Hundreds of educational assistants cut across Alberta after Jordan's Principle changes
Federal department says schools that are not on reserve are the responsibility of provinces.
Hundreds of Alberta educational assistants won't return to classrooms this fall, after changes in eligibility for Jordan's Principle funding.
The funds from Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) are no longer approved for school-related requests in most circumstances for off-reserve schools. Previously, many divisions were using Jordan's Principle funding to support learning needs of Indigenous students, particularly those with disabilities.
Jordan's Principle is a legal rule aimed at giving First Nations children the services they need without delay, named after five-year-old Jordan River Anderson who died waiting for care.
When the funding didn't come through for this year, some school divisions made staffing cuts in the winter and spring. But many held off until the end of the school year and funded the shortfall themselves.
CBC reached out to all 65 school divisions across the province to ask about the impact of the change on staffing — and 33 responded. Nearly 40 per cent of divisions that responded said there would be job losses as a result of the federal funding changes.
School divisions reported to CBC at least 450 full-time and part-time EA positions will be lost province-wide between this school year and next.
Sturgeon Public Schools had received $1.9 million in Jordan's Principle funding for the 2024-25 school year through an early group application. But after getting word it would no longer be eligible going forward, the division says it eliminated about 35 support staff positions.
Shawna Warren, the division superintendent, said Sturgeon Public Schools did its due diligence in order to get that funding.
"Jordan's Principle is very targeted. You have to prove that the child, you've exhausted all other resources and avenues for funding to support a First Nation child."
"That's why we are disheartened because it's not like this is anything frivolous. We've done our due diligence and this is a huge loss to our First Nation children that we've been educating."
WATCH | Jordan's Principle changes explained:
Wendy Harman is an EA in Parkland School Division and is the president of CUPE 5543. She said 67 educational assistants are losing their jobs and more are having their hours reduced in the division. She worries about what this means for the fall.
"Already we struggle to support all of our students with the few support staff that we have, and losing nearly one-quarter of our support staff is just going to make it a chaotic system that's not going to be supporting students at all."
She said that teachers are also losing a major source of support, which can impede learning for the entire classroom.
The federal government made sweeping changes to the program's eligibility in February after reports of misuse of funding.
Jennifer Cooper, a spokesperson for ISC, said in a statement schools that are not on reserve are the responsibility of provinces.
"Requests for educational supports for school boards off-reserve and private schools will be redirected to provincial school boards, or other existing provincially and federally funded programs," the statement read.
Brett Cooper, the superintendent for Pembina Hills School Division, said the division was applying for the program for the first time and had planned to hire support staff and Indigenous elders. He said those resources would have been nice to have in the absence of sustainable funding from the province.
Effects of the strike
Tasha Oatway-McLay, the board chair for Sturgeon Public Schools, said the loss of funding is compounded with higher costs for retaining EAs.
"We're losing Jordan's Principle funding at the same time that we're having to make adjustments to our educational assistants' staffing due to the unfunded labour action," Oatway-McLay said.
Cooper said the cost of running a school is increasing, and what is really needed to put enough EAs in classrooms, is higher base funding for divisions.
A statement from Alberta Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said learning support grants are increasing 2.32 per cent for next school year — plus more to account for recent wage increases.
"In recognition of the cost pressures related to support staff salary settlements, school boards were advised of an additional 2.68 per cent increase — an increase of $30 million — to learning support grants for the upcoming school year."
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