Source
r/schoolpsychology•
Awesomesauc76

First Year on the job, starting to get to me.

Im in my first year as a licensed School Psych, and honestly its starting to get to me. I work in a smaller school district in PA, were im the only school psych, and the year prior to me coming on board they had to outsource. So alot of re-evals got waived, and im having to take on the current re-eval cycle, initials that come in, and previous waived reports, helping with mtss, and more. Timelines are crunched because getting permissions back has been a NIGHTMARE and some only come in a week or two before the due date despite calls and muitiple permissions being sent. This has caused teachers to get frustrated at quick turnarounds for input, and creating difficult weeks of testing and writing alot of cases. At the same time im in a Admin role at the school, taking my time as well (helping with buses, admin meetings, school board, ect. I know theres no quick fix, and I have to push through, but its draining me. I love the people I work with, and there swamped to, but I hate this feeling like im not keeping pace when im doing everything I can. I want to be this superman that can do everything, but im just not and its draining me.

Edit: Thank you all for the support and ideas, definitly helps the mind that its not just me having these issues. Its gonna be a tough go this year but I see things will eventualy improve, again, thank you all!

Posted Nov 15, 2021, 10:35 PM UTC · edited

1710
DinoReads•

This is the worst year EVER for assessments. Skip bus duty and board meetings. Prioritize and laser focus. Give your best to the minimum requirements. Get comfortable with saying No sometimes and work with a group of other superheroes to respond.

20
Awesomesauc76OP•

That definitly makes me feel alot better. It does feel like a especialy crazy time and I expect it to calm down. I just hate being what I have dubbed as "re-eval hell" and just gotta work my way to purgetory.

2
doingasifeel•

I just wanna congratulate you for being the person you are. Sounds like what you're going through is hell, but you arent letting that stop you from loosing hope. Stay strong homie

9
Awesomesauc76OP•

Thank you!

1
jbro•

The number of initials and dumb paperwork situations has been way up this year, and I'm at high school. A couple of things that have helped me:

  1. I bought my own Docusign subscription this year. It is 300$ but I'm going to claim the 250$ teacher tax credit to help cover. Makes it way easier to send and get back consents (if your district will allow electronic signatures, they are FERPA compliant). Also, your district might just buy it for you anyway if you're the only psych.
  2. Sticking to shorter rating scales. I've been doing more Conners or BRIEF instead of BASCs, for example.
  3. Can you do more file reviews, or sign yourself up for less testing? Of course, my kids haven't taken a standardized state testing in 2 years, but I started doing a bunch of KTEA iPad administrations, which takes less time to administer and score.
  4. Take out everything that's not legally required for your job. Ask your admin to take out bus duty, school board, and unnecessary meetings.

Best of luck! I can't imagine dealing with this year being your first year. I promise it gets better when you have a handle on things. This Saturday, give yourself a Spa day, or some sort of self-appreciation day!

7
Cellardoor210•

you sound like you have so much going on!! i have cut everything out that isn’t absolutely necessary. this year i feel like all i do is damage control, legally obligated counseling minutes, and test. that is the best i can do. anything else is extra!

2
SchoolPsychBro•

Honestly, this is the life of a school psychologist. You end up having 100 different responsibilities and 8 hours a day to fulfill all responsibilities, which is impossible to do if you’re wanting to do a sufficient job fulfilling each responsibility.

2
[deleted]•

[removed]

1
esp211•

This is by far the hardest year I've had and I've done some really tough assignments in my life. Just close your door and do what you need to get done. Do the best you can with what you have for now and make sure you take care of yourself.

1
Narrow_Cover_3076•

Wow this sounds like me this year. The timeline crunches are the most irritating, especially after calling parents 100 times, bending over backwards to get them to sign a form. And the waived/lapsed evaluations are the worst. For the permissions, I echo what someone else said. Adobe e-sign is the best. You can set "reminders" and it will send an email daily until they sign it.

1