School board fears 178 lost teaching jobs after province's class size increase

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board is estimating it will lose 178 high-school teaching jobs because of theprovincial government's decision to increase average school class sizes.

The board saysaverage class size requirements being changed from 22 to 28 students will lead toan estimatedloss of 164 jobs, plus an additional loss of 14 jobs due to secondary programming. It's expected those jobs will be slashed through retirements, resignations or other voluntary leaves as opposed to outright layoffs.

"We did not agree with increasing class sizes," said HWDSB chair Alex Johnstone, noting that Hamilton will feel an increased pressure as the city has a large population of English as a second language students, andone of the highest numbers of special needs students per capita in Ontario.

"We're concerned about the impact this could have on our most vulnerable students," she said.

Dan Staples, the president for the union local that represents teachers from Grades 9 through 12, said that 178 job losses is a "conservative estimate."

"By rough calculations, we think it's going to be a heck of a lot higher than that," he said.

"This is a devastating blow."

A significant impact

The province announced changes to Ontario's education system on Friday, including increased intermediate and high school class sizes, new elementary math and sex-ed curricula and a province-wide ban on cellphones in the classroom during instructional time.

As part of the government's new education plan, the average class size requirement for secondary Grades 9 to 12 will be adjusted to 28, up from the current average of 22.

Meanwhile, the average class size for intermediate Grades 4 to 8 will increase to 24.5, up slightly from 23.84.

This is more than a fight about a profession, it's also about fighting for kids.- Dan Staples, OSSTF union local 21 president

Hamilton-Wentworth Elementary Teachers' Union local president Jeff Sorensen told CBC News that the elementary board is waiting to see how those changes will filter down from the province.

"We don't yet have a clear idea of what this could mean for our members," he said.

A representative for the catholic school board could not immediately be reached for comment Monday.

Across the province, Harvey Bischof, President of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation, said Friday the government's plan will affect about 5,500, or about 20 per cent, of high school teachers in publicly-funded systems.

Those jobs include 3,600 OSSTF positions, he said, which "cannot possibly be absorbed without a significant impact on student learning and success."

Communication breakdown

The opposition attacked the proposed changes and "dramatic" reduction in teachers at Queen's Park on Monday.

"The minister said no job losses," said NDP education critic Marit Stiles.

Education Minister Lisa Thompson responded there would be no involuntary job losses, and accused Stiles of pulling numbers "out of the cloud."

Johnstone did have positive things to say about some of the province's announcements, like clarity around sex education, which has been a massively contentious issue in recent months.

"We're pleased to see that topics like consent, online safety and gender identity will be part of the curriculum," she said.

But she also noted that lines of communication between the province and its school boards could be much improved.

"It is frustrating that many times we're learning about the changes through the media first, and then the memos come after," she said.

Staples said that teachers will be fighting these changes.

"This is more than a fight about a profession, it's also about fighting for kids."

adam.carter@cbc.ca