Substitute teacher John Whidden teaches a class in this submitted photo. Whidden will not be starting the year teaching, as he does not have faith in the province's back-to-school plan.--SUBMITTED PHOTO
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@mocranker
A local substitute teacher says he will not be teaching this year until the provincial government shows more leadership around the reopening of schools.
John Whidden has been a teacher for more than 30 years and says the provincial government’s back-to-school plan isn’t good enough.
“I’m withdrawing my services as a substitute until our provincial government comes up with a reasonable plan,” he said. “So far, what we’ve got is some masks, some hand sanitizer, a face shield for each teacher and a little bit of money that was taken away last year thrown back – not even the whole amount that was taken away.
“I just don’t see this as a recipe for success and I don’t want to be complicit with the government rushing everyone back into school.”
Whidden says he came to the decision a few weeks ago and that it was not an easy one to make.
“I love this school district,” he said. “This was a really hard decision to make because the school board needs substitute teachers and I want to support them.
“I’ve told the school district that I will have my paperwork ready to go when there’s a better plan in place from the government.
“If we see more leadership from our government then I will jump back in and do my part.”
Whidden has been a substitute teacher with the Medicine Hat Pubic School Board for four years and says he will miss teaching during his time away from it.
In his 30 years of teaching, Whidden has been a regular classroom teacher, a French specialist and a vice-principal. He says there are a number of measures the United Conservatives and Alberta Health can take to make schools safer.
“Cohorts are going to be really important this school year, the size of them especially,” he said. “To throw kids back into groups of 30, 35 and then say ‘just keep your physical distance’ – how are you supposed to keep physical distance in that scenario?
“Successful school districts around the world have limited cohort size and limited interaction between cohorts.
“These are really complex issues, and that’s why I think it needs to be thought through more.
“We all want to get back to life as normal, but we need to think about it and do it safely.”
Whidden says there are many questions surrounding substitute teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Every teacher has times where they have a bit of a sore throat or a cough and they just push through it – that can’t happen anymore,” he said. “Every time a full-time teacher is feeling sick, there will be a need for a substitute. Where is that funding going to come from?”
Whidden reiterated that he is not protesting the local school board or local education.
