ST. PAUL - Less than a month into the 2020/21 school year, St. Paul Education has run into issues with a lack of substitute teachers. In response, the division has come out with a contingency plan to have an educational assistant (EA) supervise a class when no substitute teachers are available.
"The COVID-19 pandemic continues to create a number of challenges related to the day to day operations of our schools," reads a letter sent out to parents on Sept. 28. "One of the major pressure points has been a lack of substitute teachers."
The division has about 20 per cent fewer substitute teachers available this year. When that decrease is combined with the fact that teachers are required to self-isolate if they experience any COVID-like symptoms, it results in a few tricky situations for schools to deal with.
While schools can sometimes deal with the situations internally, such as having another teacher cover a class during a prep period, Superintendent Glen Brodziak noted that the division must be cognizant of how much stress that puts on the system.
Under normal circumstances, classes could also be combined to accommodate no substitutes being available, but that is not an option during the current pandemic.
The new policy will allow an EA to supervise a class when it is not possible to get a substitute teacher.
"Lesson planning and student assessment will still be done by teachers, and school administration will be responsible for supervision and support of EAs when they are supervising a class," reads the letter. EAs will be paid a fair allocation of salary when they are required to supervise a class.
"I have every confidence that staff in all of our schools will continue to deliver a high quality and safe educational program for all the students enrolled in our schools," said Brodziak. If an EA had to cover a class for an extended period of time, parents would be notified, although, parents may not be notified if it is just for a single day.
The school division has also been advertising for more EAs. The assistants are needed throughout the division.
St. Paul Education has also a few advertisements posted for teaching positions. These positions will be paid for with the $1 million in federal funding that the division has received to help cope with the pandemic.
When taking into account the new hires, the division will exceed the $1 million mark.
"We will be going over the $1.08 million allocation," said Brodziak, adding, the division is focused on taking care of its staff and families.
School bus drivers
Another area the division predicted would see some challenges is with bus drivers who must self-isolate, but can't find a replacement driver.
So far, there have been three days where busing has been affected, said Brodziak. One day, it was a route in Mallaig, and two other days it was routes in Myrnam.
When there is a lack of substitutes teachers, students still go to school, but, "If there are no bus drivers there are no buses," stated Brodziak. He confirmed that each of the three situations were due to bus drivers who had symptoms on the daily checklist.
"It is what it is," he said, adding, the division has to be strict in ensuring people are not working when they have symptoms.
"We are going to follow the rules."