ALTs with no connection to their local BOE… Who would you report to?

This is a long post. Just know this: I thoroughly enjoy my job and what I do. Problems at the school I work at don't reflect on how I feel throughout the day (and if it does for you, that's fine too!). Nor does it affect how I interact with the people I work with. I stay upbeat as much as possible.I also don't have time to take care of a lot of this BS from day to day, so things end up piling up. I work two jobs, and I also work on various side projects.Last, I have connections and have been networking for some time. I don't have a job lined up, but I have spoken to a few people over the past few weeks.

I know the majority of ALTs here are connected in some way with their respective BOEs. Perhaps some situations are different, but as I understand it, direct hires work directly for the BOE. I could be wrong here, but dispatch ALTs, while working for the dispatch company, have some sort of connection with the BOE as well. Maybe the same goes for JET. I'm going off intuition here as I'm a direct hire ALT. I genuinely don't know about dispatch and JET.

I'm not employed by the city's BOE. Licensed teachers at my school are, but part time staff at the school (this includes me and a few other teachers) are not. I won't get into who employs us, but it's a large institution, and not a dispatch company nor the Board of Education. I'm direct hire.

This has caused some major headaches over the years. If there is ever some sort of problem, I've been told to report to my department head, and not over my department head.

I've gone over one of the previous department's head once, and it was complicated. The major problem at the time was that I didn't speak to the right person (I reported to the office staff, thinking that they acted like HR… they don't).

From that point and on, I was asked not to go over the department's head. I'm sure the current head of our English department wouldn't want me to go over his head again, but I'm about ready to break this rule again. Here's what's going on:

• For the past nine months or so, the head JTE has been sparse with relaying important information. For instance, if a class is cut, I usually find out after the fact. Same goes when a teacher takes a day off. I'm rarely given any notification. Sometimes I'm getting ready for a class, only to find out that the teacher is out. Little to no communication.
• I haven't been getting advanced notice for events at the school (days that I'm working). Things like schedules for the day, etc. I usually have to pull another teacher aside and ask them what periods we have and in which order. Previously the teacher would either put a note on my desk or write it on the white board in our office, but for the past two events, I had to chase down a teacher who wasn't busy.
• I have to go through the head JTE for printing (not a problem), and I think I give him plenty of time (two to three days is plenty of time, right?). I sent him the email on the 10th, reminded him twice throughout the week, and ultimately got him to print out what I needed on Friday. For whatever reason, this put him extremely on edge.
• The head JTE likely reads my emails, but rarely if ever responds verbally or electronically. To be honest, this is trying my patience. Other teachers I am in contact with at the same school respond to my emails regularly.
• Update Who ever was in charge of my kenkou shindan (and the part time JTEs kenkou shindan) dropped the ball. Neither of us got our packets. We knew it was coming up, but when the date finally came, we were like "ok, now what?". The staff apologized, but this is what I mean when I feel like there's a communication breakdown. It's not just me.
• I had three classes with my part time JTE on Thursday. Both of us didn't know that the 4th period class was cut from the schedule.
• Other things (see below), such as increased responsibility from year to year, specifically from the start of the 2023 school year.
• When I ask specific questions or concerns, or when I am looking for advice, if it doesn't concern him directly, he then tells to speak to someone else, not him.

My JTE is probably thinking something on the line of "you've been here for this long; you're on your own now. You should be able to handle this". Perhaps he's not wrong, but I don't think he can be 100% right the problem I'm facing is that I'm not getting same the printouts other teachers get. I'm not sure if this is normal or not. He has never said that he wants me to take care of school business myself (In retrospect this is very vague… I'm talking about lesson planning / unit planning).

As for my increased responsibility… he certainly has talked about the school being short staffed, saying "I need you to do this, this, and this." I've spoken to the principal about it, but the conversation didn't go very far (we do get along though).

So, here's what's on my mind… If you've read up to here, thank you very much.

① How do you all get information from you school? Is my situation normal? I'm sure I can take care of this. It's probably just a matter of talking to my JTE directly and being specific of the information I need on a day to day basis.

② Who do I talk to about increased responsibility? I've never had any contact with our local BOE, so I wouldn't even know who to talk to, especially considering they are not my employer. The same goes for my employer- all they do is sign the check- I have never had any contact with them.

There's also some fear that I might get my hours cut if I start talking about the increased responsibility that's been taking place at the school. I've been staying quiet because of this, but I'm also seeking employment elsewhere.

Again, thank you for reading… this is way too long, but it's been hard lately trying to find advice.