Strathcona elementary school parents sound alarm about staffing levels

Parents at an East Vancouver elementary school are raising the alarm about a staffing shortage and the impacts it’s having on students.

Danielle Sherring, co-chair of the parent advisory council at Lord Strathcona Elementary School, says her son’s Grade 2 class had their teacher go on leave in October and the rotation of on-call teachers that came in for the following six weeks was “very disruptive.”

“My son is neurodivergent and he really benefits from having a strong relationship with the teacher and knowing what to expect each day in the classroom,” she said.

“He was experiencing a lot of anxiety about who was going to be his teacher for the day.”

While Sherring says the on-call teachers have been doing their best, it’s hard for them to really get to know the class if they’re only in for a short while.

Jody Polukoshko, president of Vancouver Elementary and Ault Educators Society, says this is far from a new issue — but it’s reached a critical point.

“There’s a really high need amongst our students for not only the support of their classroom teacher but also for specialist support,” she said.

“What we’re seeing as a result of the insufficient number of teachers in Vancouver is that those specialist teachers are being pulled in order to cover teacher absences.”

In a statement to CityNews, the Vancouver School Board says “all roles are filled at Strathcona” and district staff have been “reassigned to students have consistent teachers.”

The board adds that it’s “usual practice” for on-call teachers to fill in during absences.

Recently, Sherring says the PAC sent an application to the Vancouver School Board to speak at an upcoming delegates meeting about their concerns.

“It was sort of a desperate plea to try and shine a light on some of the issues that are going on at our school and, quite frankly, district-wide in terms of staff shortages,” she said.

However, Sherring says the council’s request to speak at the meeting was rejected because it was “too school-specific” and not related to government issues.

“The feeling very much is that they want to discourage people from coming forward with specific concerns,” she said.

“I get that they don’t want every single parent speaking out about their individual schools because it would eat up a lot of time.”

Regarding the council’s request to speak, the school board states: “Delegation are intended to provide members of the community with the opportunity to present to the Board on matters relating to governance and/or budget… The PAC chair’s request in January was specific to school-based matters and at that time, the Board chair encouraged the requester to reach out to the school and District staff so concerns about operational matters could be addressed.”

The school board says since it received the request in January, it has since learned the PAC’s topic for delegation was related to budget allocations, but a request was not submitted to speak at the February delegation meeting.

It adds board staff have met with the PAC to hear their concerns and provide information.

“It is important to note that while there are challenges with labour shortages in all sectors, including in education, we are fortunate that all students in classrooms in VSB are supported by qualified educators,” the board states.

Despite this, Sherring says the council’s concern about staffing is a “really important one” that has been building for some time now.

Between her two kids, Sherring says she’s had a child at the East Van school since 2014 and has noticed a distinct decline in support available to students due to staffing issues.

With the high cost of living across B.C., Polukoshko says Sherring’s concerns are far from isolated.

“We’re seeing situations like (Lord Strathcona’s) across the district,” Polukoshko said. “In Vancouver, the recruitment and retention issue is severe and it’s critical.”

Heading into the election year, Sherring says now is the perfect time for the province to get its act together and offer a solution to public education’s woes.

“I would really like to see the NDP government step up to the plate and properly fund public education,” Sherring said.

However, Polukoshko remains weary that a solution is coming any time soon saying she’s spent years “ringing the alarm bell.”

“The part that’s really frustrating for us is that this is not a new crisis,” she said.

“We haven’t had a lot of meaningful response in the years that we’ve been raising this.”

With files from Srushti Gangdev.