September 7, 2001

School opens in Iqaluit

New boundary change going smoothly so far

MIRIAM HILL
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — The dawn of a new school year brings a flock of changes to Iqaluit, as parents and educators wait to see how things turn out.

The biggest difference between this year and last is the elementary-school boundary change, aimed at shifting 60 students from overcrowded Joamie School to Nakasuk School.

When the plan was announced last spring, some parents complained that moving their children would cause more harm than good.

"It's a challenge every year to find teachers who are the adventurous type and good, quality teachers."
- Steven Prest, superintendent of schools

But Kathy Smith, the chairperson of the Iqaluit education authority, says her organization approved every exemption to the boundary requirement that parents applied for.

"We had 10 applications for one school, 10 for the other," she said. "An even swap — pretty much in each grade, too… It was just luck that it worked that way."

Steven Prest, superintendent of schools for the Baffin Region, said his department moved one full-time and one half-time teaching position from Joamie to Nakasuk to compensate for the movement of children.

That's because under the current formula used to calculate how many teachers are needed at a given school, Nakasuk School ended up with too many teachers.

"Nakasuk was over-staffed by formula," he said. "All schools could use more teachers and I don't believe any school is overstaffed, but the fact of the matter is, by formula, that's our benchmark."

All teacher positions were filled in Iqaluit this year, but Prest said it's a struggle to get good instructors. He said the market for teaching jobs in the South is wide open, and that fewer teachers are willing to move north than in the past.

"It's a challenge every year to find teachers who are the adventurous type, and good, quality teachers," he said. "We haven't had an overabundance."

The department did have more responses to its advertisements this year, he said, probably because they recruited on the Internet for the first time, giving the department access to job candidates from all over Canada.

Smith said Iqaluit fares better at teacher recruitment than smaller communities, but he said the whole region faces challenges.

"I remember about 10 years ago, typically we'd get about 2,000 applicants per year for teaching positions in the Baffin. Three years ago we had 250. That's a big drop."

She said teacher turnover at Iqaluit schools is often offset by the presence of teachers who have been in the community for 10 or 15 years.

Of the 10 certified classroom teachers at Joamie School, only three are new this year.

There are 16 teachers at Nakasuk, including French teachers waiting to move to their new school, which opens Nov. 15. Two of the 16 are new, including a principal/teacher hired for the French school.

Inuksuk High School has 24-and-a-half teaching positions this year, seven of which are filled by new people. Aqsarniit Middle School has two new teachers out of a total of 11, and Nanook Elementary School in Apex saw no change to its two-teacher staff.

Students at Nakasuk School have also been introduced to a new principal, Michael Luedicke, who came from Ontario's Elliot Lake area to replace Hal Richards.

About 35 students are being temporarily taught at Nakasuk School while construction continues on the new French-language school. Prest said that situation, while not ideal, is being watched carefully.

Space at Nakasuk that isn't being used was made available for the French school students, including an unused classroom, so although the situation isn't critical, Prest said, he plans to meet with staff this week to see how things are going.

Though final enrolment numbers weren't known at press-time, Smith said middle school enrolment numbers are going up.

Smith said she's also pleased that students are able to use school buses for the whole school year.

In previous years, busing didn't start up until October.