Without

 I have written here before about the screws tightening. It mostly had to do with public education and the constant request by those who work in the places that make decisions for folks like me to do more with less. 

Legend has it that there used to be a nurse who worked at our school. Full time. We had instructional aides, known by their professional title as IAs, who would push into classrooms and support teachers and students who with needs that stretched out past those who were certainly needy but not able to meet the standards. Those standards continue to shift and change while the IAs have disappeared along with the compassionate lady who administered band-aids and ice packs. 

Near the beginning of this school year, our head custodian's brother passed away. She took off for a few days to attend his funeral. Somewhere along the line, she broke three toes. That few days has now stretched out to a few weeks. Hopefully, she will return in early October. In the meantime, we have been gifted with a very industrious substitute, who is keeping us from being overrun by the filth we as a school generate each day. This was after a few false starts with a substitute custodian who never showed up and another who felt his job was more about monitoring the garbage than sweeping it up and taking it out. 

Add to this a Kindergarten teacher who fell ill and had now missed half of the first couple months of her students' school experience. We have had a series of substitutes come to fill the position, many of whom have said they were more comfortable with middle and high school students. Consequently we have not had a fully engaged teacher in that classroom for weeks. 

Drop into this mix the random assortment of days off taken by various other staff members and the scenario starts to become clear: We all have to do a little bit more with a little bit less. That squeaking sound you hear is that of the gears in our education machine slowly grinding down. Happily, the weekend comes and we go home to get ourselves back to a shape which will allow us to do it all over again. 

But it makes me nervous. Because those powers that be might be noting that we have kept the school open and kids are learning without many of those vital services. People have filled in. We have made do. And we continue the business of teaching children. What could we do without next?