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School Staffing Needs Form Asking Me if I Will Return Next Year Seems Shady

TL;DR: School principal sent staffing needs form, worried if I respond honestly that I won't be coming back they will take away my two months of paid summer vacation. Long time lurker, never thought I'd have anything to add to here but I have a question. I currently work as a teacher at a middle school, and needless to say I am far from thrilled in my current role. My background is in sports medicine (collegiate athletic trainer for 2 years prior to coming here) and I am looking to get out of this environment. The school dumps an unbelievable amount of responsibility on me because I am somewhat comfortable in a lot of things that are not anywhere near my job description (i.e, somehow becoming the IT person, handle all of the audio/visual equipment for assemblies, etc.), and despite having a masters degree in sport and fitness administration, I…


TL;DR: School principal sent staffing needs form, worried if I respond honestly that I won't be coming back they will take away my two months of paid summer vacation.

Long time lurker, never thought I'd have anything to add to here but I have a question. I currently work as a teacher at a middle school, and needless to say I am far from thrilled in my current role. My background is in sports medicine (collegiate athletic trainer for 2 years prior to coming here) and I am looking to get out of this environment. The school dumps an unbelievable amount of responsibility on me because I am somewhat comfortable in a lot of things that are not anywhere near my job description (i.e, somehow becoming the IT person, handle all of the audio/visual equipment for assemblies, etc.), and despite having a masters degree in sport and fitness administration, I am likely paid the lowest salary at my school because they base their salaries solely off of classroom experience, which I had zero when I started. I had a job lined up, was told by one of the hiring people that it was basically mine if I wanted it, and I was all settled to leave the school and then this new job told me they hired someone else, so I am back to looking elsewhere.

Now that the background is out of the way, here is my situation. My girlfriend and I are expecting a little baby boy (!!) in July and I definitely don't make enough to support us both while she is in school. I currently work on the side as an athletic trainer, picking up PRN work as I can (usually after school and on weekends), and it is really tearing me up. I work between 60-70 hour weeks, and most weeks there are multiple days that I leave my teaching job and drive straight to an athletic training job to cover games for another 4-5 hours. A week or two ago, the school sent out a “school staffing form” for us to fill out for next year, and I ignored it. I just received an email from my principal with the form copied and telling me to turn in by Friday. The form gives three options:

-Yes I would like to return in my current role

-Yes I would like to return but in a different role

-No I will be exploring other options for next year

Now through all of the nonsense that I have been put through here, the sole reason I have stayed is for the long holiday breaks and the chance to have a summer off but still get paid (I am on a 12 month pay period, so get paid over the summer despite not being in session). While I obviously have no intention on returning here next year, I am afraid that if I am honest and put that I won't be returning they are going to terminate me at the end of the year and I will be out the summer pay and time off. The summer out of session will allow me to continue to collect my salary while taking on more AT work and essentially have two incomes to jumpstart us financially before the baby comes, so it is something I can't really afford to lose unless I get a higher paying job before the summer.

Basically looking for any advice on how to fill this thing out.

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