As the school year comes to a close, students and teachers are taking time to reflect on the first year without COVID-19 disruptions.
“It was kind of a different shift with no masks, being able to fully talk to new friends, meet new people and see different people and interactions with teachers were really good as well,” said Tyler Lirette, a Grade 12 student graduating from Citadel High School in Halifax.
But those teachers, according to the Nova Scotia Teachers Union (NSTU), are stretched too thin.
NSTU President Ryan Lutes says recent new and upgraded school announcements have been positive, however there is no answer as to where staff will come from.
“It shouldn’t be normal for schools to be running without the required number of people. For some schools to be down five, six, seven staff because they can’t be replaced,” he said.
“We need government to really focus on on that. And it’s something that I don’t believe they’ve really taken seriously yet.”
That’s why the union has launched a campaign, complete with a new television commercial, to bring attention to the staffing levels.
Lutes says one key issue is pay, especially for substitutes. The union wants recruitment and retention plan put forward.
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Contract talks with the province began Wednesday morning, as the current agreement expires next month.
In a statement to Global News, a spokesperson from the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development says they’re “not seeing any significant retention concerns in education” and that retirements have been “fairly consistent over the past several years.”
The department says there are about 10,000 teachers and 2,600 substitutes, including about 100 new teachers who were hired this school year.
“The total budget for the Public Education Funding this fiscal year is $1.289 billion compared to $1.270 billion last year. The overall budget for Public Education Funding has gone up by $57.5 million, or an overall increase of nearly 4%,” wrote Barbara Ferguson. “This funding will help hire more teachers for our growing enrollment.”
But Lutes says there are many considerations as classrooms and teaching jobs have changed — with evolving mental health and learning needs.
“If society’s complicated, our classrooms are complicated. And I think we would all agree that society is as complicated as it’s ever been,” he said.
“We need our classrooms to be fully supported in that … and that’s really what teachers want.”
Parents are keeping a close eye on the situation in schools too.
In the Halifax area, a five-week long support staff strike recently came to an end just prior to the end of the school year.
Stacey Rudderham, the co-chair of the Nova Scotia Parents for Public Education, says the strike, as well as incidents of school violence and large class sizes, have posed challenges for students.
“From a parent’s perspective, I’m kind of nervous about what will happen over the next number of years,” she said. “I’m hopeful that some action is going to be taken and that these issues we’ve been confronting this year are going to be taken very seriously.”
— With a file from Global News’ Rebecca Lau