N.B. snow day plan for teachers, support staff delayed until next fall

The New Brunswick government is delaying a new policy requiring teachers and educational staff to work on snow days.

The new rules were originally supposed to come into effect this academic year. On Friday, the Department of Education and Early Childhood said the policy would be moved to next fall.

A statement from the department said the delay would “better prepare and align all education staff for September 2025.”

Under the snow day plan, teachers and educational staff wouldn’t be required to hold classes or formal instruction for students virtually. Instead, staff would use the snow day for professional development and planning purposes.

Teachers and staff would also have the option to work remotely on snow days.

Friday was the first weather-related school closure of the season in several parts of New Brunswick.

Members of the union representing educational and clerical support staff received notice of the plan’s delay on Thursday afternoon, just hours before a forecast of heavy snow.

CUPE Local 2745 president Theresa McAllister said the provincial government first informed the union of snow day changes for its membership in early November.

“We had a lot of questions, and we didn’t get any response,” said McAllister in an interview Friday. “That’s not uncommon that they don’t consult with us.”

“I have approximately 350 workplaces, so my fear was that every principal in every school was going to have a different plan.”

McAllister said the plan’s remote-work option was one of the union’s biggest questions left unanswered.

“Most of my membership cannot work remotely,” said McAllister. “They don’t have the tools. They don’t have laptops and things like that to work from home.”

In a statement Friday, the New Brunswick Teachers Association (which came to a previous agreement with the province on snow days) said it appreciated the one-year delay while ongoing teacher shortages were addressed.

Premier Susan Holt said hindsight was “always 20/20” when asked on Friday why school support staff weren’t consulted earlier.

“We want to find a system that works,” said Holt, to reporters. “We know that there’s lots of frustrations with snow days. We hear it every time there’s a snow day.”

“We wanted to go with a policy that was going to ensure we were working with teachers and EAs and their unions to have the kind of environment in schools that’s going to help us keep every last person.”

Green Party MLA Megan Mitton said it was concerning for support staff to be brought in so late in the process.

“When we talk about schools, obviously teachers are really important and central to making schools function. But there’s a lot of other workers that help make the world go round in the education system,” said Mitton to reporters. “Not consulting with them is a big gap. That absolutely needs to happen.”

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