Nicole Knowles
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Gabriola Sounder
Both the Nanaimo District Teachers Association (NDTA) and local 606 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE 606), came out to the school board meeting to share their responses to the preliminary budget for the 2025/26 school year.
Joanna Cornthwaite, president of the NDTA attended and said,
“The board budget should put needs before wants, put staff before stuff, be educationally sound and fiscally responsible, and exercise the principles of equity in allocation of resources. We’ve noted looking through the boards proposed budget it looks to be that way and appreciate all the hard work that went into preparing it.”
She also noted the NDTA’s appreciation of the board in staffing significantly above the required ratio for specialist positions including: inclusion support teachers, counselling, speech and language pathologists, english language learning, psychologists, and teacher librarians, reminding them that there is always the need for more in those areas.
The one query the NDTA had was the recent addition of administration positions and how the hours and dollars allocated to these addressed the frontline needs of students.
Cupe 606 president Jeff Virtanen attended and drew attention to both the pros and cons that the union sees in the budget.
He opened by saying, “Support staff are the backbone of our public education system while teachers often receive primary focus. Contributions of support staff is critical in creating a safe and effective learning environment for students.”
The positives highlighted were the improvements to supervision time, the increase in custodians and bus drivers, the expansion to before and after school care.
The focus for improvement was more hours for “precarious” workers. Education Assistants (EA), cafeteria attendants, library clerks should receive a livable wage on liveable hours.
“There are too many EA’s in the 27hr/week range.” said Virtanen
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