School boards quickly hiring staff for pre-primary program

As the new school year begins, it appears most Nova Scotia school boards will have hired enough staff for the Liberal government’s promised expansion of pre-primary classes for four-yearolds.

With a little over three weeks to go until an end-of-September deadline, only one board — Yarmouth’s Tri-County board — has hired all of its needed staff of one supervisor and 10 early childhood educators.

The Halifax Regional School Board reports it has filled 21 of 22 positions, but will also need to fill an additional two positions after the Education Department approved a second class at Joseph Howe Elementary in the Halifax’s north end.

Two other boards — Annapolis Valley Regional and South Shore Regional — say they have only one position unfilled, while other boards still have multiple unfilled jobs.

“We have a lot of work to do, but at this point the indicators are positive,” said Education Minister Zach Churchill.

“We are going to keep working with our partners to achieve what our goal is — to have a full staffing complement to ensure that all kids in these catchment areas have access to this program.”

The latest figures come after private and non-profit providers raised questions about whether there were enough early childhood educators to go around in a sector which has historically struggled to find qualified staff.

Lisa Davies, chair of the Non Profit Directors Association of Nova Scotia, said it’s unclear at this point whether a significant number of the new hires for the public system are coming from the private sector, potentially creating fresh shortages.

“We are hearing a little bit of word about interviews and a couple here and there that have put in their notice,” Davies said. “In the non-profit sector we are starting to hear a little bit around the Halifax Regional Municipality.”

Pamela Streeter, who runs several early education programs including pre-primary at Creative Kids Education Centre in Hammonds Plains, is among those who have voiced skepticism about the province’s ability to find enough qualified staff.

Streeter said she too has heard some anecdotal evidence the private sector is starting to lose staff.