Teachers in School District 43 are heading back to school next week full of optimism as a result of the hiring of 181 educators to restore class sizes and supports to special needs students.
Smaller class sizes in elementary schools and a smaller number of special needs students in classes across the district means more help for struggling students, the president of the Coquitlam Teachers' Association (CTA) predicted.
“You’ve got class sizes going down and you’ve got more classes, so you can spread out the number of kids through more classrooms, and it will be easier for teachers to meet those children’s needs,” Ken Christensen told The Tri-City News.
The changes are the result of a deal reached between the BC Teachers' Federation and the province to comply with a November 2016 Supreme Court of Canada ruling against the former BC Liberal government that ended a 15-year-court battle over contract language governing class size and special needs support ratios.
The settlement is to provide a way forward to carry the province’s public system to 2019, when the current teacher contract must be renegotiated.
Christensen said the CTA has been watching closely to ensure the collective agreement provisions are applied correctly but it has been challenging because the language is outdated.
Still, he expects even more teachers to be hired when the dust settles. “There are staffing resources [now] in these schools and there will be more hires coming.”
In cases where schools can’t meet the collective agreement, teachers will be awarded a remedy, including more assistance in the class or release time for professional development, he said.
The timing of the additional resources is key, Christen said, because teachers are implementing a revised curriculum, already in place in kindergarten to Grade 9 and coming this fall for high school students.
More student-focused, the revised curriculum offers more choices and opportunities for students to study what they are interested in, as well as core competencies and skills, while teachers are considered a “guide on the side” helping students with their “inquiry” rather than being a “sage on the stage” dispensing knowledge.
New technology is part of the change and many classes are teaching computer coding while students are experimenting with devices such as Spheros, connected toys students can program to move and do other actions.
Christensen said it may take a little longer to fully roll out the high school curriculum because of all the changes in schools over the last several months.
“We’re anticipating it should be underway but there is more work to be done.”
A number of schools also received classroom renovations to make way for additional classes, a School District 43 spokesperson said.
Peter Chevrier said 38 classroom conversions were undertaken this summer, most of them at elementary schools but one or two at middle and high schools.
Unlike other school districts, which may have struggled to fill posts prior to September, SD43 was able to fill its need for teachers. But the district continues to hire teachers on call.
