On Monday, May 2 all teachers must be given their preliminary assignment for next year. This notification is required by our contract. The exception would be any new teachers hired since the last transfer policy. All new teachers are notified at the time of hire, that they will be declared surplus at the end of their first year. This allows all teachers to have the opportunity to apply for new positions that became available at a school, through the transfer policy. 

A teacher who is declared surplus remains employed by the board. Surplus means that a school has more teachers than positions for the following year. This can occur due to declining enrollment, cancellation of a program, opening or closing of a school, change in catchment area, school reorganization or placement of a principal intern or assistant.

Who gets declared surplus? It is determined by seniority which is determined by your date of permanent hire. If two teachers have the same hire date, date of OT hire is used. If this is the same then days worked as an OT is the tie breaker. When a school loses teachers for the following year, the least senior teacher(s) on staff is(are) declared surplus. Often if a division loses a class, the teacher with least seniority in the division determines who gets reassigned to a new division.

A surplus teacher finds a new position for the following year by applying for positions in the transfer policy. If the school ends up gaining another teaching position back before August 31, the surplus teacher must be offered the position and be allowed to return. The teacher can decline. This “first right of recall” does not apply to newly hired teachers. 

As you know, there were 61 new hires in the summer, and more occurred throughout the year. However, with the return to regular class sizes for 2022-2023, there will be close to 50 positions that will be surplus. This means they won’t be available in the transfer policy.

How will this impact newly hired teachers? If they do not find a position through the transfer policy, they will be placed based on seniority in any remaining positions not filled in the transfer policy. All known vacant positions will be emailed to all teachers without an assigned position for next year and they select their position, based on seniority, from what is available. If there are no permanent teaching positions left to choose from, teachers are placed into LTOs. 

At this point, a teacher would be considered supernumerary. This means you are still an employee but the board has more teachers than positions. The board then creates a list of all supernumerary teachers, based on seniority. They have until June 17th to notify teachers that they are supernumerary. As permanent positions become available, teachers on the supernumerary list are contacted (in order of seniority, based on qualifications) and placed into these positions. The board cannot hire new teachers while it has supernumerary teachers. 

Becoming Involved

Following four grueling years for educators, the Ontario General Election is just around the corner. Finally, our time has come to rally together and have our voices heard. Doug Ford has got to go! On June 2, we have the responsibility to select the next Ontario government - a government truly for the people.

With contract negotiations looming, much is at play for teachers in this election. An education-friendly government will vastly improve our prospects in negotiations and will result in more favourable learning conditions for students. With Ford, we already know that the plans for education include a projected shortfall of $12.3 billion over the next decade. For an already inimically underfunded system, further financial pressures on the education sector are nothing short of unconscionable. Student learning will be impacted, and your livelihood will be further diminished. 

You can help to prevent such an outcome through your participation in the democratic process. First and foremost, members are asked to commit themselves to voting. Your vote, though one among many, is an important contribution to our collective voice. But, there are many more levels of engagement in the political process. Over the next few weeks, we will be seeking the assistance of our members to help Ontario elect an education-friendly government. The time is now. Your help is needed. Stay tuned for opportunities where you can more directly make a difference in this campaign. Together, we can make a change. Together, the people can take their government back.