A sign of the times.

Three grades at Sioux Narrows Elementary School have been cancelled because of a lack of staff.

Christy Radbourne is the director of Education for the Keewatin-Patricia District School Board and says the students in the grade 4, 5, and 6 class are now being bussed to Kenora.

A total of 10 students are being affected and many of those students are being bussed to King George IV School in Kenora.

“We have such a staff shortage that without consistent and adequate staffing we just weren’t able to ensure the safety and effectiveness of educational programming for students,” explains Radbourne.

“It was an incredibly difficult decision.”

Radbourne points out that they tried to keep the class open at the start of the school year.

“We staffed a full-time vice-principal just to be able to open the school and get things going, and it worked for a while, but we couldn’t guarantee the consistency of support staff.”

Radbourne adds they are committed to keeping the Sioux Narrows School open, even though there are only 12 students from senior Kindergarten to grade 3.

She says schools in Sioux Lookout and Pickle Lake are also experiencing a lack of staff, and adds that it’s a system-wide problem, and all school board across Ontario are facing staff shortages.