THUNDER BAY – A report issued on Tuesday by an Ontario think tank shows Thunder Bay-area schools hired a combined 107 staff members using COVID-19 funding from the province.
According to a report published by the left-leaning Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board used provincial funding to hire 56 employees, including 33 teachers, eight custodians, six special education workers, five mental health staff and four education workers.
Lakehead Public Schools said it actually hired 42 new staff with the money for its 28 schools, five more than the report indicates.
The bulk of their hires were education workers, teachers and administration support, totalling 33 employees. They also added nine custodians.
The CSD catholiques des Aurores boréales added 14 staff, including four teachers, six custodians and four education workers and administration support staff.
A leaked memo from Premier Doug Ford’s office made public earlier this month suggests the province may be considering cutting the $1.6 billion in ‘one-time’ COVID-19 funding provided for the 2020-21 school year and warned boards to take a cautious approach to planning and make the proper adjustments given the COVID money may not be there in 2021-22.
TBNewswatch has reached out to all three boards seeking confirmation of the numbers and comment on what the impact might be if the province’s current COVID-19 funding levels are not continued into the next school year.
A spokesperson for the CSDC des Aurore boréales said increased protocols and virtual learning were the main reasons for the need to hire 14 more employees.
Their fate remains up in the air.
“No decision has been made regarding the future status of these positions. We will study the budget and our staffing needs once these numbers are known. Our efforts are focused on completing the 2020-2021 school year and continuing to offer a quality education to our students in a safe environment,” said Carol-Ann van Rassel, director of communications for the boards.
A public board spokesperson said they actually hire five more people than the report indicates. The Catholic board did not respond.
According to the report, the spending includes financial reports submitted to the Ministry of Education by Dec. 15, 2020.
The report goes on to say that across the province, Ontario school boards hired a total of 6,076 staff, an average of just over 84 employees per board.
It also says boards across Ontario have had to pull heavily from reserves to cover the costs of hiring, stating that of the $655 million used to add staff, 46 per cent, or $304 million came from the boards, with the remaining $351 million contributed by the province.
