Something to Consider

While at the tournament this weekend, the speech coach from CHS came to me and told me that she was leaving that school and going to another. She thought that I might be interested in the position. I told her thanks for the information and I would give it some thought. At first I thought that I really couldn't give it any thought because of the commitment I made at Hereford. But I still thought about it.
Later that day she told others that I was sitting with about moving to another school and the teacher that I work with was sitting there. She told me not to get any ideas. I just played cute and said "Ideas about what?" Later she did tell me however that she would understand if I wanted to check into it. I did mention that with the gas prices the way they were and with my financial situation I wasn't sure if I could not not consider it.

So I now have a conundrum. Pardon me why I rationalize all of this out here.

I believe firmly in commitments and because of that I feel I should stay where I am. I also have a GREAT group of kids on the speech team. I would really hate to leave them because I already have a good rapport with them. Although I have a few stinkers in some of my other classes, the kids in general are pretty good. Problem is that many of them are also tend to be a bit lower in terms of intelligence and general thinking skills compared to other school districts I have encountered. However, I have come into a wonderful program that is already strong. In general the support for the team is pretty good though I still feel that there should be more financial support given the kind of success they have shown.

I am still disdained by several things where I am at now. I have no indication that I will be able to be in the main building next year. Because of the nature of the interp and debate classes, students must have better technology access and especially library access. I also would like to have some sense of belonging at the school which I don't feel that I have had this year because of my location. Sure, I adore my immediate neighbors where I am at, but that is just a couple of people. I don't even know the secreteries in the main office. The technology capability has been very limited. Although I did finally get six computers for my room, they were not connected to the main high school server so any work that a student did in a computer lab could not be accessed. The computers in my room only served as internet research vessels... and even at that, nothing could be printed because of the multitude of problems associated with the printer in my room.

One of the main thoughts that I must really consider is my financial situtation. We all know how outrageous the gas prices have become. I am no longer carpooling to work for various reasons that were all understandable with my partner. But now I am spending a lot more on gasoline by driving to and from work every day. Each day costs me almost $7 to drive there and back. That is about $35 a week or almost $150 a month. (This doesn't include the extra weekends I have to drive there to go to tournaments.) I hardly drive anywhere else except there and around town here. I now only go to Amarillo perhaps twice a month, if that. I might be able to find someone else to carpool with next year, but I will still have the same issues especially since I will start staying after school more to work with students. If I took the job in Canyon, I could greatly reduce that cost to about .60 a day and only fill up once or twice a month at most.
I am still struggling a great deal financially, even with Josh's SSI. After paying bills each month we have about $400 to buy groceries and another other incidentals. Nevermind all the other things like camp, band trips, prom, lessons, etc. I also have to consider the fact that I will have to find some way to procure a car for him next year and pay for insurance. My car will probably also be on it's last legs soon. I mean it is almost 7 years old and has over 230,000 miles on it. I don't know how I can manage all of that. Yes, I know he can get a job and help cover expenses and pay for his own gas, but that is only if having a job doesn't interfere with his grades.

Now about the potential of a job at the other school. There are some great things about working there. For one they have a brand new high school so I would have a great room and great technology. Each room has an LCD projector and computers of some sort. I am already familiar with several of the staff members because I have worked with them before or know them in other ways. Starting out, I would already have a better sense of belonging. I think that the kids in general are good kids.
I could probably get an interview since I know the personnel director for the district pretty well and have a good resume. I'm still not certain if I want to go through that process.
On the down side, I would pretty much have to start a program from scratch as it wasn't well developed to begin with. I also think the support in that program is not nearly as good as it is where I am. I am not certain about budget, but I know that they went to far fewer tournaments that we did this past year. Overall, I think the salary and stipend would be about the same. I think the health insurance would not be as good, however.

If I stay in Hereford, I should get a better stipend next year, but it won't be much. From what the other teacher told me, it is about $1200 a year which after taxes will probably only be about $75 more a month... if that. That helps a little with gas, but I would get about the same amount at the other school and would spend far less in gas which means I might be able to pay for the added insurance when Josh starts driving.

I also have to consider the idea of whether I want to teach at the same school that Josh attends AND be his speech coach. That is something that I'm not sure he or I could handle very well. I asked him about it and he said it would be weird, but not terrible.

So that is my quandry. I keep having thoughts of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." The problem is that I am in a good situation, but it isn't perfect. I am worried, though if I go elsewhere, despite some of it's advantages I might regret it.

So those are the thoughts swirling my head at the moment. Advice is always appreciated, though not always taken.