Starting next month, the New Westminster school district will be tracking teacher absences not covered by substitutes in order to monitor its teacher-on-call list.
Trustee Kelly Slade-Kerr made the recommendation at Tuesday night’s combined education and operations policy and planning committee meeting in an effort to bolster the district’s ability to mitigate any potential teacher shortages.
“In our district, we’re lucky. We didn’t have the problems that other districts are having in terms of being able to fill positions, but we have, in the last few years, had significant (teacher-on-call) shortages, and my fear is that we’re going to be significantly impacted this year because of the ongoing teacher shortage,” she said.
Across the province, school districts have been struggling to hire and retain enough teachers to fill vacancies caused by a 2016 Supreme Court of Canada decision that sided with B.C. teachers over language in their contract regarding class size and composition.
Last year, there were a number of instances when teacher absences were covered by school administrators, according to New Westminster school district superintendent Karim Hachlaf.
Slade-Kerr’s recommendation asks that district admin present the school board with a monthly report, starting in November, that tracks the number of teacher absences not covered by a teacher-on-call. The report will also include the number of absences by non-enrolling teachers, including teacher-librarians and special education teachers, that aren’t covered, as well as teacher absences covered by non-enrolling teachers.
“Data is the most powerful tool for advocacy, and if the new board has that at their fingertips, it’s going to make their job that much easier,” Slade-Kerr said, adding that it’s important the board find out what effect the teacher-on-call shortage is having on students.
At the behest of trustee Jonina Campbell, the school district will also track the number of times school administrators fill in for absent teachers when on-call teachers aren’t available. Campbell also recommended senior admin report back to the board on absences by education assistants not covered by subs.
Both motions will be presented at the Oct. 30 board of education meeting for final approval.
