The PRDTU continues to believe that student safety should be a number one priority of School District 52. All schools and classrooms must be safe places for students. Education and learning requires that students are safe, included, and supported. Adequate supervision in schools and supports for students are essential for student safety.
The PRDTU continues to call on SD52 to fully staff its schools and classrooms. Safe schools require supervision, positive relationships, and support for every student. Reducing the number of classroom teachers does not help SD52 provide the supervision and support that our students deserve.
Not fully staffing school-based positions, such as by not replacing teacher counsellors in schools and not providing enough on call teachers, results in fewer supports and less supervision. Due to a shortage of teachers on call, SD52 teachers continue to report that learning specialist and other non-enrolling teachers are being pulled from their teaching responsibilities to cover absences.
Teachers are committed to providing a safe education for each student in our classrooms. That is why the PRDTU continues to call for an end to more reductions to teaching staff, an end to the failure to fill school-based teaching positions, an end to a failure to recruit and retain enough teachers on call, and an end to a failure to prioritize student learning and education as the core mission of SD52.