The Minister of Education, Jean-François Roberge, intervened so that a teacher who was refused to postpone a leave could remain in class with his students until the end of the school year.
Posted at 8:35 p.m.
The Press reported on Tuesday the story of André Langevin, a teacher in a Montreal elementary school, who had tried unsuccessfully to postpone a vacation of several months that he had planned five years ago.
“Reading this article [mardi] morning, I immediately asked my department to work with the CSSDM to find a solution. I have just learned that Mr. Langevin will be able to continue to give his class, ”wrote Minister Roberge on Twitter, Tuesday evening.
Long before the pandemic, André Langevin had decided to take a sabbatical with deferred pay: an amount was going to be deducted from his pay that would allow him to take paid leave a few years later.
In the fall, seeing the situation in the schools worsening, in particular the shortage of staff, the teacher of 4and year worried about leaving his students without a replacement for several months. He contacted the Center de services scolaire de Montréal (CSSDM) to request that his leave be postponed, which was refused.
The postponement of this leave was a case of “wall to wall of flat bureaucracy”, had lamented the teacher. The CSSDM cited a “legal provision” to explain its refusal.
“Deferred leave is agreed with a deferred salary leave contract. We would have to cancel the leave and make another request, ”said his spokesperson Alain Perron.
Following the publication of the article, teachers from other school service centers told The Press found themselves in the same situation in recent years.
“In 2020, when the pandemic started and schools closed, I had just started a furlough. I proposed to the management to cancel it to take care of the online school. I knew the students and the situation was very stressful. We still refused to let me come back and we left this heavy responsibility to a young substitute who was still at university, ”says a teacher.
Conversely, other CSSDM teachers say they were able to cancel this leave – with reimbursement – without any problem.