April 28, 2021

To: All Members
Re: Update on Teacher Allocations for 2021-22 

In “normal” years, the Association would provide members with a summary of the provincial budget in relation to education, including teacher allocations for the coming school year. But, as members would be aware, both 2019-20 and 2020-21 have been anything but normal. The provincial budget for the current year was once again delayed due to the combined impact of a COVID-19 outbreak and the resultant delay in the provincial election. However, it has been announced that a budget will be brought down in June. In the meantime, Government did move forward with teacher allocations to the school districts earlier in April.  

While the NLTA is not able to provide a full education budget overview at this time, the following information regarding teacher allocations for 2021-22 has been confirmed by the Department of Education.

The resources introduced over the past 3 years as part of the implementation of the Education Action Plan will be maintained. This would include:
o  5 Program Specialists for Reading
o  6 Program Specialists for Mathematics
o  102 teaching units for school-based Reading Specialists
o  39 teaching units for Teacher Librarians
o  200 Teaching and Learning Assistants
 
No change to the current teacher allocation model/class size caps.

No change to the overall allocation of teaching units for Instructional Resource Teachers (IRT). 

An overall reduction of 23.25 teaching units due to decline in student enrolment and application of the current allocation model.  
 
NLTA continues to advocate for:
  • Retention of, and increase in, the extra units that were added for school administration and school counsellors for the 2020-21 school year;
  • Retention of, and increase in, term substitute positions that were introduced for the 2020-21 school year;
  • Reinstatement of 2008 class size caps;
  • Other measures to address issues around class size and composition;
  • Additional supports to enable students with special needs and mental health issues to access the same opportunities as their peers, including increases to allocations for school counsellors, school psychologists and speech language pathologists;
  • The independent review of the teacher allocation model committed to by the Premier during the recent provincial election campaign;
  • Adjustments to the draft Responsive Teaching and Learning Policy to address teacher workload concerns and the sustainability of this initiative; and,
  • An increase in the student assistant budget.  
The Association will keep members informed as further information regarding government funding for the K-12 system becomes available. 

As always, NLTA members seeking advice/assistance on specific matters related to their individual circumstances should contact the Association via mail@nlta.nl.ca.