The interview process went great.
After I was offered the position, it was nothing but confusion and miscommunication. I asked multiple times for an offer in-writing. This has never been an issue with any of the school districts I’ve worked with previously, but the hiring associate would not provide an offer in writing until a start date had been established. I was not comfortable giving notice with my current employer without an offer in writing. I had also found out that my hiring contact had reached out to my current supervisor with the expectation that I start in less than two weeks. This was incredibly unprofessional and unacceptable.
I was expected to get fingerprinted, although my prints are still active . When I asked why, the hiring contact was unable to give me a response. I received an email at 6:45 pm outlining the expectation that I be fingerprinted the next day- less than 24 hours notice. I was unavailable as I had a job and had not given notice as there was no offer in writing.
The last straw was when I received an email stating that I needed to provide 5 references and email them a 30 question long review of my work as an employee. I had 24 hours to complete this task, which was sent to me less than a day before a national holiday. I also received an email on Thanksgiving Day.
With the unnecessary expectations, lack of understanding of public school hiring practices, poor communication, and overall unprofessionalism, I made the decision to withdraw my acceptance.