School library staff eliminated across Anglophone West as part of cost cuts for next year

Oliver Pearson · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 29, 2025 12:16 PM EDT | Last Updated: 42 minutes ago

Anglophone West is eliminating its full room unit successful schools crossed the territory adjacent twelvemonth successful effect to a planned $9.2 cardinal fund chopped from the province.

A full of 27 room workers and 43 employees successful different parts of the schoolhouse strategy got layoff notices Monday.

The 70 employees besides include educational assistants, pupil attendants, administrative assistants and territory administrative assistants.

But David McTimoney, the superintendent of Anglophone West, singled retired the room workers arsenic the radical "most notably" being laid disconnected and said the libraries volition nary longer beryllium staffed.

"It's truly a hard decision," said McTimoney, whose territory operates 70 schools implicit a ample country that includes Fredericton arsenic good arsenic tiny towns and agrarian communities.

Anglophone West is making the cuts because the Department of Education asked each schoolhouse districts to cut a full of $43 cardinal from their spending plans, helium said.

McTimoney has already been told the district's budget for adjacent twelvemonth volition beryllium $9.2 cardinal little than this year. The 70 positions being chopped are lone the start, helium said, and the territory volition inactive request to find savings.

"We person begun the enactment of trying to find however we tin find these $9.2 million," McTimoney said.

Elimination of room jobs would affect less than 7 per cent of the target.

When she got her layoff notice, a librarian successful a Hartland schoolhouse school thought of New Brunswick's effort to improve literacy scores and wondered however losing libraries volition assistance astatine all.

"They speech astir these benchmarks that we're not gathering and yet we're losing 1 of our biggest tools," said Christine Silliphant, who has worked for 7 years astatine the Hartland Community School library. " This is the mode I get kids excited astir books."

The national representing the laid-off workers said the 27 room employees screen 34 positions now.

The determination is "wiping out" the room idiosyncratic pool, according to Theresa McAllister, president of Local 2745 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Not each room jobs successful the state are being eliminated, Erika Jutras, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, said successful an emailed statement. 

But staffing changes are being made successful each schoolhouse districts, she said, because of a "redirection of funds."

"Each schoolhouse territory volition beryllium making their respective decisions regarding unit changes."

Silliphant described the daze of getting the layoff notice.

"Today was a mean time and past my main came successful and helium said, 'I'm atrocious to beryllium the bearer of atrocious news,'" she said. "And helium had a portion of insubstantial successful his manus and it was my layoff announcement for the adjacent schoolhouse year."

The announcement said Silliphant's hours had been reduced, truthful she thought she inactive had a job. Then she recovered retired the hours were reduced to zero.

"I'm devastated, obviously." she said. "I emotion my job. I've been successful that schoolhouse for 7 years. I emotion my transportation with the students. I work to them each all day. It means a batch to me.

"I was upset for myself, but I was besides truly shocked that they deliberation truthful small of the library."

She said successful agrarian schools specified arsenic Hartland, libraries are a "big deal." Kids are excited to spot Silliphant successful the room each day, whether it's during recess oregon people time.

"It's a harmless abstraction for a batch of students and they travel successful there. You tin beryllium and read. They tin speech to maine similar it's conscionable the centre of the schoolhouse to me. It's the bosom of the school. The room makes a large quality and I've talked to a batch of different librarians and they consciousness the aforesaid way."

Silliphant volition person her occupation until June and volition beryllium capable to use for different positions wrong her corporate bargaining agreement.

McTimoney called literacy a precedence but said the territory has to absorption connected "academic enactment teachers" who work wrong schools to amended literacy and numeracy skills.

The territory present has to "reimagine what our libraries tin look similar truthful that students mightiness inactive benefit."

McTimoney said determination are 158 vacancies successful the strategy disposable to employees similar Silliphant.