90% of Calgary Catholic School District's substitute teacher roster is working every day

The Calgary Catholic School District says 90 per cent of its substitute teacher roster is working every day, and if they're stretched much thinner, some schools may be forced to move classes online.

When CBC News reported on demand for substitute teachers in September, the Calgary Catholic board said any increase in teacher absences this year had been "insignificant" and that there had been a "negligible increase in absences" compared with the prior school year. 

Sandra Borowski, senior communication specialist with the district, said that since then, there has been a significant increase in teacher absences. 

"Just because of the rules around isolation with COVID," she said. "Since we last spoke, there have been a few more guest teachers added to the roster — about 100 additional teachers. Many of those teachers are working every day."

The Calgary Catholic roster of substitute teachers now sits at 1,127.

As of Thursday, the school district had 19 schools with active cases of COVID and 33 positive cases in total. About 915 students and 126 staff members (not all of whom are teachers) were in isolation.

Borowski said that for now, the school district is able to operate with 90 per cent, or 1,014 people, from the substitute roster working every day, but if demand continues to increase, the district may need to make some tough decisions. 

"The temporary school closures, they would be considered if we can't place guest teachers," she said.

"As soon as we hit that 100 per cent threshold or it's completely impossible to place a guest teacher, then we would kind of be left with no other option than to temporarily close the school. But that would be on a school-by-school basis."

Borowski said the school district hasn't done the math yet, but said using substitute teachers at this rate will certainly have a financial impact.

"We still have our teachers employed full time, even if they're sitting at home supporting students remotely," she said. "The obvious effect of that is an increase in spending. I don't have specific numbers of what that increase is yet, but it would be a significant increase in spending for the school board."

The Calgary Board of Education said that in the past month, the demand for substitute teachers has actually been three per cent less than in the same period last year, but the year to date total is approximately four per cent higher than at the same point last year. 

"The modest increase in the total need for substitute teachers may be explained by Hub online learning," it said in an emailed statement. "Hub teachers have an ability to work remotely and therefore require significantly fewer subs to support absences."

Back in September, the CBE told CBC News that demand for substitute teachers was up 20 per cent in the first 15 days of class, and that they'd bolstered their roster by 30 per cent for the school year. 

The CBE said the total number of substitute teachers on its roster is now approximately 1,740, with some currently filling temporary teaching positions on a full- or part-time basis, including Hub online learning. Every day, 77 per cent, or about 1,340 of those substitutes, are working. 

The CBE said it's difficult to calculate what financial impact this is having.

"Some teachers are working short-term contracts, others are paid grid-rate when they work two or more consecutive days, and others are paid a daily rate. In addition, not all assignments are full-day," it said.