Around 200 teaching staff will be joining the Greater Victoria School District this new school year, thanks to a province-wide push to up the numbers of teachers in school districts.
The boost in teachers comes from the province providing $330 million to fund 2,600 new teacher positions in B.C.
Of the 200 hirings in Greater Victoria, 160 were B次元官网网址渘ecessaryB次元官网网址� positions to be filled in classrooms and other instructional roles, and additional teachers are now on the teacher-on-call list as well.
B次元官网网址淗ow it influences us is super exciting. I think itB次元官网网址檚 great for us as a school district to be welcoming all these new teachers to our district,B次元官网网址� said Greater Victoria Area School District Superintendent , adding in many cases, the new staff are are young, starting teachers.
B次元官网网址淭o be able to provide that opportunity is fantastic.B次元官网网址�
There were 34 postings for hire for district schools in Oak Bay, though they they were not strictly teaching positions, as it included custodial and educational assistants.
Langstraat said the boost in teaching staff is a B次元官网网址渞eally good thingB次元官网网址� as itB次元官网网址檚 certainly going to lower class sizes around the school district. In addition to more teachers, the Victoria school district created 84 new classrooms, renovating some of its schools and turning some spaces into classrooms.
While the addition of more teachers is a big benefit, shortage of staff in Victoria, particularly in Oak Bay schools, hasnB次元官网网址檛 really been an issue, noted Langstraat.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 teacher shortage widely reported, which is true for the province, but for the schools in Oak Bay, the short answer is no, there is no such shortage,B次元官网网址� he said, adding that all positions were successfully filled. B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e been fortunateB次元官网网址� our human resources department has done incredible work this spring and summer to fill these positions, all of which are filled.B次元官网网址�
New teachers will also take a special teacher mentorship program a week before the start of the school year.
B次元官网网址淥n the capital and teaching side of things, we are well-prepared, and financially, we worked really closely with the Ministry of Education around planning and budgeting, so weB次元官网网址檙e coming into the school year financially in good shape, so the ministry can provide us with the funding that we need.B次元官网网址�
Those 2,600 teachers didnB次元官网网址檛 come easy. The B.C. Liberal government signed a deal in March providing $330 million to fund 2,600 new teacher positions, to comply with a that ended a 15-year court battle over contract language governing class size and special needs support ratios.
The court case cost the B.C. government $2.6 million in legal costs.
The B.C. education ministry issued a statement this week saying progress is being made to hire teachers to meet the agreement reached between the former government and the B.C. TeachersB次元官网网址� Federation.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e been advised that most school districts are successfully hiring the teachers they need to be in compliance with the [agreement] with the BCTF B次元官网网址� and also to meet local enrolment growth,B次元官网网址� the ministry said.
When the agreement with the union was reached, the ministry established a $2 million fund for rural and remote school districts to help recruit and retain teachers.
Teachers can agree to take additional preparation time, extra teaching support or other forms of assistance, if approved by them and their union local.
