Update: 'I can't even handle this level of pettiness': High school principal refuses to let teacher leave early for doctor appointment, teacher decides to take even more time off

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Oct 30, 2023 3:00 PM EDT

Some points in your career give you a sudden moment of clarity. Maybe you've been working on a random project and you think, "I should pursue this thing full time." Other times, you have a moment of clarity like one teacher did—but she realized just how little her school's administration cared about her. 

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  • Teachers are some of the hardest workers out there, with jobs that start early in the morning and often end in the evening, even if school gets out at 3PM. Many teachers dedicate lots of their free time to lesson planning, grading papers, helping students, or watching other teachers' classes. Just think about how many of your high school teachers stayed late to coach a sports team or lead a club or work with their students for hours to prepare them for standardized tests.

    This teacher shared a story that happened as a result of a super simple request: they just wanted to duck out of their classroom 15 minutes early. They even had a perfectly good reason! Their principal's response is so unfortunate, and commenters let the OP know that there are better options out there for her than a toxic boss who doesn't care about her one bit. 

    After you've read through this teacher's story, check out this story of a waitress who thought she was being so funny and clever with her customers… until commenters told her she was actually being incredibly cringy. 

  • 01
    Font - Okay fine, let's be petty about the minutes. L I'm a teacher at a charter high school. I emailed my principal several days before a doctor's appointment, asking if I could leave 15 min early at the end of the day to make it to my appointment. The school day for teachers ends at 3:30 and the latest time slot my doctor had was 3:30. Luckily, I can
    via u/Pseudonym_OW
  • 02
    Font - drive there in 15 min - and FYI, my school's instructional/classroom time officially ends at 3:04, but teachers are required to stay till 3:30 and offer Office Hours for those 26 min at the end of the day. So I figured it's the best time if I needed to head out early - I'm not depriving students of actual teaching time. In my email, I offer to make up the time by coming in 15 min early one morning or staying late one day after school. I thought this would be reasonable. I guess not.
    via u/Pseudonym_OW
  • 03
    Mammal - Principal emails me back and says, Sorry, but you can only take time off in 4-hour chunks out of your PTO.
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  • 04
    Font - I re-read the email several times, trying to let it sink in that my principal won't let me head out 15 MINUTES early during non- instructional time to go to the doctor and is forcing me to use 4 hours of my paid time off. I can't even handle this level of pettiness.
    via u/Pseudonym_OW
  • 05
    Font - Okay then. I'll take the 4-hour time off. That means I get to leave at 11:30am. The thing is, the last class I teach for that day (our school is on block schedule) goes until 11:58am.
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  • 06
    Font - I've let my principal know that I'll need a sub for the last 28 minutes of my class. I'm using my PTO hours to get 4 hours off, so I'm getting my full 4 hours. I'm not going to give this school 28 min of my forced time off when they don't let me leave 15 min early to see the doctor. If she denies this arrangement, I'm filing a grievance. I will be petty right back.
    via u/Pseudonym_OW
  • 07
    Font - UPDATE (I've never done this before, so I'm not sure if I should put the update at the top or bottom... But here goes) First: Wow, thank you so much for all those who upvoted and made comments. I got a lot of different response - from "yeah, stick it to the Man!" to "being petty might not be worth it" - and I've honestly appreciated all sides. That was the debate going on in my head as well, so I enjoyed the different views. Thank you!
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  • 08
    Font - Second: So several things changed since I posted this. I guess the biggest thing was that I actually had to make two appointments (one with my primary care doctor and the other with a specialist) to deal with what I'm going through. I decided if I was forced to take off 4 hours anyways, I would schedule them both on the same day. It ended up that I would have to leave at 11:30 anyways and not teach those 28 min. But my
    via u/Pseudonym_OW
  • 09
    Font - awesome colleague, who advised the more prudent course of action, offered to cover for me for those 28 min (I know, I have an awesome team). So the principal called me to ask what I was gonna do. I said, taking the 4 hours, colleague is teaching the last 28 min, and I'm taking care of myself by going to the doctor.
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  • 10
    Font - Sorry if that was anti-climatic and not a dramatic showdown, haha. But it was probably for the best. If I do end up leaving this school and needing rec letters and such, at least this hasn't caused a rift in the relationship. Prudent, but better in the long run I hope.
    via u/Pseudonym_OW
  • 11
    Font - And yes, I'm looking for other jobs. I think this whole thing kind of pulled the last straw for me. There's enough stress in teaching without having an unsupportive admin. The takeaway from all this: my colleague is the real MVP. Thanks everyone, it's been real.
    via u/Pseudonym_OW
  • 12
    Font - gunnerxp Nice. One teacher to another, your principal kinda sounds like a 2.3k Reply Share Pseudonym_OW OP. Like, I get that maybe she doesn't want teachers taking advantage of this kind of thing and dipping out early on a regular basis... But I just think flexibility and some leniency go a long way to building trust in your leadership team. Now, I just have a bad taste in my mouth and 4 less PTO hours.
    via u/gunnerxp
  • 13
    Font - Dukeofhurl212 As a retired teacher, I would have taken the day. 258 Reply Share Pseudonym_OW OP. You sound kick-a ... Teach me your ways!
    via u/Dukeofhurl212
  • 14
    Font - emchocolat We had a similar fuss not long ago. The teachers all took one hour out of lessons to discuss some pressing school issues. We were in the school, mind you, and talking about how to deal with the kids' recent episodes of violence. The principal took a day's salary from all of us.
    via u/emchocolat
  • 15
    Font - reddgrrl I had a boss like this. I told her I needed to leave work 15 minutes early bc MY SON WAS MISSING (he was fine, he had forgot to tell me he wasn't going to go straight home after school but since he was always home like clockwork and not answering the phone, i freaked). Her actual response was, "You know this will be an occurrence, right?"
    via u/reddgrrl
  • 16
    Font - DasBarenJager I hope this works out in your favor. I have friends who are teachers and its disgusting how you guys get treated. 67 Reply Share Pseudonym_OW OP. Thank you! It's already a grueling job with so much pressure to educate students... when you add admin who treat us like the students and not like professionals... I get why so many teachers leave the profession.
    via u/DasBarenJager

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day off school jobs work stories toxic-workplace job malicious compliance principal work malicious-compliance-reddit teachers teacher petty PTO workplace bad bosses
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