On Wednesday, the Public Schools Branch went public with the teacher allocations for next school year.
Those allocation numbers have been the focus of a lot of attention because of the rezoning changes being brought into effect. Early indications of those numbers had already seen concerns raised by some students and parents of schools, especiaslly those in rural areas, that would see a drop in teacher numbers.
Public Schools Branch Director Parker Grimmer says the teacher allocations are aimed, in part, at balancing class size. With that, some schools will see slight increases or decreases, based on the number of students and other factors.
Other schools will see a greater effect — those being impacted more by rezoning. For example, Birchwood and Stonepark Intermediates.
Birchwood, with its student population almost doubling, sees the biggest gain in the number of teachers, jumping from 18.37 full time equivalent positions to 31.93. Stonepark, which will see its student numbers drop with rezoning, will see teacher numbers drop next school year by slightly more than 10 full time positions.