Board would welcome fuel relief, saying it could reinstate teaching positions

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

The superintendent of the Tri-County Regional School Board says if the province comes through with money to help school boards deal with rising fuel costs, the Tri-County board will be able to reinstate teaching positions that it cut in its draft budget.

Because high fuel costs contributed to a budget shortfall, the board had to eliminate teaching and central office staff positions.

“It would be definitely be a great help and we would reinstate some teachers in the classroom, but it depends on how much comes down,” Phil Landry said Friday.

Reports are that next week, Education Minister Karen Casey will ask her cabinet colleagues for money to help school boards cope with rising fuel costs. For school boards, the bulk of their budgets are spent on staffing, with only about 10 to 15 per cent left to deal with everything else.

Going into its budget, the Tri-County board had to make cuts to address a $3.3 million shortfall in funding. It cut 24 teaching positions and 18 central office jobs.

Four people for sure will be out of a job as of Aug. 1, but it’s still unknown how many others will actually be out of work as a result of the budget, which has yet to be voted on or approved. For instance central office staffers whose positions were cut, but who are NSTU members, will get jobs in the classroom.

“They won’t be laid off, but the end result are teacher term recalls and early hires might not be hired pending the outcome,” says Landry. “But if relief comes, which is gladly appreciated, the impact won’t be as bad.”

Last year the school board faced a budget shortfall in the hundreds of thousands of dollars as a result of higher fuel and oil costs.

In the coming year it has increased its budget allocation for fuel and oil to $3 million, saying, though, it doesn’t know if that will be enough.