Principals wanted: Yukon schools have vacancies, days before school year starts

Yukon is struggling to fill some vacancies in school administration, just days before a new school year begins.

Three of the territory's schools don't yet have a principal for this year — F.H. Collins Secondary School in Whitehorse, Kluane Lake School in Destruction Bay, and Chief Zzeh Gittlit School in Old Crow.

"It's very unusual for the Yukon," said Ted Hupe, president of the Yukon Teachers' Association and former principal at Holy Family Elementary.

"A principal is the go-to person, whether it be for timetabling, for student placement, for registration ... I think for any school that's starting without a principal to start with, is sort of scrambling."

Department of Education officials say any empty principals' offices will be filled with acting administrators. 

Ryan Sikkes, assistant deputy minister of schools and student services for the Department of Education, says the "right people" will be chosen for those acting roles.

"Appointments are all people who are well appointed, well-acquainted with the school, its needs, its routines and procedures so that we can ensure a smooth start to the school year," he said. 

Getting tougher to fill jobs

Sikkes disagrees with Hupe and says it's not that unusual for there to be vacancies soon before the school year begins. He says some staff move in summer, leaving holes to fill.

But he says it is getting tougher to fill jobs. He suggests that the pandemic has also contributed to some of the gaps. 

"That's caused people to perhaps rethink moving from one place to another to take a new job. And that, combined with our northern and remote location, has made for some particular challenges in recruitment."

Hupe suggests the department do more to encourage and recruit local teachers into administrative roles. He said school principals are akin to "middle management," and face an ever-growing workload. For many teachers, it's just not an appealing job to aspire to.

"There's a lot of high expectations on principals, not only to get the administrative job of the school done, but also to be that front person in the school and to meet the needs of every single child in that school," he said.

"And I think it's hard for teachers to move into that role and think that they're capable of doing it."

Hupe also suggests that the government consider offering incentives for school staff who announce resignations or retirement plans earlier. He says other jurisdictions, including the N.W.T., have implemented incentives and it can give officials more time to recruit new people.

Sikkes said such incentives are not currently part of the collective agreement between government and teachers. But, he said, "it's something we could certainly consider."

"At the same time, you know, many of the vacancies come not as a result of a long plan to exit a job at a particular point, but because of particular circumstances in a person's life that causes them to need to move," he said.