When Ken Dennis’s son started Grade 6 in a Langley elementary school, there was no teacher assigned to the class.
For the next three months, the students were taught by a rotating cast of substitute teachers.
“They had substitutes right from September, right from the start,” said Dennis.
After parents complained, two district teachers were assigned to the class, which gave students some stability.
Then at the start of February, those teachers were replaced by a brand new teacher, who was teaching for the first time.
Now Dennis and parents have been told that the class’s originally assigned teacher is set to potentially return from maternity leave in March, meaning another change for the students.
His son isn’t complaining, but Dennis is worried about how all these changes are impacting learning in the classroom.
“I’ve seen him bring home homework twice this year,” Dennis said, compared to approximately every other day when his son was in Grade 5.
In just the first three months of the school year, his son has had more teachers than Dennis had all the way through elementary school.
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With all these changes, he’s worried about his son getting ready for high school.
“It sounds like they’re being baby-sat more than anything else,” Dennis noted.
Assistant superintendent Marcello Moino wrote an email in response to Dennis’s concerns, noting several ways the Langley School District has been working to recruit more teachers.
“At the same time, the larger issues of teacher shortages across the province is something that the provincial government is also working on – this is not only a Langley problem,” he wrote.
The school’s principal and the district were working to hire someone, and to provide some level of consistency, Moino said.
In this particular case, with the regular teacher gone from the start of the year, the district posted the position, but there were no applicants. The district teachers then filled in until the most recent teacher took over, finally filling the open posting.
A statement from the district by spokesperson Joanne Abshire acknowledged that teacher leaves of absence, for various reasons, can leave classroom teaching posts vacant for a time. It also noted that having a strong relationship with a trusted adult is good for student learning and well-being.
“The Langley School District, like many school districts across the province, is experiencing impacts due to a shortage of teachers in British Columbia,” the statement said. “The rapid growth in student enrolment in the district adds to the challenge of filling teacher positions.”
Langley schools are competing with other districts across the region, and the duration of a teaching position can be a factor in attracting applicants, Abshire noted.
Between January 2023 and now, the district has hired more than 340 teachers, said Abshire.
In Langley, the student population has been growing fast, with total enrolment expanding by 1,000 or more students in each of the last three school years.