Districts welcome new students and certificated staff. Resources are available for beginning teachers. Incoming students face challenges and receive support.
What about other new employees? What about classified staff?
Adults encounter difficulty when confronted with new situations. The parent liaison, custodian, clerk, cafeteria worker, social worker, and teacher assistant require support when in new school. Often we do not hear about the challenges classified employees face on the job.
Require members of the school community to address the needs of classified staff.
- Include new classified employees in orientation activities.
- Develop description of positions and responsibilities when sharing job information on campus.
- Encourage students to work with classified employees. Have students shadow their positions.
- Ask new employees to participate in committees and the school site council. Always have a classified representative on committees regarding school wide issues.
- Create a staff handbook (separate from faculty handbook) or dedicate sections in a combined handbook that address specific job requirements, responsibilities, and expectations. Spend time explaining the document.
- Outreach to professional organizations and invite representatives to visit the campus to meet with new staff.
- Conduct relevant meetings. Extend office hours for conferences.
- Give importance and structure to evaluations. Provide a meaningful process. Take time and explain steps to staff.
- Offer training related to job skills. Require new classified personnel to attend in-service workshops.
