The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Teachers union warns of job cuts
The Nova Scotia Teachers Union is asking the public to speak up to prevent job cuts for high school teachers in the Halifax area.
NSTU Paul Wozney said there will be 10 to 12.5 per cent fewer teachers in every high school building in the city for 2021-22.
“Based on actions taken by the HRCE, next year there will be significantly less people working at high schools in Metro,” Wozney said in a telephone interview on Wednesday.
Doug Hadley, spokesman for the Halifax Regional Centre for Education, said in an email that teacher staffing levels at HRCE schools depend on student enrolment.
“We anticipate there will be 800 fewer students in grades 10-12 in September compared to this year because of the change in entry date for grade primary students in 2008,” Hadley wrote. “This decline will result in approximately 30 fewer positions across our 17 high schools.”
But he also said that any reductions at high school will be offset by increases in elementary and junior high as enrolment at those levels continues to grow.
“Some teachers will be reassigned, but there will be no job losses,” he said.
Wozney was not convinced.
“They can call that whatever they want, the fact is it's a serious reduction in the number of people and it's a cut.”
The union believes the positions are being reduced as a result of HRCE eliminating unassigned instructional time, which is a block set aside for principal-directed work to fit a school's needs. UIT is unique to Halifax-area schools and is possible through supplementary funding from the municipality, he said.
Some common uses are hallway supervision, common area supervision, schoolgrounds supervision and parking lot monitoring.
“This sounds like very lowvalue time, however, consider that this is time that adults who spend all day, every day in the building are out and about and they're making sure that the people in hallways are actually students in the building and are not strangers that don't belong in the building.”
Wozney said it makes sure school areas are safe and respectful as well as addressing any issues with bullying, violence or intruders.
“We do have issues with people that are trying to access schools for drug trafficking and human trafficking purposes in Metro,” he said.
Also, some duty teachers will be available to high school students who have a block off for extra academic supports.
“Because this time is being taken away from teachers, it eliminates teachers being able to deliver these supports for kids. We have no idea how this function of teachers is going to be replaced in a school building.
“HRCE has not disclosed where those supports (are) going to come from, they've just announced that they're over.”
Hadley said additional resources are allocated annually to schools to “support student success.”
“These include professionals like literacy and mathematics coaches and school counsellors. There will be 22 more school counsellors in HRCE in September with additional resources to follow.”
Hadley said the normal spring staffing process for the next school year began in February, and the number of teachers assigned to schools is directly related to “where the students are, needs to support their learning and in high schools, the courses that students have chosen.”
Teaching staff are assigned in positions according to the terms of collective agreements and consistent with provincial class cap guidelines, his email said.
“This process continues to the end of September as students and families settle in our communities. When more students register than projected, additional teaching and non-teaching staff are allocated to schools.”
Wozney said unassigned instructional time was not part of collective bargaining and cuts to it cannot be grieved.
“Really, the only lever we have to kind of press the HRCE to not make these cuts is through public advocacy," he said
“I would really encourage parents, either of students currently attending high school or who will attend high school next year, because the government terminated our elected school board trustees, the fact is Elwin Leroux is an autonomous individual and he can make these cuts without any public oversight. And if people want to fight these cuts, they need to get on the phone, they need to call him. They also need to contact their member of the Legislative Assembly and let them know that they don't support these cuts and want to see these supports in place.”
The NSTU is asking that the UIT stays in place for the upcoming school year and evaluate the impact next year.
It is also calling for a full breakdown of teaching cuts at Halifax area high schools to prevent “unnecessary speculation online.”
“Many teachers received notice yesterday that their positions were being eliminated for the upcoming school year,” says Wozney. “This information is starting to trickle out through social networks which is creating anxiety for parents and students at a time when they are dealing with enough stress.”