Although School District No. 54 (Bulkley Valley) anticipated possible hiring challenges earlier this year, the school district only has one position left to fill.
Earlier this year, the B.C. government committed $330 million to settle a dispute with the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), funding 2600 new teacher positions. After the announcement, some school districts anticipated that the additional hiring across the province would put a further strain on attracting teachers to rural areas.
Despite not having as many applicants as in previous years, superintendent of schools Chris van der Mark said School District 54 has been “fairly successful” in hiring teachers for the 2017/18 school year.
The only position that still needs to be filled is for an elementary school in Houston.
“We have lost a few teachers who found opportunities in the south due to the significant number of jobs posted,” said van der Mark. “Some people desire the infrastructure and offerings of significant arts and recreation opportunities that exist in larger communities.”
The B.C. Liberal government signed the deal with the BCTF earlier this year to comply with a November 2016 Supreme Court of Canada ruling that ended a 15-year court battle over contract language governing class size and special needs support ratios.
The court case cost the B.C. government $2.6 million in legal costs. The settlement is to provide a system to carry the province’s public school system to 2019, when the current teacher contract must be renegotiated.
The B.C. education ministry issued a statement last week saying progress is being made to hire teachers to meet the agreement reached between the former government and the B.C. Teachers’ Federation.
“We’ve been advised that most school districts are successfully hiring the teachers they need to be in compliance with the [agreement] with the BCTF – and also to meet local enrolment growth,” the ministry said. “However, there are some recruitment and retention challenges, especially for specialist positions and replenishing teacher-on-call lists. The challenges become more acute in rural and remote areas, where it can be difficult to attract and retain staff.”
When the agreement with the union was reached, the ministry established a $2 million fund for rural and remote school districts to help recruit and retain teachers. The agreement also includes alternatives when a district can’t meet the restored teacher contract provisions that were removed by legislation in 2002.
– With files from Tom Fletcher
