Moose Jaw’s Catholic school division hired nearly 10 extra staff during the 2022-23 school year while it introduced a pilot project to better support employees’ mental health, a new report says.
At the end of June, Holy Trinity Catholic School Division employed 279 employees, including 158 teachers, 79 CUPE staff, 28 non-unionized employees, and 14 out-of-scope division administrators, said the 2022-23 human resources accountability report that trustees received during their recent board meeting.
In comparison, in September 2022, when the school year started, the division had 156 teachers, 75 CUPE staff, 26 non-unionized employees and 14 out-of-scope staff. Therefore, the division ended the school year with eight more staff than it started with.
Meanwhile, a half-time facilities supervisor and a full-time facilities manager both resigned on June 30, while the division hired a full-time facilities supervisor a day later and a transportation manager on Aug. 15.
Throughout the 2022-23 year, Holy Trinity employed 185 substitute and causal employees, including 65 teachers, 47 support staff and six bus drivers in Moose Jaw; 21 teachers and 31 support staff in Swift Current; and nine teachers and six support staff in Shaunavon.
The division worked to monitor and improve the performance of all staff, which included evaluating all first- and second-year teachers, the report said. Principals evaluated all seven first-year teachers, while the executive council evaluated eight of 10 second-year teachers.
Also, all first-, second- and third-year teachers took part in two full days of faith formation sessions throughout the year.
“The school division implemented a successful leadership development program (for) 20 aspiring leaders,” the report continued.
The division supported and encouraged staff to continue their education through extra educational opportunities at the university graduate level. Four teachers completed their master of education degrees, while six worked to complete their masters.
There were 158 contract teachers in Holy Trinity as of June 30, which included seven between ages 20 and 24, 16 between 25 and 29, 18 between 30 and 34, 31 between 35 and 39, 26 between 40 and 44, 20 between 45 and 49, 22 between 50 and 54 and 18 over age 55.
Meanwhile, five administrators — principals and vice-principals — had 11 to 15 years of experience, four had 16 to 20 years’ experience, one had 21 to 25 years’ experience, two had 26 to 30 years of experience and three had more than 30 years’ experience, the report said.
The division handed out 34 Catholic Education Service Awards last year, which included three to teachers and four to support staff for 10 years of service; 11 teachers and three support staff for 15 years; two teachers and four support employees for 20 years; one teacher and two support staff for 25 years; and three teachers and one support employee for 30 years.
Also, the report noted that staff retention remained “very high;” the division implemented a “Home Work+Life” pilot project to support employees’ mental health; the division experienced a 32-per-cent decline in sick time for the last half of the year; and neither CUPE nor the teachers’ federation filed any formal grievances.
The next Holy Trinity board meeting is Monday, Nov. 20.
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