Staff shortages, mask concerns loom over back-to-school excitement – CBC

Eastern Ontario’s French Catholic board is short substitute teachers

Aug 31, 2022

Students heading back to school in Ontario aren’t required to wear masks or physically distance, but pandemic staffing concerns continue to loom over eastern Ontario’s French Catholic school board.

Marc Bertrand, director of education for Conseil des écoles catholiques du Centre-Est (CECCE), said isolation requirements are one of the reasons finding short-term substitute teachers hasn’t been easy.

“If somebody were to contract COVID-19 they do need to isolate for five days, and so finding replacements for five days has been a challenge,” he said.

Bertrand said long-term and regular positions have already been filled and the shortages aren’t expected to lead to closed schools or classrooms.

But if the teacher shortages persist, Bertrand said teachers will have to be replaced with “staff that are not qualified on a day-to-day basis.”

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/ottawa-school-staff-masks-covid-2022-1.6567188

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