Nova Scotia government hiring 47 new staff members to prevent violence in schools

HALIFAX — The Nova Scotia government is hiring 47 “specialized staff” to keep its public schools safe, following calls from within the education system to stem a rise in violence.

On Thursday, Education Minister Becky Druhan said the province is investing $976,000 on a pilot program that will send the employees throughout the school network. But the official Opposition questioned whether 47 new people are enough for the province’s 373 public schools.

The new hires include student supervisors, child and youth care practitioners, substitute teaching assistants and teachers specializing in behaviour and classroom management. As well, five school safety leads, who will act as security guards, will be stationed among older grades.

“This is just one of many, many steps we’re taking to ensure our schools are safe spaces,” Druhan told reporters after a cabinet meeting, saying the new staff will supplement other specialized behavioural and support workers already in the province’s schools.

She said the pilot project is in response to discussions with groups representing teachers and school administrators. It also follows a report in June by the auditor general, who said incidents of school violence had risen by 60 per cent in the previous seven years.

Druhan said hiring for the program is underway, adding that some of the 47 new positions have already been filled. The minister said the English and French-speaking school authorities will decide how to distribute the new staff among Nova Scotia’s 373 public schools.

As well, the province says it’s updating its school code of conduct policy and its school emergency management procedures and training. More than 4,600 regional and school staff, as well as more than 800 school advisory council members, have offered advice on how to improve the code of conduct, the province said.

Druhan said the code of conduct is on track to be completed before the school year ends. She said a draft of the policy will also be made available in the “very near future” for consultation with school communities.

Liberal Leader Zach Churchill said overpopulation in schools is what’s leading to violence, blaming Premier Tim Houston’s plan to “put his foot on the gas to double the population of Nova Scotia without a plan to accommodate growth.”

“I’ve been in schools that are over capacity by the hundreds,” Churchill told reporters. “This is going to create problematic situations. Forty-seven new staff are not going to be able to keep up with the amount of issues that they’re going to be faced across the province.”

NDP Leader Claudia Chender said the added staff is needed in schools, but she said the updated code of conduct should be the top priority. “We have huge issues identified by parents, kids, families and educators across the province …. We need to understand how we can deal with the issue of violence in schools … it’s overdue.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

Cassidy McMackon, The Canadian Press