187 | When Do I Tell My Principal I’m Job-Searching? - HD 1080p
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[00:00:00] Bryson Tarbet: When should I tell my principal that I'm looking for a new job? This is a question that has lots of different answers, depending on lots of different circumstances. So let's go ahead and dive in. You are listening to that music podcast with Bryson Tart, the curriculum designer and educational consultant behind that music teacher in the elementary music summit.
[00:00:22] Bryson Tarbet: Each week, Bryson and his guests will dive into the reality of being an elementary music teacher and how music can truly be transformative in the lives of the students you serve. Show notes and resources mentioned in this episode can be [email protected].
[00:00:44] Bryson Tarbet: Hello everyone and welcome back to that music podcast. Today we're gonna talk about one of the questions that I see, especially this time of year posted in like music teacher Facebook groups, which is, when should I tell my principal that either I'm looking for a job, I have a new job, I have an interview, I'm not [00:01:00] coming back.
[00:01:00] Bryson Tarbet: Like how, when do we have that conversation? Um. And it's a doozy, right? Like that is a heavy conversation and there's so much nuance that goes into it. So let's talk a little bit about that. First of all, I want to clarify that the first thing that you wanna do is be aware of the things that you have to do, right?
[00:01:20] Bryson Tarbet: Um, I know in most states you have to resign by a certain date, or the school district can essentially hold onto your license. Um, so just be aware of those. Um, and also look into your teacher contracts, because sometimes your teacher contracts will specify specific dates where things have to be done, um, for, um, so just be aware of that.
[00:01:36] Bryson Tarbet: So that's kinda those things that, like, there will be some, like, mileage may vary depending on where you are, um, and what your, your policies are. Um, but let's dive into kind of my, my little thoughts on this because I, I have like, like I have many thoughts. Um. So first of all, I think it's important to keep the professionalism there, um, but also keep, I think it's important for us as, as teachers to kind of keep a little bit of [00:02:00] confidentiality.
[00:02:00] Bryson Tarbet: Um, you know, I, I never inter, you know, I interviewed many times, um, throughout the years between, for different districts other than the district that I was in. Um, and I, I never like went out and, you know, said, Hey, I'm looking for a new job. Um, because, you know, early in my career, my, my administrators, they, they weren't.
[00:02:18] Bryson Tarbet: Bad, they weren't toxic, but like I, I, I was a little bit, I wanted a little bit more space. Like I just, I needed a little bit more anonymity there. And I think that was, that was helpful during that time. Um, now I will say with, you know, the last couple years, um, I had absolutely phenomenal administrators.
[00:02:34] Bryson Tarbet: Um, and I also, like, I had, we, we've been through a lot, you know, we're going through covid and things like that. So I was just like, Hey, like I, I was very aware. I, I made them very aware that I am, I feel like I'm drowning. I'm at two different schools. I have hundreds of students. I'm not sure how much longer I can do this in the way that this job is currently structured.
[00:02:52] Bryson Tarbet: And the reason I did that is because I wanted to make it very clear that like, hey, this position is gonna be really hard to find someone to do it long term. Um, [00:03:00] whether that's me, you know, I, the district was growing, so I was like, Hey, maybe, maybe there's a chance, you know, down the road where things could different, you know, different things could happen or it could be restructured.
[00:03:08] Bryson Tarbet: That was kind of my main thing. I never, uh, blatantly said, you know, I'm looking for new jobs and things like that. But at that point I had already had kind of a really good relationship with my administrators and I just. I put it all out there. I was just like, Hey, like I love what I get to do. These are some things that are making it really hard for me to fully, fully apply to this.
[00:03:24] Bryson Tarbet: If there's anything that we can do or a plan that we can have in the future, like. I, I, I'd rather say it than not say it. So that's kind of where we started. Um, I will say, you know, there have been times where I was, um, you know, a final round, a final round candidate for, of a different position. At that point, I, I said, Hey, you know, I told my principal, Hey, you, you, I.
[00:03:45] Bryson Tarbet: You might be getting, um, um, a message like I am interviewing for, for this position. Um, you know, at this point we're, it's still early. It's like April May. Um, so things are, things are still early about like, hey, you know, there might be things happening. Um, you know, I love what I get to do, but as we've talked [00:04:00] earlier, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm open to other options to see what else is out there and, you know, if that is where you can be with your administrators.
[00:04:07] Bryson Tarbet: Um, and within those, the policies that are set, I think that's a really good place that you can be. Now with that being said, I am fully aware that there are some administrators that that information will be used against you and I, I don't want that to happen. Um, so if that is the case, if you do not fully trust your administrators, I would err on the side of I don't need to tell them anything.
[00:04:26] Bryson Tarbet: I don't need to tell them, you know, if, if it comes to it. They can, you know, they'll, they'll get the information they know when they need to know it. Um, so I, I've done that before. You know, I, I know, I know teacher friends who have before who were final round candidates and at that point they still didn't even tell their principals and, you know, they, they didn't really tell administrators that they were.
[00:04:47] Bryson Tarbet: Looking at leaving until they had a new job offer at hand. Because sometimes, unfortunately, that is what needs to happen to, to protect, um, to protect yourself as a teacher. So just be aware of that. Um, I don't wanna like scare you. I don't want you to say like, you know, turning [00:05:00] this huge thing because the vast majority of administrators out there really are great people who are great educators.
[00:05:06] Bryson Tarbet: Um, but I do, I do feel like it's important to put that out there. Another question I see a lot in these Facebook groups are, do you know, should I have my administrator, my current administrator as a. A reference on my application to this other school district. Um, and I think honestly, if. If you think that they would give you a good recommendation, that's a really good sign.
[00:05:26] Bryson Tarbet: I'm not saying that, you know, interview committees aren't gonna look at people that don't have references that are administrators. Um, but I also think that at that point, that's when you kind of need to be like, Hey, I. You know, can I use you as a letter of rec? You know, can I use you as a reference? Um, I, I don't think it's necessarily appropriate to put someone down as a reference and not tell them you did that.
[00:05:47] Bryson Tarbet: Um, 'cause no one likes to be blindsided. Right. And kind of think of that from the administrative point of view, right? If you have this teacher who you absolutely love, and you get a call that says, Hey, this is so and so school district, you know that we're interviewing them for a job. [00:06:00] What can you say about them at that point?
[00:06:01] Bryson Tarbet: Your first reaction is, oh, they're, look, this is news to me. And like. That's just like not putting them in a great place, but also like their response might be a little weird because they're a little bit caught off guard. So just be aware of that. I think it is, it, it is good professional courtesy to, if you're gonna put someone down as a reference, let them know and ask.
[00:06:19] Bryson Tarbet: Um, and at that point, that's kind of doing the work for you, right? If you, if you trust the administrator enough to, to do that and to trust that they would say something great and you know they're gonna know that you're looking for new jobs. Um. And I think it's important, kinda like I talked earlier, if you're looking for new jobs, really be specific as to why.
[00:06:37] Bryson Tarbet: Um, especially if you're, you're, you're able to have this op open communication with your administrator. Um, because they're really, if, if they don't know, they can't do anything, they might not be able to do anything anyway. But if they, if they don't know what's, what they don't, what you don't like about your job or what you're looking more for in another job, then there's 0% chance they're gonna make, be able to make any.
[00:06:56] Bryson Tarbet: Any changes, um, even, even longer term [00:07:00] changes. So you got the job, you have accepted the offer. Next year you're starting in a new district. How do you do the next things? Um, and this is something that honestly was so hard for me. Um, so obviously I didn't have a new job offer in hand. I was leaving the classroom to run my company full-time.
[00:07:18] Bryson Tarbet: Um, but it was hard. It, you know, I, like I said, I, I developed this great relationship with, with my administrators. And the day that I, it was so weird. Like it was the, I knew that I needed to resign. I knew that I needed to make it public. I knew that I, I didn't wanna put my school district on alerts by waiting.
[00:07:32] Bryson Tarbet: Um, so we're still like. The school year is still happening. Like, we're not even done with the year yet. It's, it's like may, um, it might have even been April, I don't even remember. But basically I was like, I, I woke up one morning and I just said, all right, this, I guess this is the day, this is, this is the day that I resigned.
[00:07:48] Bryson Tarbet: And I, you know, I, I wrote a, a very short resignation letter, and then I, I met in person with both of my administrators that morning and just saying, Hey, like, this is what's happening. I. It's hard for me [00:08:00] to say, you know, I, I hate that I have to leave to be able to do this next step. Um, I will say for the vast majority of administrators, I think it is good professional courtesy to give them an in-person conversation of.
[00:08:11] Bryson Tarbet: Your resignation. Uh, with that being said, I know there are some administrators where that will turn into a whole thing and you don't owe them that. Um, so after you have a conversation or don't have a conversation, at that point, you will also need to submit it in writing. Um, so for my case, I had, I asked my principals, I was like, Hey, I have two principals, like, who do I send this to?
[00:08:30] Bryson Tarbet: And they're like, just send it to the superintendent. I don't know. So we, I, you know, I sent my, my letter of my signed letter of resignation, um, to the superintendent, and that was that. Uh, a couple things. First of all, not a lawyer, um, but I, in your letter of rec resignation, be very clear on when you are resigning.
[00:08:48] Bryson Tarbet: Um, you know, if you're resigning, I know that there are certain things where, you know, I'm resigning at the end of the school year versus the end of my contract. Um, could get you in some trouble with, with benefits. So, for instance, for me, [00:09:00] I. At the end of my contract, because the end of my contract goes up through the beginning of the next school year.
[00:09:05] Bryson Tarbet: So that made sure I still had benefits throughout the whole thing. Um, now obviously every contract might be a little bit different on how they do severance and things like that. Um, but typically you should be able to, you know, that, that, that that's part of your benefits, that your, your, you know, your benefits and all the, your quote unquote summer pay is stuff that you've already earned.
[00:09:21] Bryson Tarbet: It's accrued, it's accrued wages. Um, so just be very clear. Um, or if you're like, Hey, I'm leaving, but I'm gonna have new benefits, you might be able to say at the, you know. The effective at the end of the school year on this date. Um, and they might be able to do like a, just do give you a severance check, basically give you all of your recruit pay.
[00:09:37] Bryson Tarbet: Um, every district's gonna have a different thing with that. So do that, do with that information what you will. I hope this has been helpful. Um, I will say having these conversations with your administrators can be really tricky, um, because there is this kind of power dynamic that if you don't have a really good administrator, um.
[00:09:56] Bryson Tarbet: It can get, it can turn into, it can turn into kind of quicksand [00:10:00] where everything just kind of gets a little bit out of control. And it, this thing that wasn't a whole, you know, the thing that really wasn't a thing turns into this whole big thing. And so just be aware that you, there are certain things you have to do.
[00:10:12] Bryson Tarbet: There are certain things that I think professional courtesy says you should do. Um, and then there are certain things that you have absolutely no, you don't have to do it if you don't wanna do it. Um, and I think that whenever we can offer professional courtesy. Also not feel like we're walking into a trap, do it.
[00:10:27] Bryson Tarbet: I think that's just good karma. I think that's good, especially when you're able to be, if you note here, I don't even know how, how to make this like not a big jump, so we're just gonna do it. But if you know you're leaving, I. And you have a JA job offer in hand. Or if you, Hey, you know, my husband is gonna, is getting, moving to getting this job over here.
[00:10:49] Bryson Tarbet: So I am moving. Like, if you know all of this is happening, give your district as much time to process this as you can. Um, I think your students deserve to find, have as much, you know, deserve [00:11:00] that because finding a new teacher in the, in today's day, day and age especially, one that wants to be in your position and that will do well and fit well with the students.
[00:11:08] Bryson Tarbet: It's not something that they want to do last minute. Um, so that's something. When I resigned, I knew that I wanted to give my district as much time as possible to post the position, to get in front of these new grads, to get in front of these, you know, I, I wanted to make sure that there was enough time that if there was someone that wasn't a new grad, that, you know, they could go through the whole process without getting stuck in their current contract.
[00:11:27] Bryson Tarbet: And I really just wanted to give as much time as possible. And I think that is really where. If you lead with that, especially if you're having these in-person conversations with your admin and say, Hey, I don't want anyone to be surprised about this. Um, you know, which is why I'm doing this early. I think that's when you know, again, karma, you can build up some good karma.
[00:11:47] Bryson Tarbet: And I think I. When you're able to do that again, not, you can't all the time, not every position and not every situation is, is safe to do that. Um, but when you're able to, to do that and give like lots of lead time and be very clear [00:12:00] about, you know, why you're leaving, uh, and things like that, I think it will be generally, I.
[00:12:03] Bryson Tarbet: Well received. With that being said, I hope you have enjoyed this week's episode. If you haven't left us a review on iTunes or YouTube or wherever you're listening, uh, please do so. It really helps us understand what types of topics you like, what you really don't like. Um, it helps us get in front of new music educators just like you.
[00:12:19] Bryson Tarbet: I hope that you have a great rest of your week. Um, and in case nobody has told you lately, thank you so much for making a difference in the lives of the students that you teach.
