School board use of uncertified staff skyrockets

There are around 200 to 300 days a month, no teacher is available

Not all those absences would be covered by untrained staff, but most likely would, said union rep for occasional teachers

Teacher unions are expressing “huge concerns” as the number of non-teachers working in classrooms skyrockets because schools can’t find enough supply teachers.

Five years ago, the Waterloo Catholic District School Board used uncertified staff about 100 times a month to fill in for five per cent of daily teacher absences.

Today, that number is as high as 899 some months, says Patrick Etmanski, president of Waterloo Catholic Teachers union.

Unions say the public board is also seeing increased use of non-teachers in the classroom. The Waterloo Region District School Board has had as many as 600 days a month over the winter, and about 200-300 days a month now, when no teacher was available, said Nathan Cole, who heads the Waterloo Region union branch for occasional teachers. Not all those absences would be covered by untrained staff, but most likely would, Cole said.

Public board spokesperson Mabel William said the use of non-certified staff “is not increasing,” adding “but there are times when Waterloo Region District School Board will use non-OCT qualified staff for classroom supervision when occasional teachers are unavailable. The Catholic board has used non-teachers an average of more than 500 times a month this year, ranging from 164 in September to 899 in November, Etmanski said.

He says the job is becoming more demanding. “The job has changed in such a way that teachers are leaving the profession in numbers that we’ve never seen before.”

The increased use of non-teachers is “deeply troubling,” said Jeff Pelich, president of the Waterloo Region branch of the Elementary Teachers’ Federation of Ontario (ETFO).

“This issue isn’t just about credentials; it’s about the quality of education delivered to students,” Pelich said. “Students deserve the best

possible learning environment from fully qualified teachers certified in their field.”

Etmanski agrees. “The board is hiring anybody they can to come in and supervise these kids,” he said. “They don’t instruct; they don’t do lesson planning; they don’t evaluate. They’re just there to make sure the kids are safe.”

Supply teachers are trained teachers, and like all teachers are governed by the standards of practice enforced by the College of Teachers of Ontario, said Nathan Cole, who heads the ETFO branch in Waterloo Region representing occasional teachers. They have the training to manage behaviour and plan lessons.

“It’s not the days of putting on a ‘Bill Nye the Science Guy’ video — the expectation is that they continue the learning that’s occurring in the classroom. They follow the curriculum. They implement a regular school day.

“An emergency personnel doesn’t have the knowledge or expertise to do that, so it’s a lost day, and every day counts.

“When you have an unqualified person in the classroom, they’re essentially babysitting.”

The use of uncertified staff “has the potential to impact outcomes for students and creates additional stress for the staff that cover for these vacancies,” the Catholic board acknowledges in its 2023-24 budget.

“It’s not an ideal world, but when it comes to the health and safety of students, we need an adult who can support and care for children,” says Kerry Pomfret, the Catholic board’s superintendent of human resources.

The classroom supervisors aren’t teachers, she said, but many are students in teachers’ college, she noted, who have some education skills.

Increased violence and more behaviour problems are making the job that much tougher, unions say.

“Why are we facing a teacher shortage? The money’s very good. It’s not about the money. It’s about the working conditions,” Etmanski says. “People are just completely burnt out, because the job continues to get harder and harder.”

Teachers are burning out and quitting or retiring, he said. The teachers who stay are taking more sick leave. But the supply shortage means fewer teachers are available to fill in for those who are off sick.

Behavioural problems are on the rise, Pomfret acknowledges. The pandemic years led to “a whole group of young people who did not get the same level of socialization.” Challenges hiring enough educational assistants mean a heavier load for teachers, she said.

Sick leave is on the rise. “Anecdotally, it has probably doubles in the last five years,” said Pomfret.

And in a board that is growing, with 2,000 more students since 2022, “we are constantly recruiting. We are constantly onboarding new people,” Pomfret said.

But the teachers hired to supply often move to longer-term contracts for maternity leaves or longterm sick leaves, “and we’re back trying to fill the funnel for the occasional teachers,” Pomfret said.

Classroom supervisors are paid $140.76 a day ($23.46 an hour) and must be available on short notice, working with children ages three to 19 for up to six hours, not including lunch. If they worked during each of the 194 teaching days in the year, they would earn a yearly wage of $27,310. Supervisors don’t need any experience working with large groups of children: they must provide proof of Catholic baptism, have a criminal background check and attend an orientation session.

There’s plenty of work, says one classroom supervisor who The Record contacted. She asked not to be named, for fear of job repercussions.

If she wanted to, she could work every school day, she said.

The job postings can be very lastminute — she has had job offers come in at 10 a.m., asking her to fill in that day.

The board provides lots of online training for keeping kids safe — how to use an epi-pen, or recognize signs of concussion — as well as

Classroom supervisors are paid $140.76 a day ($23.46 an hour) and must be available on short notice, working with children ages three to 19 for up to six hours, not including lunch

training on classroom software.

But she has no training in managing a classroom, or addressing behaviour problems.

“I am totally not a teacher,” she said. “I just go in and do the best I can do . ... They should have you shadow somebody before I started. You were just kind pf thrown in, and sink or swim.”

Views on solutions differ. Unions want more supports to address behavioural problems. Pomfret thinks there needs to be more support to attract people to the profession.

The province says it is taking action, and “has increased funding by over $745 million for the coming school year — the highest investment ever recorded in the province’s history,” including for mental health supports for students, said Isha Chaudhuri, press secretary to Education Minister Stephen Lecce, in an email.

“It is entirely unacceptable to see non-certified educators in the classroom,” she said.

“Ontario has initiated a suite of actions to counter this national challenge of teacher absenteeism, including hiring nearly 9,000 additional education staff including 3,500 EAs, along with the reduction of red tape in the certification of new teachers to get them into classrooms faster.”