It’s official! Today, I resigned from my Instructional Assistant position that I have been in for the past four years. This was not an easy decision. I like my job and I like the people I work with, however, I don’t like the high risk of COVID exposure.

I was hired by the district in 2017. At the time, my kids had been students at this school and so it was wonderful to be able to work at the same school and run into them on occasion. A couple of years passed and they both moved on to high school. However, I had grown to enjoy my job, the students, and the staff that I worked with. Fast forward to today and things have changed.

The concern about COVID and how the school is going to take measures to keep students and staff safe concerns me. I have seen things said but not done in the past and I don’t feel confident that they will strictly adhere to the guidelines they set. I can’t justify the risk to myself or my family. My husband works from home and my kids are all going to school virtually so that would leave only me risking possible exposure daily and bringing it home to everyone.

My school district went virtual in March of 2020. Initially, everything was a mess. Parents were upset, teachers were upset but that’s what’s expected when something has to be thrown together in a short period of time. I think the district did a pretty good job considering those constraints. After the school year ended in May, the district redid their online setup to make it more user friendly. They knew that this coming year they would have students remaining online and others wishing to return to campus.

Knowing this, I had hoped to be able to remain working online, too. About 40% of the students have chosen to stay virtual so I would think there would be a need for staff to stay virtual, too. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Teachers are teaching both in-person and virtual at the same time. Since it was mandatory to go back on campus, I decided to act on my decision. Now it is not my style to not give a proper two weeks notice when leaving a job. But, this situation ended up resulting in just that. I had to give a one week notice so that I could avoid returning on campus the following week.

After I made my decision, I had a few moments on doubting myself on whether I had made a mistake. But, as time passed, I know now 100% that my decision was the right one. I don’t feel this concern about returning weighing on me any longer. I do hope that things go smoothly for them and they have no issues this year.

In a future post, I will share with you all the details about my next new adventure! 🙂