New Brunswick’s Anglophone East School District facing budget, staff shortage

There is only a week left until school starts and the Anglophone East School District is starting off the school year in the red.

The district is short on money to pay its staff and is still struggling to fill vacant positions.

“This year has just been more challenging for us than normal,” said Anglophone East School District Supt. Gregg Ingersoll.

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Ingersoll said the district is still short roughly $1 million in its budget for 30 new educational assistant (EA) positions for this school year.

He said the district received an additional $700,000 in funding for EA salaries this year, but that only covered last year’s budget shortfall.

“They are trying to find more funding for educational assistants each year but they are not catching up. We keep going deeper and deeper every year,” said Ingersoll.

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Ingersoll says the only way now to avoid cutting EA positions is to find the money elsewhere in the budget.

But that’s a major concern for Moncton parent Tim Richard.

“Where is the money coming from? Is it coming from school supplies, is it coming from the lunch program, the breakfast program? Where is it coming from,” said Richard.

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Ingersoll says those details are still being worked out with the district education council

Meanwhile, Ingersoll said the district is also struggling to find enough certified French immersion teachers, particularly supply teachers.

“When it comes to the teachers with the qualifications to do a long-term position to fill in for a whole year there are not many of those teachers around,” said Ingersoll.

Nor are there enough educational psychologists, he said, adding four of six positions have sat vacant for about two years.

“We have a couple of our families that are definitely falling behind in referrals,” Ingersoll added.

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It all comes down to a lack of funding, according to Rick Cuming, president of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association.

He said the stress is impacting teachers and the entire classroom.

“We see stress and burn out but it is the learning conditions for those students that need to be a priority,” said Cuming.