By Kaitlyn Clark
The Haldimand Press
HALDIMAND—Grand Erie District School Board Chair Greg Anderson announced April 25, 2019 that 21 elementary and 84 secondary school teachers were declared redundant and would not have a position with Grand Erie in the fall.
The following day, the Ontario government announced that it would be providing “a new Attrition Protection Allocation … up to four years, providing a top-up for school boards where the change in funded classroom teachers exceeds actual attrition and other voluntary leaves.”
The Ministry release also noted that per-pupil funding is estimated at $12,246 and that there will be $24.66 billion invested in education for the 2019-2020 year through Grants for Student Needs (GSN).
When asked what this means for the 105 teachers already declared redundant, Anderson said, “Grand Erie is pleased that the Ministry of Education has finally released its 2019-20 GSNs. The information provided on Friday, however, is very high-level and does not include the specific details we need to move forward with our planning for next year. Until this detailed information is received and analyzed, including the funds promised by the Education Minister for attrition protection, Grand Erie’s staffing impacts for 2019-20 remain the same.”
Anderson noted that GSNs are typically announced by the province in late March and would then be followed by a technical paper outlining the details.
In addition to the teachers that were announced redundant, 37 elementary school teachers, 20 secondary school teachers, 34 elementary system staff, and seven secondary system staff were declared surplus, which means that while they will still have a position with GEDSB in the fall, it may be at a different school. System staff include teacher coaches and itinerant teachers who support students such as through education technology, English language learners, special education, and more.
“Grand Erie redundant and surplus teachers … are a result of changes announced by the Ministry of Education last month, the end of local priority funding, lower enrolment, and the cancellation of some EPO (Education Programs – Other) grants,” said Anderson in the April 25 statement.
Anderson continued, “The staffing impacts for Grand Erie in 2019-20 are deep and beyond anything the Board has experienced in recent years. Understandably, this is a very challenging and difficult time for impacted staff, as well as those seeing colleagues who have been with the Board since as far back as 2012 affected by this news. These are uncertain times for all school boards in Ontario. As we wait for funding details for 2019-20, we’re hopeful we’ll be provided with the resources we need to continue providing students the education they deserve.”
The Press asked the GEDSB Haldimand trustees, James Richardson and Brian Doyle, their thoughts on both the announcement by GEDSB and the Ministry; specifically, they were asked about potential effects to Haldimand schools, such as if already-underutilized schools like Dunnville Secondary could be at risk of closure once the number of classes is condensed further.
Richardson provided the following response: “Brian and I are definitely concerned for the impact on Haldimand students and teachers, but we – like the rest of the Board – await the full details from the Ministry…. Brian and I are always available if anyone has any concerns they would like to talk about.”
The Press reached out to the Ministry of Education for a comment, but did not receive a response before press time. The Press also requested the number of voluntary leaves from GEDSB over the last four years, and was told the number varies each year so there is no average, and they could not provide specific numbers as it “would be a privacy issue for our employees”.
