P.E.I. English School Board loses control over curriculum delivery
Department of Education to oversee that education role
Prince Edward Island English School Board staff are not only dealing with cuts to teaching staff but the loss of curriculum delivery as well.
In addition to the 28 teaching positions, 13 other positions will be cut at the board and department level.
The reductions will be made by not filling retirement vacancies.
Seven of the positions to be cut are directly linked to curriculum delivery, according to board superintendent Cynthia Fleet.
The department of education will now be overseeing this program. Fleet said she was not consulted and is concerned the responsibility of helping students achieve will be left in the wrong hands.
"Curriculum delivery is the core of what we do. We identify exactly where a student has a gap, and we know exactly what we need to do to move that student ahead. So that work is not our work anymore," said Fleet.
P.E.I. Education minister Hal Perry says it is all about being more efficient.
Those efficiencies will also be seen in cuts to 28 teaching positions, he said, adding that this cut will have minimal impact due to an expected enrolment drop of 300 students in the next year.
"We do have a declining enrolment. We still have some of the best student-teacher ratios in Canada, and these changes will not affect that at all," said Perry.
P.E.I. Teachers' Federation president Gilles Arsenault does not agree with Perry.
"This will mean more split grades, larger class sizes, and as you would know, more so in the urban issues, where it is already an issue," said Arsenault.
In the meantime, the school board is working to determine the number of teachers each school will have in September.
"We're trying to get through staffing. We're being inundated with emails and calls from principals, and coaches, and teachers," said Fleet.
The superintendent says some schools will lose as many as five positions while others could gain two-and-a-half.
"A school can have an increase in enrolment, or no change, but they could still lose positions because of grade or class configurations, as well as the fact that we have fewer positions to work with," said Fleet.