Update, Wednesday, May 29
School District 83 has responded to budget concerns and related figures shared by the North Okanagan Shuswap Teachers Association (NOSTA).
On Monday, May 27, the local teachers union and its president Graham Gomme contacted the Observer regarding the school district’s proposed 2024-25 budget that received first reading at the May 21 school board meeting. A statement was provided by the union critical of proposed staffing cuts, along with a by-the-numbers breakdown of the cuts. Gomme noted 88 per cent of the cuts would affect teachers and front-line workers.
The following day, the school district provided the Observer a written response to numbers shared by the union. Responses (italicized) were as follows:
• 10 classroom teaching positions removed:
The district staffs teaching positions according to the Collective Agreement which has defined class size and composition language. Any decreases in classroom teaching positions is a result of decreased enrolment numbers.
• 2.6 alternate classroom teaching positions removed:
Of the 2.6 FTE (full-time equivalent) reduction to “Bridge Programming,” 1.0 FTE has been changed into a learning resource helping teacher which will provide greater equity to all schools in the district versus having only a few schools which had a bridge program. The overall reduction is 1.6 FTE.
• 2 online learning Teaching Positions removed (entire school was closed and outsourced):
With the introduction of Provincial Online Schools, we are now unable to offer courses to students outside of our geographic boundaries. A small amount of revenue was generated by the Online school which did not include offsetting the cost of a District Principal who was overseeing the program nor the IT staff supporting the program. Students from SD83 have been transitioned to @KOOL in Kamloops where they will have 12-month teacher support versus the 10-month teacher support they were receiving in SD83. The SD73 school offers robust services which will be an enhancement of service to our students. The two online SD83 teachers still have teaching positions within the district.
• 1 Indigenous helping teacher position removed:
0.6FTE was surplussed according to the Collective Agreement and a 0.4 FTE Indigenous helping teacher position is posted, resulting in a net 0.2 FTE reduction. This position is paid for from “targeted funds” and the Quelmúcw Education Council has authority over this budget, not the Board of Education.
• 43 (certified) education assistants (CEA) layed off:
It is a typical process to layoff CEAs each year and then recall employees in the fall. This allows the district to allocate supports to the schools where they are required based on student need. The proposed reduction at this point is 24 CEA’s.
•2 educational support workers layed off, 4 education assistants with decreased hours:
These are CEAs which have a combination of classifications and though it appears they are layoffs, it is just the way it is reported within the budget. These are not layoffs.
• 1 Indigenous education worker (IEW) position layed off:
This is inaccurate. District wide we are actually adding an IEW (1.0 FTE). Once again, these positions are paid through targeted funds and are under the purview of the Quelmúcw Education Council.
• 3 Indigenous education workers with decreased hours
This is a re-allocation of hours which employees will be able to post in to according to the CBA. There are actually an additional 43.5 hours/week for IEW’s.
• 1 (of only 2) school psychologist removed.
This is a result of restructuring to ensure “direct” services to students are provided.
Regarding the school psychologist, they do not provide mental health supports to students. They are involved in the assessment of potential learning disabilities for students.
• 14 custodians layed off; 3 custodians with decreased hours; 1 bus driver position layed off; 4 ground support staff removed.
Small Elementary schools will see daytime shifts eliminated; however, most of those hours are being posted to night shift. One school in the district went to full time hours, which caused a layoff. A couple custodians were given layoff notice in order to post 40 hour combo positions i.e. ALF/MVB, SMS/SBR, ERS/PAR. Three custodians were decreased in hours (NCA, GRI and PVSS). One bus route consolidated therefore a reduction of one bus eliminated.
All the grounds support remains – no layoffs proposed. Approximately 11 positions being posted.
• 1 Payroll Clerk removed:
There has been no reduction to payroll. The payroll department operates with 2.0 FTE this is consistent with last year’s FTE.
• 1 added, administration (principal/vice principal/senior leadership):
The Indigenous Education department has filled a vacant position for a district principal which is paid through targeted funds. Once again at the discretion of the Quelmúcw Education Council. We have not added a school principal as we have not opened a new school.
In response to a comment from NOSTA that “no cuts are being taken at the school district management level,” the school district said a district manager position which will be vacant in the fall 2024-25 will not be filled. The school district also noted that in 2021-22 school year, a restructuring at the district level resulted in a savings of approximately $100,000. In the following two school years two district principal positions were reduced.
“If all district supports were removed (Directors of Instruction, District Principal positions paid from operating grant, and all clerical,) it would not be enough to balance the budget and would result in lack of consistency, zero support for schools and programs, and would result in chaos with the lack of oversight,” commented the school district.
For the 2024-25 school year, the school district is anticipating a decline of 93.7 FTE in student enrolment, meaning the school district would receive approximately $591,000 less in annual operating grant funding from the province.
The 2024-25 budget will be discussed by trustees at a Committee of the Whole meeting on Thursday, May 30, at 4 p.m. at the District Education Support Centre. Following this meeting, there will be a 30-minute public question and answer period. Committee of the Whole meetings involve in-depth discussion and information-sharing among trustees without formal motions.
The Observer will be meeting with School District 83 administration and providing a follow-up on the budget and related challenges.
Original story
Staffing cuts proposed to meet the provincial requirement of a balanced budget aren’t sitting well with School District 83 trustees or the teachers’ union.
At its May 21 meeting, SD83 secretary-treasurer Dale Culler reviewed the 2024-25 budget which includes proposed reductions to staffing, services and supplies as the school district looks to balance decreasing enrolment with “mounting pressure in several areas including employee absence, employee benefits, utilities and inflationary impacts to services and supplies.”
The school district is expecting an enrolment decline of 93.7 full-time equivalent students, resulting in a reduced operating grant of approximately $591,000.
Tennile Lachmuth called the budget, up for first reading, the most difficult she’s faced in her six years of being a trustee (Armstrong, Spallumcheen, CSRD Area D).
“Even during COVID, we thought that was tough. But this is absolutely the worst budget,” said Lachmuth, noting letters would be written to B.C.’s education ministry regarding insufficient funding from the province – a challenge faced by other school districts. “We’re all on the same page. It’s not that we’re mismanaging the money at all – we’re all roughly around the same deficit amount… we’re not being funded for this we’re not being funded for that.”
Trustee Corryn Grayston (CSRD areas C, F and G) noted 88 per cent of proposed cuts affect teachers and certified education assistants (CEAs).
“That is a dramatic percentage of overall reductions…,” said Grayston. “My feeling is that you know, we continue to hear from our teachers how challenging classes are, how supports are so instrumental for them to be successful…”
Grayston suggested leadership go back and “see where some trimming can be done to lessen this impact.”
“We need to find a solution,” said Grayston. “And I know there’s no magic solution out there, but we need to find something that balances a bit more.”
Trustees continued to share frustration with the challenges around provincial funding.
“We’re not in an ideal situation for sure,” said school board chair, trustee Amanda Krebs (Salmon Arm). “I know how much effort has gone in to trying to find money where there isn’t any money and I acknowledge that.”
North Okanagan Shuswap Teachers Association president Graham Gomme shared a number of the trustees’ reactions to the proposed budget, from it being one of the worst he’s seen, to concerns about the impacts of the proposed cuts.
“There’s $3 million in cuts to basically employees of School District 83 and of that, 88 per cent of that are educators and front line workers and the other 12 per cent are people working in facilities support – there’s nothing in management,” said Gomme.
NOSTA provided the Observer with the following breakdown of cuts suggested in the budget.
The proposed reduction in the classroom and priority learner supports:
• 10 classroom teaching positions removed;
• 2.6 alternate classroom teaching positions removed;
• 2 online learning teaching positions removed (entire school closed and outsourced);
• 1 Indigenous helping teacher position removed’
• 43 education assistants laid off;
• 2 educational support workers laid off;
• 4 education assistants with decreased hours;
• Indigenous education worker position laid off;
• 3 Indigenous education workers with decreased hours;
• and 1 (of 2) school psychologist removed.
“We have education psychologists who are the ones that categorize students,” commented Gomme. “They’re the only ones qualified to do so… we have two of them and they’re actually a couple out of Kamloops and they come here to do the job and they’re cutting one of them.”
Proposed cuts to facility support staff include:
• 14 custodians laid off;
• 3 custodians with decreased hours;
•1 bus driver position laid off;
• 4 ground support staff removed;
• 1 payroll clerk removed.
On the administration side, Gomme said one person is being added (school principal).
In a public statement, NOSTA said with the various proposed cuts, “our most vulnerable students will face reduced support and resources.”
“The layoffs of 43 education assistants, 2 educational support workers, and the reduction in hours for four education assistants will further strain classroom dynamics and individualized learning support,” said NOSTA.
“Additionally, the elimination of one school psychologist and cuts to Indigenous Education Workers will severely impact the mental health and cultural support systems critical to many students…
“These cuts underscore a failure to support the essential needs of students and educators, perpetuating a system that prioritizes management over direct educational support.”
Gomme anticipates the budget will be up for a second reading at the June 18 school board meeting. He hopes anyone concerned with the proposed cuts will speak to their schools and be heard.
“I didn’t see this coming, I knew they were going to make cuts but this is way beyond what I ever imagined,” said Gomme.
The above story has been updated with additional information and a correction.
Read more: Trustees prepare to slash budget
Read more: Suggestions for school budget cuts
