I knew something strange was going on

[mortensorchid]

Last year, I took a job as a morning proctor at a boarding school. I was in the dorm at 6:30 in the morning (having to drive 30 miles to get there one way), I saw the kids off to class in the mornings and handed out prescription and/or over the counter meds to them. There were a total of 10 proctors on staff (5 men - the dean who lived in a house nearby, two ice hockey coaches, one teacher, and one who did another job completely - and 6 women - the assistant dean, an ice hockey coach, a proctor who did another job completely who all lived there, and me and another woman who was a teacher but lived elsewhere). It was a rough job, there was a lot of friction between me and the assistant dean, there was a lot of information that had to be gathered and put onto the system, etc. They didn't really give me a lot of time / energy to be on a learning curve with them. The assistant dean had an attitude with me, I tried to be friendly with her but she didn't seem to take to it. I learned to just walk on eggshells around her. The others I got on with just fine. The students were very good in general (save for one or two but those were separate stories).

 

I knew something not right was going on back in March/April when we returned from spring break and found out that the woman proctor who did another job had quit and moved out over spring break. I didn't really know her at all, we'd had maybe one or two conversations, she seemed alright. The other woman proctor who was a teacher moved in to fill in for the remainder of the year, but she made it clear that she was not going to return next year to live in the dorms as a proctor. Towards the end of the year, I had a chat with the dean and said since I was planning to return next year I threw my hat into the ring to move in there. He said that was okay with him and he'd let this be known to administration / HR. Then he (the dean) quit. He said he was resigning because he needed to spend more time with his family and his wife was doing a long commute from there to her job and they would move closer. Then one of the guy ice hockey coaches quit and said he had taken another job in Boston.

 

As if that wasn't enough to tell me something was wrong, the communication ceased there. I would text some of the staff for business or personal reasons - one of the coaches I texted saying they had a package, she texted me back saying "I just got a new phone who's this?". I responded that it was me, she said "Thanks for letting me know." When I would text a few others (and it was 90% of the time strictly business) they would not respond. Only the other guy teacher I texted for just personal / silliness and we would respond with banter for a bit, then he stopped.

 

On the very last day, after the last dormer had moved out, I went across the way to the staff lunch and drove home. When I was at home I got a call from HR, asking if I was still on campus. I said no I was at home. They told me my position was eliminated and I will not be returning next year, sorry to tell me on the phone like this. I was disheartened to say the least. I then returned to the dorm that night for an end of the year party because I said I would go to it, and told everyone that I would not be returning next year. They all seemed surprised. I said my good-byes. I texted the guy teacher once or twice afterward, he never responded. I said in my last text to him "I take it by your silence you're not interested in pursuing relationship. Best wishes, godspeed." He never responded.

 

I only heard back from the cleaner (she and I had a good relationship) and a guy in administration who used to call me asking if I could sub for classes or lunch coverage on the office phones. I wrote him an email the next day saying I will not be returning next year so I will not be available to sub, he said this was the first he had heard of this and he was sorry to hear. And the other day I was doing some spying on the assistant dean's Facebook page and she had put up a shout out asking for two women proctors to move into the dorm. Apparently the woman ice hockey coach also quit and went to another job over the summer. And there are currently two open positions for proctors there and I was willing to take that job.

 

Wow ... Out of sight out of mind. I wonder what was going on there. Financial problems? Hardly, it was an upper crust boarding school. But something not right was going on, otherwise why would so many of a staff so small leave? And they were major blows to the place - the loss of 2 athletic coaches and the dean. I suppose I will never know.

[Flame Aura]

Was so weird reading that having no idea what a 'proctor' is or ever having heard the word be used before.

[mortensorchid]

Proctor / student monitor / dorm parent. I was the adult in charge there holding down the fort while all were away or in the dorms.