As more staff self-isolate, teachers association says supply teachers can't meet demand

With schools in the province reporting hundreds of COVID-19 cases, the New Brunswick Teachers' Association says supply teachers can't fill the demand left by self-isolating staff. 

On Tuesday, 659 cases were self-reported to schools, which included numbers from the long weekend. On Wednesday, another 942 cases were self-reported, and on Thursday, 423. 

As of Thursday, only four schools in the province hadn't been impacted by COVID-19 since the start of the school year last Sept. 7.

Connie Keating, president of the New Brunswick Teachers' Association, says the latest outbreaks are having a significant impact on schools.

The province has offered full-time supply teachers to schools to help with positions left unfulfilled by isolating staff, she said, but it's not enough.

"This certainly isn't meeting the demand, and teachers at this point are wondering if there'll be guarantees of these supply teachers still being made available after the March Break."

The Anglophone West School District says that with COVID-19 cases increasing on the heels of the Christmas break, it recognized there could be some staffing challenges, so it developed a contingency plan for unfilled positions.

It was put into place when students returned to in-person learning at the end of January. Eighteen supply teachers were assigned to specific schools in the district to help fill vacancies until March 4. 

"We have also engaged 70 of our district education staff members, including leads, coaches, and subject co-ordinators (all certified teachers)," a spokesperson wrote in an email to CBC News.

Anglophone North said most of its schools had self-reported cases of COVID-19 since in-person learning resumed, but the district has been able to maintain schedules and minimize the impact on learning.

"Unfilled absences for teaching staff have averaged 1-3 per day, but those numbers are comparable to pre-COVID times," Meredith Caissie, the district's communications director, wrote in an email.

Anglophone North has hired one supply teacher to act as a float for its 18 larger schools, while the 11 smaller schools have access to district staff if they're unable to find adequate supply coverage.

"To date, schools have not needed to call upon any additional supports (district or outside), and have been able to fill absences with the pool of supply staff we currently have on hand," Caissie wrote.

COVID​-19​ continued to be a concern in New Brunswick schools weeks after students returned to in-person learning. ​On Feb. 18, David McTimoney updated Information Morning Fredericton on the situation in Anglophone West.

After the break from March 7 to 11, Keating said, most districts have plans to see whether absences die down and supply teachers are still required.

She couldn't say how many supply teachers New Brunswick has, though the association has reached out to districts to get updated numbers. Since there aren't enough to address the demand, positions like guidance counsellors and resource teachers are "on hold," she said, as those staff either self-isolate or step in to help with other unfulfilled positions.

The deployment of supply teachers is only a short-term solution, she added. Long-term, Keating said, New Brunswick needs more teachers. 

"Teacher recruitment and retention have been on the back burner, so to speak. We would be hoping the government would be looking at strategies and have a plan in place to be attracting students into our schools."

N.B. lifting all restrictions on March 14

New Brunswick is in Level 1 of its winter pandemic plan, which has the fewest restrictions of the three levels.

But Premier Blaine Higgs has announced the province will lift proof of vaccine requirements on Feb. 28 and all other restrictions, including masking requirements, on March 14. The decision, which also will put an end to self-isolation requirements, applies to schools, he said.

Keating, speaking before the announcement, said she hoped the province would make decisions about schools based on the advice of Public Health.

At a news conference on Thursday, Higgs said anyone, including a staff member or student, who are more comfortable wearing masks can continue to do so, but the recommendation of Public Health to remove masking requirements mid-March remains the same.  

The province has said it knew there would be more cases in schools once students returned to classrooms on Jan. 31, given the highly transmissible Omicron variant. 

"That's why the department has taken steps to help reduce the impact on schools, including mandating masks for all student and school personnel inside schools, securing a supply of KN95 or higher grade masks for school personnel, and re-instating classroom bubbles for K-8 classes," a spokesperson wrote in an email to CBC. 

The cases are spread across 99,000 students and 27,000 staff throughout the province, the spokesperson added.

The province confirmed it has deployed educational staff throughout the province to maintain in-person learning.

Rod Russell is an immunologist with Memorial University. He tells Information Morning Fredericton why vaccination is the way to go for five to 11 year olds, but understands why some of them have hesitated.

As of Thursday, 59.1 per cent of children age five to 11 had received their first vaccine dose, while 31.9 per cent had been fully vaccinated. 

Of children and teens aged 12 to 19 years old, 82 per cent are fully vaccinated, according to the province's COVID-19 dashboard.  

Unvaccinated children must isolate for 10 days, and vaccinated children must isolate for five days. Isolation is also required when household members test positive for COVID-19. 

Keating said isolating students have take-home assignments, but they learn best with face-to-face teaching.

Switching to a hybrid model to offer remote learning for isolating students is difficult, she added, and requires different lesson plans, making it unsustainable for teachers.

"It goes without saying that no one wins, especially students in these circumstances."