Beaverdell Elementary School parents are concerned with the lack of a teaching assistant (TA) position for the 2012/2013 school year.
There are 11 students in the one-room school with one teacher and currently no support staff, due to budget cuts.
Michelle Kreitz, the president for the Parent Advisory Council at Beaverdell, and teacher Jennifer Eaton were at the regular school board meeting on Sept. 11 to present their concerns.
“It came to my attention shortly before the first day of school that there was only going to be the one teacher in the classroom,” said Kreitz. “I think that it is completely unsafe and unacceptable to myself and to the other parents in the elementary school.”
Kreitz reminded the school board of a meeting held three years ago where they had assured parents that they had no intention of removing the TA position from the school due to safety reasons.
“We’re wondering why that’s an option now and why it’s OK to do this at this time?” she questioned. “We have many concerns, three of them being the quality of education our children get, the safety for the students and the teacher, and the accountability for the students and teachers as well.”
During the presentation, Kreitz also noted that there is a range of students in the small class and wondered about how it would affect each child’s needs.
“Who will account for staffing short falls? The students who need help, or will it be the student who is doing well and be left on their own more often?” she asked. “In years past, there would always be a TA working with one to three students at a time every single day.”
An open letter from Eaton was also read at the meeting, citing concerns of having to teach without any help and having to leave the children alone.
Norm Sabourin, Boundary District Teachers’ Association president, has already been in contact with WorkSafeBC on behalf of Eaton.
“I was quite flabbergasted that a worker is allowed to work in this type of isolation,” said Sabourin during question period. “I can’t believe that even based on WorkSafeBC regulations that the board would even go with this anyway, that you wouldn’t think about the safety issues and have another adult.”
He pointed out that WorkSafeBC requires a hazard assessment and the plan be done with the employee, something that wasn’t done in this situation.
Sabourin also said that all it would take is one phone call for a potential investigation. He suggested a temporary TA be put in place immediately until an official posting for the position is in place.
Board chair Teresa Rezansoff noted that as this is a personnel issue, the board would have to convene in a private meeting soon before stating the results. “We’ll get to it as quickly as we can,” she concluded.
