School closures, class cancellations possible if OCDSB doesn’t solve its teacher shortage problem, school board says

By Dani-Elle Dubé

A letter sent by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board to parents says school closures and online class cancellations are possible if staff shortages continue. 

According to the letter that was sent out Friday, the OCDSB is experiencing shortages in a number of staff positions — and the shortage of teachers is greater than usual. 

“Without sufficient teacher coverage for students, there are health and safety concerns, particularly in elementary schools” the board said. “This could result in the closure of schools and/or the cancellation of virtual school classes. We are continuing to do everything we can to ensure that all schools are safe, staffed and fully operational.”

The shortage, the board says, is affecting classroom teachers, educational assistants, earlier childhood educators and other positions, but is having the greatest impact on the hiring of occasional teachers and other casual replacement staff.

“This can be attributed in part to the pressures of having to distribute teachers across both in person and virtual schools, and in part to increased absences related to COVID-19,” the emailed said. “A major contributing factor is the length of absences; when a teacher is required to self-isolate for 14 days, an occasional teacher is needed for all those days.”

To address the challenge, the board says it continues to post, interview and add to their occasional teaching lists.

Other strategies also include using their designated occasional teachers (occasional teacher assigned to a school to work every day to replace an absence in that school, or deployed to a nearby school); redeployment of central teachers to schools, redeployment of non-classroom teachers within schools to cover classes; and others.

The OCDSB also confirmed that there are 11 COVID-19 cases connected to OCDSB schools.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today