MOOSE JAW - Job actions that teachers took during the 2023-24 school year contributed to higher-than-normal absences in Prairie South School Division during that time, while illnesses were the overall leading cause of educators’ absences, data show.
During the Sept. 3 board meeting, division administration with Prairie South School Division (PSSD) presented a report with absences for all staff — teachers, bus drivers, CUPE staff and out-of-scope — from Feb. 1 to July 31.
Amy Johnson, superintendent of human resources, told the board that there was a slight decrease overall in employees’ absences compared to the same period in 2022-23, while those for teachers were more than usual — “an anomaly” — because of the actions that the Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation took.
Teachers’ absences
There were 432.49 full-time equivalent (FTE) teachers employed between Feb. 1 and June 30, while there were 95 actual working days and a total of 41,086.55 FTE days of possible work, the board report showed.
FTE days of possible work are calculated by multiplying FTE positions by the number of actual working days.
During those five months, teachers were absent for 6,389.66 FTE days, with substitutes required to cover 3,817.82 FTE days, or 59.75 per cent of the time. Overall, teachers were absent 15.55 per cent of all possible workdays.
The STF’s job actions during the second half of the school year meant teachers were absent 1,479.37 FTE days, which represented 3.6 per cent of all possible days, the report said.
Meanwhile, teachers’ illnesses — short- and long-term — accounted for 1,491.80 FTE days missed, which required 877.63 FTE substitute days. These absences accounted for 3.64 per cent of possible workdays.
Bus drivers
The report showed that Prairie South had 106 regular and casual bus drivers between Feb. 1 and July 31, while there were 91 actual working days that totalled 9,646 FTE days of possible work.
The data showed that there were 521 FTE days that drivers were absent during that period, with substitute employees required to cover 395.50 FTE days. Overall, these absences accounted for 5.4 per cent of possible days.
The biggest reason drivers were absent was due to leave without pay issues, with 216.5 FTE days missed, representing 2.24 per cent of possible days. These absences required a substitute driver 84.53 per cent of the time.
CUPE staff
Prairie South had 284.05 FTE CUPE employees — such as janitors and groundskeepers — and casuals during the six months, with 124 actual working days and 35,222.20 FTE days they could have worked, the report showed.
Over those six months, CUPE staff missed 3,366.20 FTE days of work, which required substitutes to cover 1,965.09 FTE days or 58.38 per cent of the time. The total time these employees missed accounted for 9.56 per cent of all possible days.
The biggest reason CUPE staff were absent was because of illness; they missed 1,620.95 FTE days, or 4.6 per cent of all possible days. Meanwhile, substitutes were required to cover 56.32 per cent of those missed days.
Out-of-scope staff
There were 46.83 FTE out-of-scope staff — such as division administration — who were employed between Feb. 1 and July 31, with 124 actual working days and 5,805.68 FTE days they could have worked, according to the report.
During those six months, such staff were absent 729.48 FTE days, which amounted to 12.56 per cent of all possible days.
The biggest reason out-of-scope employees were absent was for vacation support, as they missed 426.61 FTE days, which represented 7.35 per cent of all possible days.
The next PSSD board meeting is Tuesday, Oct. 8.
