An NPS is a school vendored by districts to educate students that can't access the curriculum in their school of residence. Once the NPS was approved, our enrollment would dramatically increase. And this was only the beginning. The plan was to use the school as a pilot program, then we'd replicate our cutting-edge idea to cities throughout the US and abroad.
We were the first school in the world to incorporate into its curriculum a parent program that was developed to help children with autism and other developmental disabilities. In the program, parents re-establish the parent-child relationship through shared activities. These positive experiences create new neuropathways in the child's brain, and he learns how to become more flexible and adaptable, stop being cognitively rigid, perceive how others feel, and adapt to change without becoming overwhelmed. By coincidence, I had just enrolled in this same program with my son so I was incorporating it into our own lives. Another sign that my new job as Principal was going to be a life-altering and lifetime commitment.
At first, I loved what I was doing because it (1)combined a paying job with my personal interest in autism , (2) incorporated the parent-based program in which the school was based and I was personally enrolled, (3) gave me an opportunity to work directly with the doctors that founded the parent-based program, and (4) was an opportunity combine all of these interests into a paying gig. The pay was low, and I was making less than any of the four teachers on staff. This was ok, because it was only temporary. Soon, enrollment would grow and I would be compensated. Most of the families and students were great, and I bonded with a few. So going to work each day, waking up at 5AM to arrive by 8, and walking four blocks to work, it was all good.
I soon discovered that the school was anything but paradise.
The founder was very upfront about her own ADHD and that she was on medication. She could be a very charming woman and was very persuasive in selling the idea of the school. At first, there was constant email communication. She was at the campus most of the time though I knew this would lessen as I assumed more responsibility. But I soon learned that she was scattered. We'd make plans to do something and it was very important. Then, it would fade away and it wasn't discussed anymore. We were hiring more staff. I'd place an add on Craig's List, interview a few candidates, then she wouldn't follow up to meet with them herself. I started sending a daily status report which included action items for which I needed answers. I hardly got a response. I was responsible for managing the expenses, but I never received a budget. I soon realized that I had to do the best I could with the information I had. Sometimes I had enough to made decisions, but a lot of the time I didn't so there were always projects left unfinished.
I really liked working with the doctors, and I thought they were partners in the school. Turns out they were actually paid consultants. I discovered much later that annual amount of each of the doctor's consulting fees was more than my annual salary to run the school. They had the background and experience to justify this, but the doctors would soon find out that any agreements made with the founder didn't usually work out.
Over the summer, I found out that the Planning Department of the city where we were located would be conducting an inspection of the facility. I hadn't been told any of the details, but when the founder purchased the property, she did extensive renovations to the buildings and the grounds. She added a back stairwell and demolished one of the two structures on the property. Before the project was completed, the original contractor quit without completing the final inspection or obtaining the Certificate of Occupancy (or C of O) from the city. I had no experience managing a commercial construction project and had no knowledge of the legal requirements to complete one. I was about to learn that in addition to being hired as the school's Principal, I was also hired as the founder's de facto construction project manager.
A C of O is issued upon the completion of a major remodel or the construction of a commercial building. It's issued after all of the building permits are signed off by the inspectors in the city's Building and Safety Department and the final inspection is signed off by the head of the Planning Department. To not get the C of O prior to opening the school could be potentially serious for the administrators and the staff, because by issuing the C of O, the city's was saying that all the safety issues and building requirements had been satisfied. Without it, anyone associated with the school could be held liable should anyone get hurt while on the premises. The founder had friends in high places at a big entertainment company that had clout with the city, so I suspect that a few strings were pulled so the school was allowed to open without the obtaining the C of O.
A meeting was scheduled with the founder, the project architect and representatives of the city's Planning, Building and Safety, Fire, and the Parks Departments (they oversaw the landscaping plans). It turned out that the contractor left a lot of unfinished projects. There were open issues that had not been completed for the electrical and plumbing permits. The landscaping was missing a operational irrigation system, and the contractor didn't install an in-ground planter facing the alley in the back of the building. Handrails were missing on all of the exterior stairwells. The Fire Department was requiring the installation of several safety features, and a few things that were done were out of compliance. There was a lot more, so I made detailed notes during the meeting. My job was to transcribe this list then go over it with the head of the Planning Department to prioritize what needed to be done and to finalize the timeline for completion. He and I got along very well, and within a couple weeks, we had a plan with a final deadline by the last day of June 2010. I eventually got to know all of the heads of the various divisions of the city's Building and Safety Department and developed a friendly relationship with each of them. I think they felt some sympathy for me because they realized that working with the founder wasn't easy.
I had ten months to complete all the projects, but I didn't think this would be a problem. Boy, I was wrong. When I asked the founder for approval to hire the workman and order the supplies, sometimes she'd say yes but most of the time she would just ignore the email and I never got an answer. She actually kept adding new projects. Wallpaper this room, install a door in that room, have a wall of mirror installed the other room. One day I received a call about an estimate for an $9,000 rolling metal gate to close off the parking lot. It was being done without getting approval from the city, and I knew it would never pass inspection and I was right - the city eventually ordered us to have it removed. I continued to email my daily report to the founder so I could keep track of everything as well as keep her in the loop. I was ignored more times than I was answered. I soon learned to just go with it and not worry when stuff didn't get done. Not really the way I like to work, but she was the boss.
She was also in the middle of her own personal construction project, the building of a lavish 12,000 square foot home. A lot of her personal items were stored at the school, and sometimes with no advance notification, furniture, artwork, or anything else that she had purchased or gotten donated would be delivered or removed, sometimes when the school was in session and parents or professionals were visiting. Some of the school's bathrooms were equipped with expensive faucets and toilets, but these were only installed temporarily because there were really intended for her personal residence. When it was time to have them installed in her new home, it was my job hire a workman to have the fixtures removed, packed, and delivered to the construction site. Then I had to purchase cheaper fixtures and hire a workman to re-install those back into the school's bathrooms. This was definitely more of a personal assistant's job than it was for a Principal, but I had learned that sometimes there was no line of separation between her personal life and the professional running of the school, so I just took care of it. Once, she and I had a miscommunication about the location of a bathroom faucet that she thought had been taken out of one of the bathrooms. She thought I'd lost it, then she berated and yelled at me over the phone for over a half hour. Turns out she never asked to have it removed, and it was still installed in an upstairs bathroom. The founder had never before verbally abused me like this, but I was already starting to have my doubts about my future with the school. She later apologized, but I wasn't convinced. I was seriously thinking that it was time to look for a new job.
The doctors finally left soon after the start of 2010. I got a call one day from their company's accounting department because neither had been paid their consulting fees for almost a year. The founder said she settled the dispute by paying them a large monetary settlement. This really annoyed me because I was still waiting for the raise that was promised to me over a year ago.
Enrollment steadily declined. Some families voluntarily left, others didn't pay their tuition and were asked to leave. There were two students that should have never been accepted because their behavioral issues were outside of the scope of our capabilities; one family left on their own and the other was asked to go. These parents were a bit of a pain so their departure was a relief, but I can't blame them for their attitude. The founder was really the cause of their frustration. I enrolled my own son for the 2009 school year. Overall, it was a mediocre experience, definitely not great but it wasn't harmful either. The only student close to his age left a couple months into the semester, and the rest of the students were a lot younger than him. I made him stick it out until the end of year, and it was good for us to spend a lot of time together. I think it helped to strengthen our relationship, and I know we got a lot more out of the parent program on which the school was based.
Any enthusiasm I still had for my job died in summer of 2010 when I was working on the project to finalize the plumbing permit.
According the architectural plans approved by the city, we needed to install an interior and an exterior drinking fountain. A licensed plumbing contractor would know which ones could be installed and how to properly install them, but I'm not a licensed contractor. Luckily, the city's plumbing inspector liked me so he gave me all the information I needed to get the project completed. First, the fountains had to be ADA compliant. Second, because the city didn't have their own list of approved interior fountains, he would accept the make and model of any fountain that was approved by the Building Department of our larger, neighboring city. Third, he'd accept any exterior fountain that was also approved by city's Parks Department.
I conducted my own online research into commercial, ADA-compliant drinking fountains and learned this meant it must have two faucets with staggered heights with enough space underneath to accommodate a wheelchair. After numerous calls and emails, I finally got the list of approved interior fountains from our neighboring city. I contacted the friendly head of the Parks Department, and he emailed the contact information for two companies that sold exterior fountains that he had used for previous city projects. I checked with the plumber to be sure there would be no issues in installing both fountains, and I confirmed with the suppliers that they could deliver the correct fountains in time to meet our July 30th deadline which was now only three weeks away. This was a month past the original deadline set last summer with the head of the Planning Department. He was nice enough to grant a 30-day extension when I knew I couldn't get the project completed on time, when, you guessed it, the founder waited until the last minute to give her approval to order the fountains.
After hours and hours of researching, calling and emailing, I finally had identified the two least-expensive fountains that met all the requirements that could be ordered and installed in time to meet our deadline. I sent the founder a detailed email that outlined exactly why we needed to order these fountains from these suppliers and a breakdown of the cost for materials and equipment. Her response: the expense was too high so she'd find someone to donate the fountains.
After I read her email, I almost called her to tell her I quit, but instead, I called a good friend to vent. (Thanks goodness for good friends!) It took hours and hours to finalize all the details, and now I couldn't get her approval to finish. Not only were we blowing the city's deadline, but unless she was able to get a donation of the exact same make and model for the interior fountain and from one of the same vendors for the exterior fountain, the city probably wouldn't issue the plumbing permit. Out of the blue a couple months later, I received an email giving me approval to order the fountains that I had originally recommended. It was three months past the original deadline set last summer with the head of the city's Planning Department, but I was finally able to get the fountains installed and the inspector to sign off on the permit.
The situation got worse. She vacated her rental house right before the end of the school year and right before summer break, she moved her furniture and a lot of her belongings into the classrooms. The school was beautifully decorated, but now it looked like a storage facility or a badly merchandised thrift store. Her three big dogs also moved in, and, to take care of them, the guy that did gardening and janitorial moved in too. I'm an animal lover, so, at first, it was kind of fun, but it soon became an annoyance, especially when the youngest dog chewed up my favorite pair of flip flops. They were allowed to run loose in the school and the yard. They pooped and peed everywhere, and the stink got really bad. Some of the neighbors weren't too happy either, because they complained about the excessive barking. I'm not sure why the dogs weren't moved, but I'm guessing the founder probably pulled some strings with the city just like she did with the C of O. Luckily, the teachers were working off-site for the summer and there were no students due to the cancellation of summer school, so the gardener/janitor and I were the only people at the school each day. We commented many times about our frustrations on how the school was being run.
The founder originally told me that the plan was to move her dogs and stuff out of the building before students returned in the September, but her house still wasn't ready by the first day of school. Most of her belongings were moved, but because she was living in a hotel, her dogs couldn't stay with her. Her solution: let the gardener/janitor and dogs continue to live on the second floor after school resumed. I learned about her change in plans during a conversation with one of the teachers, not directly from her, which in retrospect was probably a good thing. I know my reaction would not have been positive or supportive, and it would have been difficult to hold back my negative feelings during a face-to-face conversation. I did feel really bad for the dogs. They were stuck in an upstairs classroom, locked inside almost all day with very little human contact, and the smell was awful. Only the teachers used second floor, so at least the students and parents were away from the dogs. But when they barked, everyone in the building could hear. I know some of the parents were annoyed but they were afraid of saying anything that would make the founder angry and give her a reason to have their child kicked out of the school. Little did they know about the sorry state of the school's finances, and the founder needed them more than they needed her.
By August, I decided to leave. My original plan was to take a class or two at the local community college, reapply for Jacob's SSI and find a part-time job. The job market was still pretty sucky, and I wasn't having much luck in finding new employment. When I gave notice, I was surprised that the founder offered to let me stay part-time and work any hours I wanted. I figured I could handle 20 hours a week and not be too miserable.
I finally left last January when I was offered my new job. A for sale sign appeared on the front of the building a couple of weeks ago, so the founder is getting out too. The week before I left, the dogs had moved into the founder's new home, but, as of my last day, there were projects left unfinished from the original list compiled almost two years ago with the city building inspectors, the final inspection hadn't been completed, the C of O still needed to be issued, and the NPS application had yet to be approved by the school district.
Am I sorry that I spent a couple years of my life at the school? No, not really. I actually learned a lot. The founder facilitated a weekly parent meeting where we discussed issues about our children, and these were a great help in getting more out of the parent-based program in which my son and I are still enrolled and continue to benefit. I still really like this program, and I recommend it often to other parents. I met some great families, a couple of which I'm still in contact. I liked the staff, but, except for one teacher that I had to lay off (due to the shrinking school finances, not her job performance), I haven't talked to any of them since I left. The experience of running a school, however difficult the founder made things, really was an asset when I interviewed for my new job. All in all, it was a more of a positive than frustrating experience.
I'm disappointed that something that I was so excited about didn't work out, but I'm on to a bigger and better experience with my new company. I completely believe in our mission, and the pay is decent. So far, the founder, executive director and the staff at the other programs have been wonderful and they've said all the right things. Because of my experience at the school, I'm being ultra focused to notice anything that seems amiss, but so far so good.
I can't change the past, but I did learn from it. And really, isn't that only thing we can do about any of our life experiences, good or bad?
