Alberta school division lays off 46 educational assistants, blames federal funding delay
CBC
An association that represents public school boards in Alberta says federal funding delays are putting the education of Indigenous children at risk and have already led to the layoffs of dozens of educational assistants in central Alberta.
In a letter sent to Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu last week, the Public School Boards' Association of Alberta (PSBAA) said school boards that submitted applications for Jordan's Principle requests in May are still waiting for the federal government to approve them.
Jordan's Principle is a legal rule that aims to make sure First Nations children receive the services they need right away. The principle was named after Jordan River Anderson, a boy from Norway House Cree Nation who died in hospital while the provincial and federal governments argued over which was responsible for paying for his home-based care.
The PSBAA said in the letter that school boards' applications have been moved to a national review committee, and they have been given no assurance of receiving approvals during the school year.
"I would implore you to take action immediately and given the timing, approve all applications for this academic year," PSBAA president Dennis MacNeil wrote in the letter.
The delay has led to the Wild Rose School Board's decision to lay off 46 educational assistants, who had been working with First Nations students since September. The assistants were told about the decision last week and their last day will be Friday.
Superintendent Brad Volkman told CBC News in an interview on Monday that the division hired the assistants based on its past experience applying for federal funding from the previous two years.
"We found that even though sometimes the money was delayed, we always got the sense that we had been approved and we could move forward because one of the main principles of Jordan's Principle is that the support needs to come quickly," he said.
Without the federal funding, continuing to pay for the assistants is unsustainable, Volkman said. The division has already spent about $750,000 on the positions.
The layoffs mean 46 students will no longer have specialized tutors, classroom aides and one-one-on support, he said.
The Wild Rose School Division operates 17 schools, serving the communities of Drayton Valley, Rocky Mountain House, Breton, Caroline, Leslieville and Condor.
The school division also sent a letter to federal and provincial politicians, saying the funding delays undermine the purpose of Jordan's Principle and will have "long-lasting and difficult to reverse" effects.
Volkman said the division hopes to rehire the educational assistants if its group application is approved but that may not be easy to do. The former EAs could find other jobs, he said, and it could be difficult to attract people if the positions are not seen as being secure.
Volkman and MacNeil are not the only ones urging the federal government to process applications faster.
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