Photo: Luc Rempel

Shuswap teachers are pushing back against school district plans to cut back on library staffing next year.

At the March 9 board meeting of K’wsaltktnéws ne Secwepemcúl’ecw School District No. 83, Jessa Clark, president of the North Okanagan Teachers Association (NOSTA), presented about the importance of maintaining current teacher-librarian staffing ratios.

Joining her in the presentation were Kyla Hadden, acting vice-president of NOSTA, and Geri Ellis, the district teacher-librarian.

“For over 25 years, SD83 has had a very high standard of teacher-librarian ratios, staffing at 1 to 450 for elementary and 1 to 500 for secondary schools,” Hadden said.

“These superior ratios have been instrumental in supporting student success. But the district has now indicated through formal estoppel and then through the budget process...that they plan to stop using these ratios in September.”

According to NOSTA, the district intends to move back to the provincial minimum ratio of one teacher-librarian for every 691 students.

In her presentation, Clark said the increased ratio in the district was a result of the contract restoration in 2017 following a B.C. Supreme Court decision upholding the collective bargaining rights of teachers.

For the 2024-25 school year, the district budgeted $970,000 for teacher-librarian staffing and also received $460,000 from the provincial Classroom Enhancement Fund.

Next year will see the district continuing to provide $970,000 in funding, but since they have decided not to move forward with the greater staffing ratio, they will not qualify for the additional provincial funding provided by the CEF, according to Clark.

Ellis said "decades of research overwhelmingly prove" that teacher librarians make a big difference for students.

“Students with qualified teacher-librarians and well resourced libraries see significant improvements in student reading, and not just minor gains, substantial measurable progress," Ellis said.

“The benefits go far beyond reading. Student achievement soars when the teacher-librarian collaborates with the teacher to co-teach research and inquiry skills.”

Ellis said with the proposed minimum ratio, teacher-librarians will be in their libraries up to 35 per cent less.

“Our small rural schools will have their teacher-librarian just half a day per week," she said.

She said time spent on digital literacy is more important than ever.

“We believe…that middle and secondary level teacher-librarians will have significantly less time to co-teach critical skills like research and digital literacy,” she said.

“In today's world where students are bombarded with fake news and AI-generated content and online misinformation, teaching them to think critically is more important than ever.”

Clark urged the board to uphold the current ratios, saying the provincial minimum shouldn't be the district's standard.

“It aligns with SD83 goals of student success, literacy and equitable learning,” she said. “SD83 has led the way for years, let's not undo that progress.”

Board chair Corryn Grayston thanked them for the presentation, adding budgetary decisions are not made lightly.

“Budget is always a time when we have to look at so many different departments and … I feel comfortable saying very carefully considered before decisions are made,” she said.

“This information is helpful for us. I appreciate you coming and to all of those in the audience, thanks for all your hard work.”

Clark told Castanet that NOSTA will also be disputing the planned ratio change through the grievance process.