TB or Not TB, Is That the Question?...

“Your personnel records indicate that you will be prevented from taking any assignments on or after Sept/4.”

That’s message I get when I try the school district SubFinder system. To fix it, I simply pay a fee to renew my substitute teaching permit, submit a copy to the district and everything is right with the world until next summer.

School is back in session starting Monday. Several weeks ago, I renewed my “Emergency 30-Day Substitute Teaching Permit” and submitted a copy to the school district office as required.

I called the SubFinder system this week only to still hear:
“Your personnel records indicate that you will be prevented from taking any assignments on or after Sept/4.”

Ok, so the office hasn’t noted my renewal yet but school DOES resume on Monday. I don’t want to be “prevented from taking any assignments”. It’s surely a simple clerical error to be corrected as soon as I point out the problem.

A second visit to the office verified that they do have a copy of my renewed permit but it seems that I need to have an updated TB test to bring my personnel records up to date.

It WOULD have been helpful had the automated system tell me what PART of my “personnel records” was preventing me from class assignments. It WOULD have been helpful if the district office, while noting my renewed permit, could have mentioned the expired TB test.

Ok, so now I’ve paid for and passed my TB test and am now in “good standing” with the district. But what would have happened had the test and the subsequent x-ray came back “positive”?

I understand the initial requirement for a TB test starting the job. They don’t want contagious people exposed to kids but I didn’t know that I needed to be tested for TB every four years to continue.

I know of no other industry, except health care for obvious reasons, that requires periodic TB testing. The only reason to periodically test employees is there must be a risk of contracting TB from the classroom clientele.

I’m starting to wonder if this job really worth the risk of contracting TB for such minimal compensation and no employer provided insurance.

EB - rare children's disease

I hadn't ever heard of this condition until my friend, Mike sent me this email to help get the word out. As a parent and grandparent, I can't imagine how I'd cope if I had a kid or grandkid with EB.

...
All,

Lorraine is a good friend of mine from my Lockheed days. She is the mother of Garrett who is featured in the video along with his Dr.

Please take a few minutes to watch this video. If you are so inclined, please feel free to make a donation. There is a link at the end of the clip for where to do so. Even if you can't make a contribution, please pass this along for others to see.

The more exposure for EB the better. One problem with EB is that the disease is so rare, it is hard to get funding for it. Things like cancer and Aids affect far more people, so the funding goes there. It makes sense when you look at the problem from a cost benefit analysis. However, when you have a child with a rare disease, you want a cure for that disease too.

Anyway, please watch the video and pass it along. I would appreciate it personally.

Mike...

For more information or to donate, click here: http://dermatology.stanford.edu/research/research.html