Territory considering Whitehorse school's proposal for more full-time substitute teachers amid shortage

The Yukon's Department of Education says it's still considering a proposal to hire full-time substitute teachers at F.H. Collins Secondary School in Whitehorse. It says a "miscommunication" led to the school council believing the proposal had been denied. 

A letter from the school council to the territory's education minister on April 2 said that F.H. Collins administration had asked for five full-time supply teachers as a pilot project next school year. The school council says the pilot is an "absolute necessity" because vacancies are causing frequent disruption at the school.

The school council says about 3,000 classes have required a substitute teacher this year, and 893 of those were not covered. It says the school is repeatedly pulling educational assistants away from their regular jobs to help, and relying on substitute teachers who are inexperienced. 

The proposal suggests that if five supply teachers were hired, they could cover vacancies and teachers taking requisite prep time. They would build relationships with students and cost less than requesting five substitute teachers every day.

The letter claims that the superintendent rejected the proposal without explanation.

"It is deeply concerning to learn that these creative alternatives are simply denied without communication of a strong rationale provided to the school council and community," the letter reads.

The Education department told CBC News in an emailed statement that this was a misunderstanding, and the proposal was still being considered. 

"The superintendent who received the proposal did not deny the proposal but spoke to timelines for proposals, which was unfortunately interpreted as a decline of the proposal," a spokesperson wrote. They said the department is "aware" of the school council's letter.

The proposal contains some interesting ideas but needs to be evaluated with all schools in mind, the statement continues, including how the request could be implemented in all schools. Budget and staffing availability affect that evaluation.

"The department will need to take time to review the details and to discuss the proposal with the school community," the statement reads.

Staffing shortages a Yukon-wide problem

Ted Hupé, president of the Yukon Association of Education Professionals, says F.H. Collins is not the only school suffering from staffing shortages. He says all Whitehorse schools face similar problems, and rural schools are hit even harder.

"We have had a few days this year and last year when we were on the brink of unsafe conditions because there weren't enough adults in the building," Hupé said. "It's happening in our rural schools far too often."

Instead of hiring five more teachers for one school, Hupé wants the department to admit it has a systemic problem and then to deal with it. That would include more aggressive recruitment methods even if they're expensive, he suggested.

Hupé said last week that he hasn't seen the Education department start recruiting for department-run schools for the 2025-2026 school year, even though the First Nation School Board has been recruiting for more than a month.

"That means principals are going to be scrambling into the summer to hire for September," he said. "I've got this weird sense of foreboding that we're going to have more vacancies this fall."