Ontario is allowing retired teachers to work more days in light of ongoing pandemic-related staff shortages, but very few retired teachers are returning to the classrooms in Windsor-Essex.
A spokesperson for the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board tells AM800 News the board only has a handful of retired teachers on the occasional list available to fill in for absences.
A spokesperson for the Greater Essex County District School Board says "we do not have any retired teachers who have returned under the new government provisions. What few retired teachers we have on the occasional teaching roster - that have done daily work recently - retired a number of years ago."
A new agreement announced Monday with the Ontario Teachers' Federation will allow retirees to be re-employed in the public school system for 95 days until the end of June, nearly double the previous limit of 50.
Education Minister Stephen Lecce says in a statement that school boards were affected by staff shortages even before the Omicron variant drove up absence rates.
He says the change will help run remote school and in-person learning when students return to classes.
The Ontario Teachers' Federation says it does not anticipate many retirees are interested in working ``in the current environment'' and says more measures should be taken to address the teacher shortage.