The International Schools Review Forum

For those of you trying to get a job right now, I wanted to share an experience I had with my current overseas school. My child was recently sick and I missed four days of school staying at home with her. Each evening I notified my admin that I would be staying home again. Upon returning to work, I was informed that the four days I took off would not be paid time, but rather leave without pay. I was told, after a year and a half of employment, that the school policy was employees only received half a day paid leave if your child was two years or younger, a policy that was never shared with employees. Long story short, after a meeting with admin and pointing out that the faculty handbook had no reference whatsoever about employees staying home with their sick child, I was able to get paid for all four days.

I share this because when I interviewed with schools, I did not ask any questions about what type of support was given to teachers with dependents. I would have never accepted a job with any employer who didn't provide for paid time off to take care of a sick child.

I encourage you to read the prospective schools' employee handbook online, and if it is not clear, during your interview ask about the sick time policy and how the allotted days may be used.

Flag yourself as a trouble-maker at the interview stage :)

That is good advice. But I've found that you never know what a school may spring on you to try to save money. There's almost an infinite number of questions you could ask about possible scenarios. I actually don't ask too many questions like that at interviews because I think interviewers will think I'm a potential 'trouble-maker'.
But I have learned to get all promises in writing.

This is one of the reasons leadership does not value dependents, they are cost and dont provide an IS with any return in value. Asking about that at the interview would not help much. It might give you some insight, but leave benefits are often included in the ISs policy documents and referenced in the contract to refer to those guidelines. As such, those policies can change at a whim, with little to no notice.
I would advise you keep your resume fresh and your ear open to potential opportunities.

Perhaps no direct monetary value, but trust me in some schools the admin like those western faces sitting in classes to attract other western families.

@Overhere

Oh they may like them, but not at the cost they come at. Its one thing if its a local IS with a local student population and they arent at capacity then laces for ITs children has a much lower loss, its another when those places are given to ITs children at the cost of fee paying students, at $10K a student (average) if you have 25 waivers thats a quarter of a million in loss revenue plus $25K in expenses.

How do those white faces add value in attracting other families? The parents and students that are already there are the ones that are going to see them, and its cheaper to use stock photography or hire talent for photos in web and print advertising. I have found a number of ISs that while I can understand reasons I cant find the students in the photos (students move on, families relocate, etc..), but you cant even find the room the photo was shot in.

Funny, I've never seen a stock photo in any of our classrooms but I have seen countless families walking through checking out the classrooms.

@Overhere

So you stage a classroom for parents to walk through with some expat western students? You dont think they know what a token western student is? All different types of marketing and advertising.