Thursday Therapy: How Many SLPs Have School Duty?

I've been enjoying Spring Break this week! Next week, my groups will be reading Fortunately by Remy Charlip and doing some of All Y'all Need's fun activities.

Since the unit is all set up at school and I'm at home, I'm deviating from sharing my plans a little. I have a question for all the SLPs out there. Do you do school duty?




Let me explain. For the first 18 years of my work life, I served more than one campus. All of the staff for Special Ed. was housed in a separate building from the schools. That's where our eligibility folders were, that's where we met, and that's where we had our mailboxes. For several years, I was mostly supervising licensed assistants who had little rooms and big groups, so it was nice to have a place to write reports and have my own desk.

Gradually, we became more campus-based. The eligibility folders went to campuses. I went back to therapy and moved my desk into a campus room. I'm fortunate to work at just one wonderful campus.

Texas schools have had to make major cutbacks the last couple of years, and that has mostly come in the form of parapros, or aides. Last year, to help make up for this shortage, I was asked to cover outside morning duty one day a week, and the diagnostician (similar to a school psychologist) is doing breakfast duty the same morning. I dreaded duty. I griped. I complained. I'm the only SLP out of 12 in our district doing duty.

But I have found that morning duty is interesting. Cold and rainy sometimes, yes. I serve the entrance where we only have about 5 buses dropping off students. The rest of the parking lot is for parents to park and walk their kids into school. (We have a drop-off in the back). So I get to see parent/child interactions. I get to see the parents who try to shave off a few minutes by not using the crosswalk or by dropping off their kids straight from the car without walking them in. I get to greet parents and students. I don't know the majority of parents, so it's been a good opportunity to become more visible. And I also get to see a few sibling interactions with kids I do and don't have. I get to visit with the other teacher on duty and continue a relationship. Duty helps me feel more a part of the school.

Duty isn't perfect. Yes, it's relatively easy and only 35 minutes one morning a week. We have RtI meetings on Monday afternoons, so getting to school so early on Tuesday sometimes makes me feel like I'm living at school. After not doing duty for so long, I miss my Tuesday mornings scrambling preparing. As long as I'm serving one school, duty is doable, but if there are changes in assignments,  I think it would be more difficult if not impossible. But I have come to realize that those concerns are minor when it comes to being a part of my school.

What about you? What have your experiences been?




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12 comments

  1. I don't have duty at my current school, but in my previous school I had lunch duty daily. The thing I disliked about that was that I had 3rd grade lunch and didn't service the 3rd grade! So, I didn't get to see my kids, but I did get to meet new ones! I griped b/c it was taking away 2.5 hours of therapy time/week and we had just lost a part-time SLP in my school, so my #s were growing!

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    1. Carrie, that's a lot! I would complain about daily duty, too, because none of our teachers have daily duty. I believe in helping a school, but not when it takes away from our services!

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    2. I traded early morning duties and bus duties at the end of the day for therapy with students who have reliable transportation. I have tremendous difficulty getting in therapy for students over fourth grade so this has good for everybody. I have a high school student who takes the bus to my building and then is picked up by a family member. I also see a fifth grade young lady who rocks.

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    3. That sounds reasonable given that you are serving more than one school. Do you just have two students grade 5 and up?

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  2. I have duty 6 of every 9 weeks. It varies each quarter (hallway, car circle, breakfast), but on my "on" weeks, it's 30 minutes a morning, 5x week. The crazy part is that I'm itinerant (between 7 schools) and I'm required to do duty at my home school... even on days when I don't serve kids there! I do agree it's a great way to meet kids I wouldn't otherwise see.. but it takes up so much time!

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    1. OK, I won't gripe about my one morning! I would also worry about the time with doing duty on days you're not at that school.

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  3. I'll try to explain how duty works at my school. All faculty members have duty, but you have it every other week for the entire week. I work in a high school that has 4 blocks that last 1.5 hours each (3rd period is 2 hours long so that we can have a 30 minute lunch period). Kids in therapy are pulled out of whatever class is the least challenging, which is usually an elective (Culinary arts, graphic design, sewing, law enforcement, interior design, broadcast video production, drama).

    Morning duty: 4 teachers in the lobby to make sure students are in dress code

    Morning bus duty: 2 teachers to make sure students are in dress code and give late passes to any students that were on a late bus

    Afternoon bus duty: 2 teachers to rush kids to buses after dismissal bell rings. Kids have 5 minutes to get on the bus after the dismissal bell rings. The buses honk when there are 2 minutes left. After 5 minutes have passed, the drivers must close the doors and students are no longer allowed on the buses.

    Lunch duty: Lunch is during 3rd period which is 2 hours long, we have 30 minutes to eat and the school is divided into A, B, C, and D lunch, which is based on what department you are in. If you have lunch duty, you sit in front of the hallway to make sure students have passes and aren't skipping class.

    Morning hall duty: You are at the end of a hallway from 8:00am to 8:20am to make sure students are in dress code. Once the bell rings at 8:15am, all students are to be in class unless they have a hall pass.

    Hall duty: During class changes, you have to stand in the hallway to collect iPods, phones, and check dress code. (And occasionally break up a fight...)

    Morning bathroom duty: 2 teachers in front of all the bathrooms (7 total) to make sure that kids aren't sharing homework, and that girls aren't flat-ironing/curling their hair

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  4. Nikki, Wow! That is a lot of duty! Do you just serve a high school? I don't even think our high school principal knows we have an SLP.

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    1. Yep, just high school. But our administration is really supportive of the special ed department. It's something that they take pride in because it's one of the best schools in the county to send your special needs child to. Parents with special needs kids will buy a home zoned for this high school just because it is that amazing. They help the kiddos transition into the real world by selling coffee and muffins every morning, and delivering them to students and teachers.

      I don't like duty, but because I need my planning time. I'm hoping that I can find a middle school opening so that my day starts at 9:15am and to get out of duty. I don't enjoy waking up before the sun rises. (Elem. starts at 7:50am & high school starts at 8:20am)

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    2. Wow! Sounds like a great high school and a great place to work! I understand about the rising thing. At 7:15, it's still pretty dark here.

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  5. I've griped so much about duty that I'm now 2 lunch duties per week. I actually love the interactions with the kids and it is great for all those kids who will (one day) be mine! What I hate is that it is soooooo loud in the cafeteria that I'm pretty sure I'm experiencing hearing loss!

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    1. I think lunch duty would be hard because of therapy time. I hadn't considered hearing loss. Good point!

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