Teacher staffing levels here look the same for September

Negotiations between teachers and the local public school board are still ongoing but Education Director Wayne McAndrew said yesterday there shouldn’t be any major changes in next year’s staffing level.
McAndrew said the board is looking to maintain about the same number of teachers for 1998-99 as this past school year.
While that doesn’t mean there won’t be changes at individual schools, McAndrew stressed the board is aiming to keep the transition from this year to next as smooth as possible.
“I think we’re doing our best to hold the line at our smaller schools,” he said. “If you take away a teacher there, you take away a curriculum at the same time.”
While there aren’t any big changes expected in elementary enrolment, the number of high school students in the district looks like it will drop by about 60.
“I don’t think you’ll see a decrease in the [pupil-to-teacher ratio],” McAndrew noted. “And as far as classroom loading, hopefully you’ll see no appreciable difference in September.”
“We know we’re going to be returning most of the staff here now,” echoed Fort High principal Terry Ellwood.
“We already have a tentative timetable in place,” he added. “For the most part, teachers know what they’ll be teaching.”
But Ellwood stressed the word “tentative,” noting nothing concrete has been decided since the new funding model has come out.
“It’s difficult for the teachers and difficult for the administration to plan for next year,” he said. “We need more information.”
“The government has alluded to some of the changes it will make but that hasn’t become public,” agreed McAndrew. “We just want to see what are these changes.”
McAndrew noted the word is the Ministry of Education and Training will be easing up on a few of its proposed changes to the education system, such as special education funding, which under the new funding model was switched to a case-by-case basis.
But none of this has come down in writing from the minister, and McAndrew is celebrating yet.
“We want to see the details behind that commitment,” he said.