School District 69 (Qualicum) teachers are looking forward to having a few more educators on staff for the coming school semester, but an infusion of $50 million into the B.C. education system will not result in a "reset" of classroom composition in the coming semester, the local schools superintendent said.
The funding, announced last Thursday by the Ministry of Education, is part of an interim agreement between the government and negotiators for the B.C. Teachers' Federation. Those parties continue to negotiate a final settlement in the wake of a Supreme Court of Canada ruling last month that mandated the province restore bargaining language on class size and special needs support staffing ratios stripped in 2002 by then-Minister of Education Christy Clark.
“It’s a start,” said Norberta Heinrichs, president of the Mount Arrowsmith Teachers’ Association. “We’re still waiting to understand how the restored (contract) language is going to be implemented. Having said that, we understand (the money) is going to make a difference. I’m glad the parties came to some agreement to get things going, particularly before the second semester.”
SD69 Superintendent Rollie Koop said the hiring process and priorities will be worked out by a committee made up by district staff and MATA representatives, beginning as soon as next week. And, while new teachers could well be in place for the coming semester beginning Jan. 23, he does not anticipate a restructuring of classes or addition of new classes.
“I don’t think anyone wants to go in and break up any schools during the current year,” said Koop. “That exercise will have to play out in the development of our 2017-18 budget and review of our enrolment and building capacity. That’s not an exercise we can do at this point.”
The actual dollar amount coming to SD69 has not yet been announced by the government, but SD69 secretary-treasurer Ron Amos expects to get word in the next week or so.
“We were privy to a phone call prior to the announcement, and the indication we received was that the money would start rolling out in January,” said Amos. “Once we receive that, we should get an indication what it means to us.”
Both Koop and Heinrichs acknowledged that the local school district’s share of the provincial funding will allow for only a modest increase in staffing. Positions will likely be a mix of traditional “enrolment” teachers and learning support teachers.
“We believe we’re going to specifically hire to address smaller class sizes, and also hire some specialists, recognizing we’ll have limited resources,” said Heinrichs. “The timing is important, because it comes in time for the start of the second semester.”
The government estimated the $50 million dedicated to new hires will result in up to 1,100 teachers and specialists, province wide. Hiring decisions will be made at the local school district level, Education Minister Mike Bernier said.
Based in part on conversations he’s had with counterparts across the province, Koop said school districts may have difficulty immediately filling many specialist positions, like speech and language pathologists, school psychologists and occupational and physical therapists.
“I think we’re pretty clear that in some of our specialist areas there’s going to be challenges, because those are in short supply at the best of times,” Koop said.
In last week’s announcement, Bernier said additional, ongoing funding will be provided in the B.C. Liberal government’s February budget to help finance a full agreement with the BCTF, though he added negotiations could potentially stretch out for months.
“It’s going to take a significantly higher investment than $50 million to undo the damage this government has done to a generation of students,” BCTF president Glen Hansman said. “B.C. teachers will be looking closely at the Feb. 21 provincial budget to make sure that funding is provided to implement the full scope of the restored language.”
— With files from Tom Fletcher/Black Press