1. It Doesn’t
Add Up
The Secondary Staffing Formula
How a 25:1 Pupil to Teacher Ratio
Exposes a Flaw in Secondary Staffing
2. Ministry Funding at Secondary
At the secondary level, districts are funded in two ways:
For each student in grades 8-9, districts receive 1 FTE
student funding
For each student in grades 10-12, districts receive 1/8th
student FTE funding for each course they are enrolled in
(referred to as per course funding)
It benefits districts to have grade 10-12 students enrolled
in 8+ courses
3. Enrollment Expectations
Students at grades 8-9 take 8 courses each year
Students at grades 10-12 are encouraged to take 8 courses
each year
In many schools, grade 10-12 students are able to take 9 or
even 10 courses each year
It benefits a district to have grade 10-12 students enrolled in
8+ courses
4. Secondary Staffing Formula
2010 it was 23 : 1 (23 students = 1 teacher)
2011 it was 24 : 1 (24 students = 1 teacher)
2012 it was 25 : 1 (25 students = 1 teacher)
5. The 25 : 1 Formula in Action
25 students will generate 1.0 full time equivalent teacher
50 students will generate 2.0 full time equivalent teachers
100 students will generate 4.0 full time equivalent teachers
200 students will generate 8.0 full time equivalent teachers
and so on ...
6. The Flaw
Students are expected to be enrolled in 8
classes
The contract dictates that 1 full time
equivalent teacher can teach 7 blocks and
requires 1 preparation block
7. The Impact
An imaginary school has 25 students
At 25 : 1 the school will have 1 full time teacher
The teacher can teach 7 blocks
The students are required to be in 8 classes
Who teaches the 8th class?
8. Another Example
An imaginary school has 200 students
At 25 : 1 the school will have 8 full time teachers
The teachers can teach 7 blocks
8 teachers x 7 blocks = 56 classes for students
The students are required to be in 8 classes
8 cohorts x 8 classes = 64 classes required
Who teaches the 8 unstaffed classes?
9. The Flaw
A school with 200 students requires a staff of 9.143 teachers
if all students are enrolled in the mandatory 8 classes.
A simple ratio is not enough to adequately staff a secondary
school
10. How did we get here?
Using rough numbers it is fairly straight
forward to explain
11. Example - a school of 800 staffed at 23:1
Generates 34.78 teachers ... and 244 blocks for students to
be enrolled in
Typically 220 of the 244 blocks have 25+ students ... by
compressing students into classes over 23 ... we were able
to generate more blocks
This ability to ‘generate’ blocks compensated for the fact
that teachers can only teach 7 blocks
12. Using the 23 : 1 Ratio
7 classes at 27+ ‘generated’ another block/class
7 classes x 4 students = 28 new spaces for an elective or a
space for kids to be in their 8th class
With declining enrollment and an increasing PTR ... we have
lost the ability to ‘generate’ blocks that could be staffed
13. Simply put ... 25 : 1 exposes the reality that staffing based on
student numbers does not equate to enough spaces for
students to learn
We have lost the ability to ‘generate’ spaces to
accommodate for the fact that teachers can only teach 7 of
8 blocks
14. Our imaginary 25 student school actually requires 1.143
teachers to provide the students with 8 blocks of learning
1)Math, 2)English, 3)Social Studies, 4)Science, 5)French,
6)PE, 7)Planning/HCEd, and 8)Elective
15. We lose the ability to staff the 8th block of teacher prep time
Students must take spares
Elective programs decline
Student choice declines
The District loses per course revenue
17. The Flaw
Students are encouraged to enroll in 8+ classes to support
diverse learning experiences and at the same time revenue
The contract dictates that 1 full time equivalent teacher can
only teach 7 blocks and requires 1 preparation block
18. Declining enrollment and an increased PTR (25:1) have
created a scenario where all classes in a secondary school
can be 25 or greater and there will still not be enough staffing
to provide spaces for all students to take 8 classes
The outcome will be an overall reduction of district funding,
as high schools are not able to provide the electives for
students
