Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/so-long-its-been-good-not-so-good-to-know-you-communicating-with-parents-when-staff-leave/5011280/
I didn't know what to think when Maya left. I found a note in my cubby on Monday that Maya was no longer employed at the center. She was Kevin's primary caregiver and had been there for two or three years. It was so sudden and we really liked her. I was confused, anxious for Kevin, mad, and concerned about Maya.Teachers leave and parents are unhappy. Departures often create an emotional climate that affects everyone. Maya's departure upset Kevin's parents, presumably Kevin and other children, and a few other parents. However, it also caused her co-workers, supervisors, and some parents to breathe a sign of relief.
In any program staff will leave - voluntarily and not so voluntarily. As a relatively low income employer, child care turnover is, and will continue to be, endemic. Staff turnover is a bad thing for programs - in general. But parents (and we) may forget it is also natural, even in good programs, and an individual staff departure may be a good thing - a move toward program improvement. Because turn-over and involuntary departures are both inevitable and have important consequences, good centers should not only make the effort to reduce turnover and its impact on ...