N.B.'s English school system down to 6 psychologists serving 73,000 students

A commitment made last June by Premier Blaine Higgs to provide "extra counsellors, extra support" to enhance the care and safety of vulnerable students in schools appears to be falling short.

A dwindling pool of school psychologists in New Brunswick has continued to shrink since the commitment was made and the Department of Education can't say if other professionals like school social workers or guidance counsellors have been added to provide the promised support. 

"School districts would have more information on this," a department communications officer wrote in an email about whether the pledge of more counsellors is being met.

In July the New Brunswick government formally adopted changes to its three-year-old sexual orientation and gender identity policy for schools, known as Policy 713, which outlines protections and supports for LGTBQ students.

The most contentious change involves a restriction that forbids teachers from informally using a new name or gender pronoun chosen by a student for themselves, if the student is under the age of 16 and a parent has not consented to the change.

In proposing that restriction in June, Premier Higgs said he felt it is important for parents who are unaware of gender self-identification changes being adopted by their children to be informed and involved.  

In cases where that kind of disclosure would cause confrontation or upheaval at home for the student Higgs pledged new resources so students could "work with counsellors, work with psychologists" to solve those family divides.

"I know there are situations, it is not ideal at home, and those are the situations we must be sure to understand," said Higgs.

"That is why we're saying extra counsellors, extra support."

But current figures show that instead of expanding since changes to Policy 713 were made, some key counselling resources have shrunk.

According to the Department of Education, the number of psychologists providing services to students inside New Brunswick schools has fallen to 28 full-time equivalent positions. That includes 22 psychologists serving 30,000 students in New Brunswick's French school system and six positions serving 73,000 students in the English school system.

Combined, that is down 2.7 positions from last spring when the pledge for more counsellors was made.   

According to government estimates, more than 40 psychologists are required to properly serve students in the English system alone — nearly seven times the current number. 

"It is true that we have a shortage of school psychologists in New Brunswick," Education Minister Bill Hogan acknowledged in the Legislature last month.

It is not clear how many students in New Brunswick schools have adopted new names or pronouns for themselves or how many of those have done so without their parents' knowledge or permission.

However, a survey conducted inside New Brunswick schools last fall by the New Brunswick Health Council, in which more than three-quarters of eligible students participated, 2,043 self-reported their gender identity to be non-binary, meaning neither exclusively male nor female.

About half of those students were under the age of 16.

Health Council CEO Stéphane Robichaud said non-binary students stand out as a group for what he calls "the higher prevalency" of bullying they suffer and levels of anxiety and depression they live with.

Just under half of non-binary students in the survey , 44.8 per cent, disagreed with the statement "I feel safe in my school" and more than half, 53.6 per cent, responded in the negative to the statement "My parents like me and care about me." 

Negative responses to the same statements by other students were at half those levels.

According to Robichaud, the survey shows New Brunswick non-binary students in large numbers lack understanding and acceptance both inside and outside of school.

"We've seen the markers of the need to pay more attention to this," said Robichaud.