Admin Manual and More Fights

Before accepting this position, I was sent the Admin Manual. Last reviewed by an “External Party” in 2008, it makes the school look, if not streamlined, at least procedures are in place. I quickly found it to be just a piece of shite – a pure figment of Boss’ imagination.  Most of it has been totally plagiarized – the emergency evacuation procedure tells me to call 911 – it’s been cribbed entirely from the fire department of New Jersey.

Senior Primary managers Ms J has been at the school some six years and Mr Z since it’s inception almost 8 years have never seen or heard of an admission’s test in Primary, and indeed Ms J has been registering all Early Years students. Last term i decided to develop a basic test so we could at least level our new students in Literacy and Mathematics. We’re now on final draft.

Boss informs me that there has always been an admissions test, it says so in the Administration Manual. I check and it does. But the is no test in there to administer. So i ask her to provide me with one. Which she can’t.

We now have a queue of 18 Registration Forms. The fees have been delayed some 6 weeks and we have told to put them on “pending” from Finance until the new fees are released.

Prospective parents call every day to see if their application has been successful and we just have to apologies on Finances behalf. Some are wanting to relocate from Europe but understandably want to ensure their children have a school to attend. It’s all pretty shoddy.

I write to both Boss, Records and Finance informing them we have desperate parents on our hands, and Boss writes back asking how many of these potential students undertaken the Admissions Test. I respond none – reminding her she has not provided us with one to administer.

Ms J gets an email from Boss informing us that the outstanding Registration forms should go to the “Admissions Officer”. We’re both confused for we have heard nothing of an “Admissions Officer” – she signs the admissions forms for Early Years and i do Upper Primary. Brilliant!

I call Boss to find out who is the Admissions Officer and she informs me that an appointment hasn;t been made yet. For fuck sake. She then asks me again about how many administration tests have been carried out. I yet again remind her that, as yet, we have no test to administer. “But it says there is in the Admin Manual” she winnows at me. I tell her to review the document and edit it accordingly, and she hangs up on me.   

It is with some relish that i send an email out to the owner/GM, Deputy GM Sly Giraffe, Finance, Records Officer and Boss informing them that we will send over all the documents of the 18 and no longer do Admissions on the Primary campus. Boss can give them the test.