‘Really severe challenges’: Ontario school boards struggle with unprecedented staff absences

School boards are increasingly having trouble filling teacher absences related to COVID-19 - Toronto's public board has hit historic levels - and some worry that while students may be supervised, they question if they are actually learning.

Staffing issues have existed throughout the pandemic, and before, but the highly transmissible Omicron variant - and the number of people ill or isolating - has exacerbated the situation, say educators.

The challenges are really, really severe at this point," said Patrick Daly, president of the Ontario Catholic School Trustees' Association, which represents English Catholic boards in the province. School boards and staff are doing everything they can to keep classes and schools open."

So far, boards are making do, using various strategies to cover teacher absences such as redeploying central staff, bringing in retired teachers who are now allowed to work more days, and calling on university students in teacher education programs. School staff have also stepped up, with principals, librarians and lunchroom supervisors teaching classes. And teachers have been reassigned within their schools during what is supposed to be their planning time.

Some boards are also seeking university graduates from any program to temporarily help out.

Everybody is doing what they can to keep kids in class and keep schools open," said Cathy Abraham, president of the Ontario Public School Boards' Association, which represents the province's English public boards.

We're not really hearing a big outcry at this point in time" about staffing issues, she added. I think it's because schools and school boards are adapting and shifting in any way that they can to make it work ... That's not ideal for kids, because of the stability of the teacher, but it's better than not having a teacher at all."

Education Minister Stephen Lecce has said the province provided boards with $304 million to hire 2,300 more staffers and eased rules for schools to bring in retired teachers and student-teachers so that schools remain open for students - critical to their mental and physical health and academic success."

Boards have been told that switching kids back to online learning because of staffing issues is a last resort.

Lecce's director of media relations, Caitlin Clark, also said the province has provided rapid tests directly to parents, coupled with quality masks and stricter screening protocols to further protect Ontario schools. Ontario's plan includes enhancements to (personal protective equipment), N95 masks for staff, accelerated access to boosters for staff and school-focused clinics for students, designed to keep students in-class learning where they belong."

At the Toronto District School Board, the fill rates" for absent teachers - the percentage of jobs covered by a replacement - are at all-time lows. The fill rate for elementary teachers is about 75 per cent, and 72 per cent for secondary, down from pre-pandemic levels when percentages were in the 90s.

For instance, between Jan. 17 and 21, there were a total of 6,251 elementary teaching jobs that needed to be covered, but just 4,676 were filled by supply teachers, while 1,575 remained unfilled, amounting to a fill rate of 75 per cent.

That same week, 1,915 high school teaching jobs required an occasional teacher, but just 1,378 were filled, while 537 remained unfilled, resulting in a fill rate of 72 per cent.

The board says rates have remained similar since then.

Fill rates for most support staff are even lower, including special needs assistants at 61 per cent, lunchroom supervisors at 55 per cent and child and youth workers at 41 per cent.

In the 2019-2020 academic year, the fill rate for elementary teachers was 96 per cent and for secondary teachers 99 per cent; in 2020-2021 it was 84 per cent and 98 per cent, respectively. And in November, it was 87 per cent and 85 per cent, respectively. Omicron's appearance in December drove absence rates up, and fill rates down.

In some schools, there is very little difference, and in other schools there are certainly more intense pressures because of the absences," said TDSB director of education Colleen Russell-Rawlins.

That variation is clear when looking at the board's new reporting tool, which lists the daily number, and percentage, of students and staff absent at each of its 587 schools. For instance, on Friday, Dewson Street Junior Public School had a 42 per cent staff absence rate, while similarly-sized Sir Samuel B. Steele Junior Public School has a six per cent rate.

If a teacher, or someone in their household, has COVID symptoms or tests positive, they must self-isolate for five or 10 days, depending on vaccination status.

Russell-Rawlins said there are fewer occasional teachers because some also work in other boards, and retired teachers may be reluctant to go into schools and put themselves at risk for COVID.

To cover teacher absences when no supply is available, the TDSB has 140 to 150 central teaching staff and administrators it can redeploy. It's also using teacher candidates and will ask other staff to teach, such as the lunchroom supervisor, occasional education assistant or occasional designated early childhood educator. The board is recruiting staff, especially teachers, and trying to get them on the job sooner by doing things such as decreasing the amount of time it takes to do police reference checks.

When emergency replacements - noncertified teachers who undergo screening - are used in a classroom, they get support from teachers of the same grade, to maintain as much of the classroom program as possible," said Russell-Rawlins. Principals don't use emergency replacements over multiple days with the same students.

There's some good news in that some of our strategies right now are working," she said. We have not had to cancel any classes or move them online, or move any schools online."

But there have been emergency situations, such as a teacher becoming ill during the day with no one available to fill the spot, that have led to kids from separate cohorts being combined in a gym. When this happens, class size averages must be maintained, and the students are physically distanced.

When the issue of unfilled teaching jobs surfaced at a TDSB committee meeting in late January, Trustee Chris Tonks noted, Let's be very, very blunt what that means: Kids are not being taught.

I don't believe yet that that means kids are not being supervised, but kids are not being taught," he said. And that's not fulfilling what our duties are as an organization."

Karen Brown, president of the Elementary Teachers' Federation of Ontario, said while parents may think there's consistency in their child's class, nonteachers could be rotating in and out. That's akin to babysitting," she said.

People are there just providing supervision for our kids, and that's a concern," said Brown of ETFO, the union representing 83,000 members, including public elementary teachers, occasional teachers and education support personnel. You're really not teaching, you're supervising, because you don't know the curriculum, you don't know the children, and you're not going to learn that very quickly."

Barb Dobrowolski, president of the 45,000-member Ontario English Catholic Teachers' Association, said it's indisputable that there are more absences now" and some school boards are actually asking teachers, who are off sick, to continue teaching virtually ... That's just unheard of."

To understand the scope of the challenges, the Star contacted various boards.

At the York Region District School Board, between Jan. 19 and 24, the daily average of absences was 726 among elementary teachers and 363 among secondary teachers, or 13 per cent of the total. On average, 266 jobs each day were unfilled. On Jan. 25, five classes at one school switched to remote learning.

For comparison purposes, the daily average absence at the YRDSB, between Nov. 15 and 19, was 510 elementary teachers, or nine per cent; and 282 high school teachers, or 10 per cent. That week, an average of 43 jobs were unfilled each day.

At the York Catholic District School Board, between Jan. 19 and Jan. 24, the daily average of teacher absences was 350, about 11 per cent. On average, 65 jobs went unfilled each day.

At the Peel District School Board, between Jan. 19 and Jan. 21, the daily average for elementary teacher absences was 864, or 12 per cent, and 342 unfilled jobs. Among secondary teachers, the daily average was 215 absences, or seven per cent, and 98 jobs unfilled. On Jan. 26, the board reported there had been a total of 17 class closures.

At the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, between Jan. 19 and Jan. 25, there were on average 586 teacher absences each day - about 13 per cent - and 125 unfilled jobs.

At the Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board, between Jan. 19 and Jan. 21, the daily average of absent teachers was 212, or 10 per cent. On average, 144 jobs were unfilled each day.

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board is experiencing about 13 to 15 per cent of staff not attending on a daily basis - similar to second and third waves of the pandemic.

Isabel Teotonio is a Toronto-based reporter covering education for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @Izzy74

Kristin Rushowy is a Toronto-based reporter covering Ontario politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @krushowy