Quality at the expense of employees. - Lead Toddler Teacher Building Kidz School Employee Review

I payed out of pocket for courses and certifications, one of them being a cpr recertification due to licensing’s change of requirements. I was provided a reimbursement if I took a several hour weekend class within four days of announcement and had covid at the time. Since I took the same course a month later, I somehow didn’t qualify for reimbursement. I Received a .50 raise after completion of a crucial $400.00 course that supported the business operation, as it is required. Upon hire, I was under the impression the owners would reimburse, to find out I had the ability to be reimbursed via education grants through the County of Ed during and after the fact. Overall, It felt as though it was a financial way out for the owners, at the expense of employees. The owners didn’t put enough money back into the school to benefit children, as children were left to play with cheap or broken toys. The owners didn’t understand how the toys they bought would break… we had 42 children on any given day and were told to just “teach the children how to properly play with toys”. Sanitation as far as hand washing was difficult, as access to fully plumbed sinks, with running water wasn’t easily accessible, unless we went to the opposing side of the school to go to the bathroom. We had one portable sink which we had to carry 5 gallon buckets of water to refill and manually empty out the grey water behind the back fence. In 2022, California came out with a 401k option for employees to pay into as a requirement for businesses to provide, by law. The owners acted as if by implementing the mandated 401k program, it was a beneficial service they offered to employees as a favor. I inquired about possible matching they would contribute towards; they stated it wasn’t feasible at the time and they would revisit the topic at a later date. The health benefits offered had very high deductibles and copays. The PTO was such a low accrual it was equivalent to receiving a Starbucks drink per paycheck; to put it into perspective, if I had saved up all my PTO to use towards the winter break closure which was only a week, I still wouldn’t have enough for coverage. This is a major issue for teachers, as we need ensure there is a rest and reprieve from the daily ins and outs of teaching, especially working in a year round school operation. During the hard closures for winter break, they chose not to pay employees for time off and continued to charge parents during the closure. When I addressed this to management, they suggested I walk and babysit dogs to make ends meet for the unpaid closure.