Teachers say they've received layoff notices

The union representing Near North District School Board Secondary School teachers says they’ve received notice about upcoming job cuts.

President of District Four of the OSSTF Glen Hodgson says they’ve received notice from the board of its intention to declare redundant 114.7 full time equivalent teachers which they say represents 121 teaching positions.

Hodgson puts the blame for the cuts at the province’s door.

“This is directly affecting the Near North and the education system. These layoffs are a direct result of Mr. Fedeli and Mr. Ford and the budget that the Conservative government has passed down,” he says.

He says the 121 figure is nearly half of the entire complement of teachers at the secondary level at the Near North Board.

In a statement, Fedelli says the union is fear mongering.

He says the government has taken great care to build a sustainable education plan where no teacher is being fired.

Jesse Gregoris, a teacher at Chippewa says he learned this week he’s one of the 121.

“There wasn’t a good mood at that room. Just looking at our staff there’s a significant portion from our school that are gone. I can only imagine what’s happening at the rural schools,” he says.

Hodgson says the cuts will have a tremendous impact.

“The teachers that are cut represent over 500 years of combined teaching experience. We are looking at a cutback of 600 courses that will no longer be available to the students of the Near North,” Hodgson says.

He says they will fight these cuts.

“We’re not accepting 120 cuts, we’re not accepting 50 cuts, we’re not accepting any cuts. None of this is justified. So what are we going to do ? We are fighting back. We’re going to be doing a campaign by sharing information,” Hodgson says.

(photo by station staff)