(Nigel Maxwell/ paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

School transfers

‘Those relationships with teachers are so vital’: Meath Park parents give transfer policy failing grade

Sep 3, 2021 | 3:07 PM

A petition that raises issue with teachers and staff being transferred out of Meath Park school, has received nearly 50 signatures in less than two weeks.

The petition calls on the Saskatchewan Rivers school board to revisit its policies, and give teachers more say where they choose to work.

Jill Brown has three children who attend the school and was the one who started the petition. She told paNOW the policy that moves teachers around to different schools every five years, is harmful to the students and the community.

“Those relationships with teachers are so vital and having teachers there long term within a school, you have the opportunity to influence generations and to build relationships with whole families,” she said.

Brown recalled in the past couple years, Meath Park has lost a number of teachers; some of which told her they did not want to go.

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“So many of us parents are like why did they have to go, why does this have to happen,” she said.

Contained within the petition is a number of recommendations for the school board to consider including allowing teachers to take the initiative if they want to be transferred, as opposed to the division. The petition also requests the location of a teacher’s residence, to allow teachers to live closer to the school.

“We want students and teachers health and happiness to be the priority. This is the only thing that should matter,” the petition stated.

As of this time Brown’s focus is on raising awareness and support, and she had not met with the school board. When contacted by paNOW for comment, Director of Education Robert Bratvold said if parents have concerns, they should contact their school principal, who in turn can bring the issue to the education centre.

“Absolutely we are interested in hearing about those concerns,” he said.

A table illustrating the exact number of transfers in the past six years. (Sask. Rivers School Division)

The school board’s policy, with respect to the transfer of teachers, was reviewed and updated in Oct. 2019. While it doesn’t prescribe a required time or a limit for teachers to stay at a school, it does state that teachers in the Saskatchewan Rivers Public School Division are hired to the system and not to a particular school, grade level or subject area.

The policy also states any teacher that is in the fifth year or longer in the same school should begin a transfer conversation with the school administrator(s) during the initial Professional Growth Plan (PGP); and all teaching staff will be surveyed each school year as to their desired placement for the following school year.

Bratvold explained how in any given year, the school division may have 50 teachers that change schools.

“Most of those would be choice,” Bratvold said, adding a number of factors may apply. “A quarter of those would be ones where we have a need in a school and extra staff in another school.”

The subject of teacher transfers was discussed during this week’s school board meeting and included a human resources accountability report.

“We surveyed 168 teachers and I think about 140 responded and they had some really good things to say about staff transfers,” Bratvold said.

According to the report there wasn’t any negative feedback from teachers transferred last year. The positive feedback was attributed in part to a change where the superintendent now has direct conversations with teachers regarding transfers, whereas in the past, those conversations were only held with the principals.

“This will become a yearly practice,” the report stated.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell