The Prince George school district will get a greater influx of new teachers than first indicated, according to the president of the Prince George and District Teachers Association.
Contrary to school board chair Tim Bennett's estimate of the full-time equivalent of 10-15 hires as a result of a $1.26-million influx from the provincial government, Richard Giroday said this week the count is closer to 28.
Giroday said Bennett made the mistake of thinking the money was earmarked for a full school year when in fact it's just for the remaining half of the 2016-17 year.
As such, he said the calculation is based on an average of $45,000 per new teacher, not the $90,000 in salaries, benefits and other expenses for a full year. Giroday also said the $45,000 is a conservative number.
"It's inflated, so we know we're going to be OK," he said.
Bennett acknowledged the mistake when reached this week.
"The number I was using was based on a full-year salary for a teacher," Bennett said. "That would be correct."
Giroday said the hiring has not yet occurred although the allocations for each school have been determined.
The money comes as a result of a recent Supreme Court of Canada that restored language in the teachers' contract regarding class size and composition. It was stripped out of the contract in 2002 when Premier Christy Clark was education minister.
The funding comes out of an interim deal worth $50 million province-wide with negotiations under way to hammer out a longer-term arrangement. Giroday said the amount set out in the interim deal amounts to just one-sixth of what needs to be restored according to government estimates.
