An estimated 300 fewer students are expected next fall in School District 57 schools but only one teacher layoff notice has been issued.
As teachers prepare for the two-month summer break, which starts at the end of the month, the Prince George District Teachers Association is expecting there will be 30 fewer teacher positions when classes resume in September.
But that does not mean 30 teachers will be looking for work elsewhere.
"I think it won't be that bad because we will pick up some positions due to the Learning Improvement Fund, so in the end it's going to be something between 10 and 20 positions," said union president Matt Pearce.
"It's hard to give a firm number at this time because we won't truly know how far we're down [in student numbers] until the fall. We'll lose 10 positions for sure and that would have been quite a bit worse if not for the Learning Improvement Fund."
Twenty-six teachers were deemed surplus from their respective schools and 25 were placed in other schools, mostly to fill in for retiring teachers.
"We have one teacher who is in receipt of a layoff notice and it could be rescinded by the end of the month but that's not very likely," said Pearce. "They will be out of a job by the end of the month.
We've lost other positions due to attrition -- people have retired and have not been replaced. We only had 25 retirements, less than half what we had the year before, and we've lost some of those positions due to declining enrollment. "
The Learning Improvement Fund came as a result of the Bill 22 legislation in April that suspended the right of teachers to strike for the rest of the school year. The province has promised $165 million in funding to schools over the next three years.
The anticipated reduction in students will leave 710 full-time equivalent teachers (950 teachers in total) in SD 57, which encompasses McBride, Valemount and Mackenzie. The current student population projection for 2012-13 in the district is 12,529.
Provincially, the B.C. Teachers Federation is expecting 150 teacher layoffs. Many of those positions will be retained due to retirements or teachers moving out of their respective school districts.
Schools and teacher salaries are funded based on the number of students. Classroom sizes are capped at 22 for kindergarten and 24 for primary students (Grades 1-3), but new legislation contained in Bill 22 now allows classes in Grades 4-12 to exceed 30 students. For every student beyond 30 in a Grade 4-7 classroom, schools receive an additional $2,500 in provincial funding. Schools will get $312 for every secondary school student in a classroom with more than 30 students.
