Guelph school boards recall teachers who received layoff notices

The public and Catholic school boards in Guelph say they have recalled the teachers who received layoff notices earlier this year.

The Upper Grand District School Board said in an email that 56 secondary teachers and 54 elementary teachers are being recalled for the upcoming school year.

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A spokesperson said in an email that none of the teaching positions were reduced and teachers would be receiving the same entitlement.

But that doesn’t appear to be the case for the Wellington Catholic District School Board.

“We will be recalling our teachers who were laid off, however, some will be recalled to long-term occasional positions rather than permanent,” director of education Tamara Nugent said in an email. “We’re hopeful that through continued enrollment growth and further attrition that permanent openings will occur.”

Nugent said the budget process was challenging and the board experienced a $2-million reduction.

Upper Grand’s budget also appears to be taking a hit.

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The public school board said they have made a number of reductions in several budget areas including positions, school budgets, professional development funding and information technology.

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Spokesperson Heather Loney said 98 courses have been cancelled across all of their secondary schools for the upcoming school year, but that’s due to a variety of factors such as low enrolment and funding.

“Courses being cancelled at the secondary level during the scheduling process is not new to our board,” Loney said.

For example, 15 courses have been cancelled at Centennial CVI, but only four of those courses ran at the school last year.

The board was also forced to remove a contingency built into the budget for unforeseen circumstances and for the first time, the board is running a deficit that will need to come back into balance within two years.

“Further reductions will be required,” Loney said.

“Changes made by the provincial government to class sizes will result in fewer and fewer funding teaching positions in the system over the next four years.”

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The board is being forced by the provincial government to move to larger class sizes. Instead of one teacher for every 22 students, there will be funding for one teacher for every 28 students.

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Loney added that the board examined all programs, and principals have increased enrolment in both compulsory and elective courses in order to be in compliance with their collective agreements, as well as the new class size funding model.

Students are ending their school year this week and will return to the classroom on Sept. 3.