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Teachers worried for next year

There were some interesting developments at the last School District 51 (SD51) board of education meeting of the year.
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The board of education met for the last time this school year on June 14.

There were some interesting developments at the last School District 51 board of education meeting of the year.

Norm Sabourin, president of Boundary and District Teachers’ Association brought up that because no administrator had yet been named for Boundary Central Secondary School (BCSS) there has been a lot of confusion and worries for teachers of what next year will bring or even if they will keep their jobs.

“I’ve had a number of phone calls from teachers and they are incredibly stressed,” Sabourin said.

“They’re wondering what they’re going to do; we’re talking four or five years dedicated service, and they’re now asking do I have to sell my house and move my family next year?”

Sabourin said it’s the uncertainty and the time frame of teacher postings coming out that is playing with the teacher’s minds, especially given that the teachers are attempting to finish the school year. Having that stress on their mind makes that task more difficult.

This comes along with a vote this week, by the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation, on whether or not to strike at the start of next year. Sabourin said that it would likely not affect parents and students much, because of the nature of the intended strike which would be more on the administrative side.

In other news, Jeanette Hanlon said that the community fibre optics network is under budget. She said that $250,000 is all they will be putting into it.

Big White Elementary School will be reconfigured into a Kindergarten to Grade 9.

Board chair Teresa Rezansoff said that it is currently classed for up to Grade 12.

“We haven’t had any (grade) 10, 11, 12 students there for three or four years at least,” Rezansoff said, adding the board did guarantee to parents that they wouldn’t deny having a student in those grades if the need arose and that the move was more of a classification than something that would limit the scope of the school.

Lastly, the board will also be having elections in September for the trustees of the board. Jeanette Hanlon will be the chief electoral officer.