Ontario is nearly doubling the number of days retired educators are allowed to work in public schools, in an effort to address significant staffing shortages. Retired teachers, principals, and vice-principals will now be allowed to work 95 days per academic year, up from 50 days, the provincial government said in a statement on Jan. 10, after reaching an agreement with the Ontario Teachers’ Federation (OTF). The temporary measure will be in effect until June 30. “We are seeing staff shortages impacting all sectors of the economy. Well before Omicron came to Ontario, school boards were reporting high rates of absenteeism from education staff,” Education Minister Stephen Lecce said in the release. “We need staff in order to continue providing live teacher-led remote learning and safely operate our schools when students return to in-person learning.” The province is also investing $304 million to enable the hiring of over 2,000 staff while expanding access …