As part of the 2019-2022 Provincial Framework Agreement between the BC Public Schools Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) and the K-12 Presidents Council and Support Staff Unions, the parties committed to the Support Staff Initiative for Recruitment and Retention Enhancement (SSIRRE), a labour market study of support staff positions in the public K-12 sector.
The SSIRRE project has the following objectives:
- Gather data of existing support staff recruitment and retention challenges and projected demand in the sector.
- Gather data of existing offerings for applicable post-secondary programs, vocational programs and identify potential gaps in program offerings to meet projected demands.
- Partner with post-secondary schools and vocational training providers to promote support staff positions in school districts
- Market the support staff opportunities within the sector (e.g. Make a Future)
- Target support for hard to fill positions
The scope of the SSIRRE project includes support staff positions employed in the public K-12 system in BC in the following six occupational categories: Clerical/HR/Finance, Custodial, Direct Student Support, Bussing, Information Technology, and Trades/Facilities/Grounds/Food, recognizing that within these categories are a diverse set of jobs with a range of qualifications.
The Parties have contracted Queenswood Consulting Group to complete the study between June 2021 to January 2022. Jane Worton, Greg Awai, or René Peloquin will be reaching out to support staff unions and support staff, as well as school district human resources and support staff managers, over the coming months.
Opportunities for participation in the project include:
- Interviews with school district human resources and support staff managers (July-September)
- Interviews with a sample of support staff unions (July-September)
- Interviews with K-12 sector partner organizations (July-September)
- Interviews with a sample of training providers for support staff positions (August – September)
- Support staff focus groups (July and October)
- Support staff survey (October)
- Support staff manager and principal/vice-principal survey (October)
Draft recommendations for the project will be validated with support staff unions and school district human resource staff in late fall 2021.
If you have any questions about the project, or would like to participate, email Jane Worton, Partner, Queenswood Consulting Group jworton@queenswoodconsulting.com, or Chris Losito, CUPE K-12 Co-Coordinator closito@cupe.ca.