The Greater Victoria school district is moving to stop the revolving door in some classrooms where one substitute teacher after another starts work and then goes on maternity leave a short time later.
The substitutes gain benefits and extra money while on leave, but students often pay the price by getting a different teacher every time they turn around, the district says.
One recent class at Margaret Jenkins Elementary had six different teachers — three of whom were temps who worked only a couple of weeks or months before going on leave.
The situation frustrated administrators, angered parents and left the young students confused and upset, said principal Barb Hardy.
“They were actually blaming themselves for the moves,” she said. “They were actually saying, ‘Why do my teachers not like me? What did I do that was wrong?’ ”
The district said substitute teachers are using a “loophole” that allows them to accept a temporary posting even if they have no plans to start work or they intend to work only a few weeks.
In addition to the stress on students, the situation ratchets up costs since the district can end up paying benefits and “topping up” employment insurance for two, three or four teachers in a single classroom, said deputy superintendent Sherri Bell.
The district has served notice that it wants to end the practice by requiring that substitute teachers who apply to fill a temporary posting are available to work at least half the contract.
A teacher applying for a 10-month posting from September to June would have to work at least five months.
The Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association, however, opposes any move to make “availability” a condition of employment and accuses the district of discriminating against pregnant teachers.
“This is a human rights issue,” union president Benula Larsen said.
“How do you deny someone a position because they’re pregnant?”
Larsen said most temporary teachers are hired without interviews based on their seniority and qualifications.
“If they are the most senior person for that job, they should be getting that job,” she said. “Now you’re not going to get it because you’re pregnant and you cannot come in?”
Larsen said the situation at Margaret Jenkins was a “one-off” and should not be used as an excuse to rewrite hiring rules.
But some parents applaud the district for taking steps to fix the problem.
Kristina Whitney says her daughter had eight teachers in her first two years at Margaret Jenkins. When Whitney called for changes, she said the teachers’ union accused her trying to trample the rights of pregnant teachers.
“There was no sort of empathy or sympathy for the situation, which is kind of ridiculous to have that many teachers,” she said. “It was just, ‘This is discrimination, what you’re suggesting.’ ”
Whitney, who has three children, said she supports the rights of women to work and take maternity leave, but said the current situation defies common sense.
“These are kids and everyone wants them to have the best education — as well as supporting teachers,” she said.
“So there has to be some common ground.”
District officials say that while the situation at Margaret Jenkins is an extreme example, they deal with up to a dozen cases each year in which multiple teachers cycle through classrooms.
Last summer, a temporary teacher applied for a one-year job, got the position, and then went on maternity leave before the school year even started, said Mark Walsh, manager of labour relations with the district.
Without setting foot in the classroom, the teacher gained additional seniority rights and moved up a pay level, while the district paid her benefits and “topped up” her employment insurance to full pay while she was on leave.
Meanwhile, the district reposted the job. A second temporary teacher took over the class for a few weeks in September until a third temp was picked to fill the vacancy. That teacher taught until the spring, when the original temp returned from leave to finish out the year, Walsh said.
Tillicum principal Lori Burley said such situations jeopardize public confidence in the system. She said that most parents understand if someone gets sick, but when their son or daughter is repeatedly getting a new teacher throughout the year, they begin to lose patience, particularly if the child is struggling.
“Then they are coming and saying, ‘Why aren’t you stopping this? You have to be able to do something about this situation.’ ”
