Teachers in limbo with budget delay

School teachers on P.E.I. are still waiting to hear where they will be teaching next year, or whether they will have a job at all.

Teacher appointments would, in a normal year, have been done months ago. But this year there was an election in early May, and with the spring session of the legislature starting in early June there is no provincial budget, more than two months into the fiscal year.

With no provincial budget yet, the English Language School Board has no idea how many teaching positions it has. Board superintendent Cynthia Fleet said that make planning nearly impossible.

"We're into a challenge that I have never experienced before," said Fleet.

"We're into the second week of June and there's very little time left in the school year, when school staff leave."

Fleet said teachers waiting to get into the system are also anxious to hear if there are jobs available.

She is particularly worried about French-immersion programs, because qualified teachers may take jobs elsewhere rather than wait to see if there are positions on P.E.I.