Quebec faces shortage of school principals and vice-principals

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The association representing school principals has warned that Quebec will face a shortage of principals and vice-principals when schools reopen because many resign or retire and many are on long-term sick leave.

“We expect to have more empty seats this August than last year,” said Carl Ouellet, president of the Quebec Association of School Administrators (AQPDE), which represents 800 principals and vice-principals in the Quebec City area and the South Shore near Montreal.

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The move comes after the Quebec Federation of Educational Instructors (FQDE), which represents 2,300 principals and vice-principals across the province, warned last week that about 60 of its members, or about 2.6 per cent of its membership, had submitted their resignations to the association ahead of the next school year. The association said just over half of those members intend to return to teaching.

The Montreal Association of Educational Directors in Schools (AMDES), which represents about 625 school principals in Montreal, also said its members are asking questions about returning to teaching and early retirement.

Ouellet said about 2% of AQPDE members, or about 16 school directors, will resign, with many planning to return to teaching. Another 1.9% will retire and another 3.5% are on medical leave, he said. The number of people on long-term medical leave is “really concerning,” he added.

Ouellet said his members’ school service centres have only 40 to 45 substitutes in total to fill vacancies, which is no longer enough. He said some principals and deputy principals are still considering whether to leave.

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Ouellet said more vice-principals have resigned than principals. He said many have returned to teaching because teachers now make more than vice-principals do.

Ouellet said Quebec teachers received a “good” pay raise in a new collective agreement. He said the three associations representing principals and vice-principals in the province will negotiate with the government this fall on pay and working conditions.

“So teachers are being paid more than administrators,” Ouellette said. “That’s (another disincentive for) principals and vice-principals to continue to work, and they go back to teaching.”

He added that principals and vice-principals have also retired early. “They are too tired. They accept the penalty on their pensions. Some are currently considering it.”

Ouellet said principals and vice-principals were being burdened with more administrative tasks than before, which led to many resigning or retiring early. These tasks included more data collection forms required by the School Service Centre and the Ministry of Education.

“It takes our focus away from teaching,” he said.

“We are doing more administrative work rather than doing on-the-ground work with students, parents and teachers.”

Ouellet said AQPDE is asking the government to provide administrative support for schools. He said some school centers are hiring administrative managers as a pilot project, but this is not enough.

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