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York Region school board planning on 28-student classes as per provincial memo

But memo indicates classroom size increases might not be that high

Yorkregion.com
Sept. 3, 2019
Dina Al-Shibeeb

With headlines suggesting that Education Minister Stephen Lecce has backtracked on high school class sizes, York Region District School Board on Thursday confirmed that they are still marching toward 28-student classrooms as mandated by the province.

"To clarify, YRDSB and all publicly funded school boards across Ontario are required to transition secondary class sizes from an average of 22 to 28 students per teacher over a four-year period," board chairperson Louise Sirisko said Aug. 29.

Sirisko also said that YRDSB has received a memo from the Ministry of Education on the same day when Lecce said class sizes “will remain effectively the same as last year,” with one additional student per class in Grades 4 to 8 and half a student more in Grades 9 to 12, bringing the average high school class to 22.5 students.

The minister's statement produced headlines such as, "High school class sizes in Ontario to remain 'effectively the same' this year, Lecce says" or "‘Chaos and confusion’ as Ford government backtracks on class sizes," suggesting that drastic change to a 28-student average class isn't immediate.

However, people in the education industry know that the jump to a 28-student average isn't expected to happen overnight, but over the course of four years.

“This memo states that, ‘Grades 9 to 12 class size requirements have also been updated to reflect a board-wide average of 22 plus attrition,” Sirisko said.

Attrition means that when teachers resign or leave, there won’t be any replacement, forcing a smaller number of teachers to a higher ratio of students, especially in York Region which is considered to be a “growth” area where more students are expected to enrol amid a population increase.

In June, YRDSB announced that it’s losing 90 teaching positions through attrition “that would not be replaced as a result of these provincial funding changes.

“At that time, our board published a list of classes cancelled and sections reduced as a result of these changes,” Sirisko said.

She added, “This confirms the information we received earlier this year from the Ministry of Education.”

On top of that, “the number of teaching positions lost to attrition at our board is projected at over 110 and class size average at 24.7 students.”

However, these numbers aren’t “final.”

“We have shared concerns publicly and with the minister of education that the loss of teaching positions has a direct and detrimental effect on student learning and well-being.”

During his announcement on Aug. 23, Lecce said he’s “open” to suggestions from school boards and teachers’ unions to stop average class sizes from rising to 28 students over the next four years -- from 22 in the last school year, insisting they will only increase marginally next month in Grades 4 and above.

‘Smokescreen’ announcement

“The overall feel is he's trying to spin what has been announced to make it not sound as devastating as it's going to be,” said Sandy Glassford, president of District 16 Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation.

“He never said anything new, but he made it sound like it’s new or that had put some thought into it,” Glassford said, dubbing Lecce's announcement as a "smokescreen" one.

Glassford also said that Lecce says that his ministry is “listening” and that they are going to “make changes,” “but the reality is, they just spun the message to make it sound like they were listening.”

With Lecce being a York Region MPP, Glassford said, “We've asked to meet with them. But we haven't been able to secure a meeting with him.”

Like YRDSB, education unions and other school boards were puzzled following Thursday’s announcement, given that teachers have already been laid off and course offerings pared for the coming school year after the changes were announced in March and confirmed when the province released the school funding formula last spring.

“If the government was planning a different course of action, they could have told Ontarians about it months ago. Instead, they have been content to allow chaos and confusion to unfold,” Liz Stuart, president of the Ontario English Catholic Teachers’ Association.