Up to 277 full time positions could be lost as the Calgary Board of Education announced a preliminary $10-million deficit budget Tuesday.
The job cuts, which could include 192 full-time teachers and 85 full-time support workers and custodial staff, have some teachers fuming.
While the budget still has to be debated and approved by the board of trustees and final numbers won’t be known until Sept. 30.
The news has anxious teachers stewing over what they will do next year, including 33-year-old Jennifer, who withheld her last name. Jennifer’s contract is being cancelled due to cuts, she said.
“To be honest, I am completely screwed. I don’t know what I am going to do for work and now there won’t even be sub work. It’s very discouraging,” she said.
“There are over 12,000 positions with the CBE and only 5,000 of those are teachers. Couldn’t they find other places to cut? Why would they cut teachers?”
While the CBE acknowledged the challenging budget, they said they are saddened to have to cut any jobs.
“We came up with the best solution we could come up with to retain as many positions as possible,” chief superintendent Naomi Johnson said.
Officials emphasized that with next year’s budget, the school’s CBE one-time savings revenue of $19 million will be depleted and next year the board will start with a deficit.
