Edmonton's largest school boards welcome provincial action team to tackle aggression and complexity
The chairwomen for the board of trustees at Edmonton Public Schools and Edmonton Catholic Schools District said in interviews with Postmedia they have been advocating for more resources and support as reports of aggression and complexity increase in classrooms.
Edmonton public chairwoman Julie Kusiek said the board has raised several issues to the ministry around classroom sizes with large enrolment growth and classroom complexity. She pointed to the need for schools to be built to offset the high enrolment and more specialized resources, including mental health supports and targeted support for refugee and displaced students.
Kusiek added the rising complexity could be addressed with more funding, saying the division has seen 'several years of cuts' to its budget due to the weighted moving average.
'This is the first year we've seen the status quo budget in the last several years and so the cumulative impact of that is real,' Kusiek said.
'We need to see base funding for education in the province move up so that we can support students in the ways that they need to be. There's also workforce pressures around recruitment and retaining specialized professionals and these folks are in high demand when it comes to psychologists and therapists.'
On Monday, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said the Aggression and Complexity in Schools Action Team will be comprised of 20 members of the education sector who will deliver a report along with short and long-term recommendations to the province by the fall.
The province said recommendations could be implemented as soon as the 2025-2026 school year.
Edmonton Catholic chairwoman Sandra Palazzo said the creation of the action team will be a step towards understanding what schools are experiencing on a daily basis. She pointed to the need to have all school boards at the table — not only large ones.
'Classroom complexity is a significant concern for educators as it impacts their ability, oftentimes, to provide those adequate supports,' Palazzo said.
'Despite these challenges, our teachers and educators are the strength of our division.'
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