YAY! Another Decision Made!

A couple months ago I mentioned how we had some decisions we needed to make, and one of them was Pete's job for this upcoming school year.

At the time that post was written, one school was trying to get at least a .8 for him, and we hadn't heard from the other school as to what their plan was. We were hoping for a full time position, but if he had to, we'd be okay with him having to go back and forth between the two schools again as long as the schedules worked out. The last thing we wanted was a .8 position; that probably sounds greedy or odd, but a .8 would be us living paycheck to paycheck, unable to work at more than one school, and one of us would have to get a part time job which would mean little to no family time. Stressful.

Next thing we heard was both schools were trying to get full time positions arranged for him.

Although that was a really really encouraging scenario, it wasn't what we were expecting! All of a sudden we realized that on the off chance both schools were able to give him full time, we'd have to make a decision as to which job to accept.

But how to choose? Here's what our thought process was:

He's in his 6th year at school #1 and has tenure; this is his first year at school #2 and would have to go through the tenure process again. However, because he'd been tenured at a school previously, it would be a 2 year probation period (for a full time position; this part time year doesn't count towards the probation period) rather than the standard 3 years. Having to go through the tenure process again is annoying, but there would be no reason why he wouldn't get it; not being tenured is annoying, but not really a reason to turn down a school.

School #1 is 45 minutes away; school #2 is 20 (and that's only if you hit the one stop light or get stuck behind a truck or tractor). This one weighed heavily in favor of school #2. 45 minutes in the winter is really rough, especially when Pete would be the plow out on our hilly and twisty road in the mornings. We'd save on gas money and his car wouldn't have as much wear and tear on it.

School #1 would have someone retiring in the next 5-10 years, meaning he wouldn't be bottom of the seniority ladder anymore; school #2 has a very young staff and it would be 15 years or so before the next person retired. Being bottom seniority is really really hard. We've discovered that this past year! If cuts are being made, you're the first person to be cut. This one also weighed heavily in favor of school #1.

School #1 has an unusually high amount of kids taking physics next year, so a full time position might only be for a year or so; school #2 is fairly even year after year and would actually be adding a class for Pete to write the curriculum for and teach, so a full time job looked more promising for the long run. We like stability...a lot. Enough said :)

School #1 is on the smallish side and have had talks about possibly having to merge with another school or close if enrollment decreases (enrollment has gone up enough that talks have since ceased); school #2 is larger and is stable for the foreseeable future. Again, the stability thing.

Pay would be approximately the same at both schools, and he liked working at both schools equally.

So which school would it be? I knew which one I wanted (school #2!), but the final decision wasn't going to be up to me.

It actually ended up not being up to Pete, either.

After weeks of waiting, the positions were presented:

School #1 offered a .8 position. School #2 offered a full time position as long as the school budget passed.

So we waited some more.

At 9:32 pm on Tuesday, May 21, we found out the school #2's budget did indeed pass!

But that wasn't all we had to wait for.

Have I mentioned lately how much I hate waiting???? I'm awful at waiting.

Even though the budget passed, the school board had to approve the appointing of Pete to a full time position...and that wouldn't happen until Tuesday, May 28th.

Tuesday rolled around...and we sat on pins and needles at home while the board meeting happened.

Then came Wednesday. I sat on pins and needles all morning, thinking while Pete was at school #1 someone would email him letting him know the results of the meeting. Then when Pete went to school #2, I waited and waited and waited some more, waiting for an email or text letting me know the details.

Nothing came through.

When Pete FINALLY called me on his way back to school #1 for the afternoon, I couldn't take it anymore, I had to know.

And he didn't know for sure, either.

All that was said to him was a 'congratulations' from his principal. We took that to mean the board approved him, but we didn't want to really be shouting the news from the rooftops yet.

So we waited and waited for the board to mail him a letter saying he was approved.

Thursday's mail came. No letter.

Friday's mail came. No letter again.

By this time, we just assumed no news was good news and celebrated his job by ordering Chinese food and letting everyone know that he got the job.

Saturday's mail came. No letter.

Today's mail came. No letter.

I was almost in tears. What if we were celebrating for nothing? The school is just a couple towns over. There was no reason why we shouldn't have gotten the letter yet. I was frustrated and nervous.

Pete got home, and I told him the letter still hadn't arrived. He asked what letter, and I told him the one from the school board. Then he got a twinkle in his eye, and asked me:

"What, you mean this letter?"

He hands me an envelope with the school's logo on it, and there, inside, was the letter letting him know he got the job!!!!!!!! YAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!!

The downside of this all is having to write the letter of resignation to school #1. He has a lot of friends there, and the school has been so good to us. Nate was just a teeny tiny baby when Pete started there, so saying goodbye to the school will be hard.

So that's our big news! Anything new and exciting happening in your lives?