When the last November it was known the ruling would require the province to hire thousands of new teachers to meet the class size and composition requirements set forward by the court.

And while, at the time, educators were generally jubilant with the decision, the logistical consequences of hiring a significant number of teachers may not have been fully anticipated, said Jim Cambridge, the superintendent of Sooke School District.

That belief was demonstrated on Sept. 28 when the scheduling software used by the school district showed that no teacher was available for a classroom at Dunsmuir Middle School, a situation that led to Cambridge stepping up to take over the classroom teaching duties for the first time in 10 years.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 always happy to get into a classroom and teach. It was a really great experience,B次元官网网址� he said.

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The situation is the natural consequence of having a number of on-call teachers move from on-call positions to full time teaching positions during the flurry of hiring that resulted from the courtB次元官网网址檚 decision.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檝e hired about 130 new teachers locally and thatB次元官网网址檚 gone a long way to diminishing the pool of on-call teachers available to fill in for teachers who are absent on any given day,B次元官网网址� said Cambridge.

He added that the division always hires new teachers to replace teachers who have retired or left the profession, but the normal number would be between 20 and 30.

B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e reacting to the situation by interviewing and and weB次元官网网址檙e hoping weB次元官网网址檒l be able to resolve the problem very soon. We need to bring on about 30 to 40 new staff and to that end weB次元官网网址檝e hired nine new teachers in just the past two days,B次元官网网址� said Cambridge.

On the bright side, he said that the situation facing Sooke is not as dire as it may be in other jurisdictions.

B次元官网网址淲e have the benefit of living in a pretty desirable place and itB次元官网网址檚 not too tough to attract teachers to live here,B次元官网网址� he said.

B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 sure there are areas where they are having a much harder time.B次元官网网址�

Even with the hiring blitz currently underway, qualified educators on the districtB次元官网网址檚 administrative staff are prepared to step in and fill any shortfalls on the short term. Those staff members have been going out to classrooms at a rate of one or two a day and are rotating those duties as the need arises.

B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 a short term situation, but I think itB次元官网网址檚 not a bad thing at all. Most of us are happy for the chance to get back into the classroom. It is, after all, why we became educators in the first place.B次元官网网址�

editor@sookenewsmirror.com
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