As many as 46 new teaching positions will be posted Tuesday (Jan. 10) in School District 43 as the Coquitlam Teachers' Association (CTA) finalizes local public schools' share of a $50-million provincial pot.
The money is the first stage of compensation from a Supreme Court decision that restored collective agreement provisions for B.C.'s public school teachers.
Although the exact amount of funds coming to SD43 hasn't been determined, the district and the CTA were able to negotiate a number for teachers needed based on previous negotiations for the province's Education Fund.
Calling it "a good day for education," CTA president Ken Christensen said each school in the district will get approximately .5 of a full-time position, depending on the size of the student population, and school staff can decide what kind of support they need for students.
Depending on the need, schools might want to hire counsellors, English as a second language teachers, support teachers for students with special education needs or skill development teachers.
"It's an immediate relief to something that's been going on a long time," Christensen said, referring to a recent Supreme Court of Canada ruling that put class size and composition back into teachers' collective agreements.
"People are pleased with any additional staffing, and they're very good at utilizing staffing," Christensen said of SD43 school staff. "They know very well where it will go."
While the $50-million agreement was reached last week, the CTA only started sending out the information on Monday, with a lot of "thanks coming into our email," Christensen said.
Jobs being posted this week will likely be filled by teachers on call presently working in the district.
"It's a big win for them," Christensen said, adding that the addition of the new positions is an interim measure because talks are still ongoing between the province and the BCTF on the restoration of class size and composition language.
"Having some sort of interim solution here and a larger solution such as the restoration of language which is being discussed at the provincial table is something we definitely welcome."
