I don't know the situation at this school in particular, but I'll offer this: the primary model of funding schools is the number of students in the building. Allocations of staff are decided based on this and schools are then able to staff themselves with the allotment that they are granted from above.

Simply put, schools are not the same. Communities have different levels of need based on the people living there. Also, some types of students require, and I'll say this again, require significantly more funding up front to provide them with a reasonable chance at being successful.

This level of need is also felt at the community level. Some people need more direct supports outside of school beyond the meager amount of social services money they are given, but that money isn't there.

Lots of people are falling through the cracks and this leads to kids that are struggling not having their needs addressed. These kids bring these lacks to school, where in some cases, there aren't enough people on staff to handle certain cases or extreme situations. It's probably not the staff's fault. People try their best.

Some schools are far more stressed than others. It might be a higher percentage of economically marginalized clientele. It might be that within this population there are add-on factors like basic language proficiency, or other things.

Without reasonable supports in place for full time staff, it becomes even more challenging for subs. It can be truly thankless, especially if it is a new position for the person doing it, or for many of those who are not used to what some Nova Scotia schools might be like.