Latest news with #SwanValleySchoolDivision
CBC
09-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Western Manitoba school division lays off support staff as Jordan's Principle funding lapses
Social Sharing A school division in western Manitoba is laying off about a third of its educational assistants after learning a source of federal funding will dry up. Swan Valley School Division is cutting its educational assistant hours to the equivalent of around 28 full-time positions, the division confirmed Thursday. It blames the cuts on recent changes to the federal Jordan's Principle program, which is meant to ensure First Nations children receive the health, social and education services they need. In an operational bulletin last February, Indigenous Services Canada said a legal analysis prompted it to end funding for school-related requests across the country "unless linked to the specific health, social or educational need of the First Nations child." "Supports to school boards off-reserve and private schools will be redirected to provincial school boards, or other existing provincial and federally-funded programs," it reads. Swan Valley says it was notified that Jordan's Principle funds for public-school students will be phased out after the current school year, meaning it will lose about $2.2 million in funding next school year. Losing 'great staff' Superintendent Rob Tomlinson said the funding loss stings. "We have a lot of great staff that we're laying off, not because of performance issues, but because of funding." Tomlinson said it's also frustrating because the division has already been using Jordan's Principle money to support Indigenous students. All one-to-one supports are exclusively for their use, and while other students may reap indirect benefits, "all those dollars, I can assure you, went directly to Indigenous students," Tomlinson said. "I don't feel like we were ever abusing Jordan's Principle dollars in any way, shape or form." In addition to providing services to vulnerable students, the funding also helped reduce the school division's assessment backlog for speech pathology, occupational therapy and psychology, he said. Tomlinson said 44 per cent of division students self-identify as Indigenous, and students from nearby First Nation communities go to Swan River for high school. "With such a high percentage of Indigenous students … off-reserve, we're struggling with that decision" to cancel Jordan's Principle funding, he said. Other school divisions are also grappling with a funding shortfall for the same reason. Last year, 93 educational assistants lost their jobs in the Hanover School Division, based in Steinbach. In Swan Valley, 18 permanent and 22 term EAs got their layoff notices last Friday. Kyle Ross, president of Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union, which represents some of Swan Valley's educational assistants, said the cuts will mean less support for students. "Some of them may have behavioural issues, some of them have learning disabilities and many other issues that affect the whole classroom. And when these individuals don't get those supports, it disrupts everyone's ability to learn," Ross said. Progressive Conservative education critic Wayne Ewasko wants the provincial NDP government to save the educational assistant jobs, and then ask the federal government for reimbursement for the wages. Spending that money is worth it, even if no other government helps with the bill, Ewasko said. In a statement, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said the government has provided school divisions with $170 million in new funding since taking office in late 2023, which allows divisions to hire the EAs they need. Not including property tax or farmland rebates, the province gave Swan Valley about $14 million in funding for the next school year. The division has an upcoming $4.3 million budget shortfall next school year. Swan Valley said it cut its expenses by $2.5 million, but further reductions are challenging in light of rising costs, particularly for labour. Payroll accounts for about 80 per cent of the division's budget. The division is specifically cutting about eight full-time teaching positions. It's cutting a graphic design program and its full-time teaching position, along with a sensory gym program, and is reducing a full-time music teaching position to a three-quarters position.
Winnipeg Free Press
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Rural school board latest to cut educational assistants funded by Jordan's Principle
A Manitoba school division in which four in 10 students self-identify as Indigenous is cutting 40 educational assistants in response to sweeping changes to Jordan's Principle. 'We wouldn't have had those positions in place had we not needed them,' said Gary Wowchuk, chairman of the board of trustees in the Swan Valley School Division. 'The impact is going to be felt by students that need those extra resources and by the staff who have to pick up some of the slack there.' The Swan River-based board recently learned $2.2 million in federal funding to support First Nations children during the current academic year wouldn't be renewed for 2025-26. Superintendent Rob Tomlinson told the Free Press the administration hand-delivered letters to the affected employees — 18 permanent educational assistants and 22 term hires — last week. The layoffs take effect at the end of June. Senior administration wanted to give support staff as much notice as possible and ensure they understood the changes do not reflect performance, Tomlinson said. 'We're losing some great people. This has been a huge hit,' he said, noting the division is one of the largest employers in the region, located nearly 500 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg. The rural board is among those that have been bracing for cuts since the Hanover School Division laid off 93 educational assistants in connection to an unexpected drop in federal support in the fall. The recent reductions have been raised in the Manitoba legislature on several occasions this week, including Thursday — Spirit Bear Day, which honours the legacy of Jordan River Anderson, a child from Norway House Cree Nation who had complex medical needs. Jordan died in 2005 in a Winnipeg hospital as the Manitoba and Canadian governments fought over who should pay his home-care bills. A human rights principle was established in the five-year-old's name to ensure First Nations children are legally entitled to accessing government services without delay. 'In his memory, we urge all governments today to not allow more children to fall through the cracks because of the adults' bickering,' Obby Khan, leader of the Progressive Conservatives, told the house on Thursday. Khan accused the provincial government of deflecting responsibility. One day earlier, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt told question period it was unfortunate Ottawa had made significant changes to funding in its Jordan's Principle program. 'Those changes made by the federal government are having impacts here on our education system,' Schmidt said. The minister said her office is working closely with Swan Valley and other divisions to make sure students have access to the services they need. Indigenous Services Canada changed eligibility and documentation requirements for grants this year. Officials have cited a surge in Jordan's Principle applications and concerns about its sustainability. The update includes no longer approving school-related requests if they are not explicitly tied to a child's specific health, social or educational needs. 'In 2025, public schools are providing solutions to a variety of challenges in a way that we have never done before in education, in clinical supports, in intellectual and physical disability supports, in all manner of public health supports,' said Alan Campbell, president of the Manitoba School Boards Association and its federal counterpart. Campbell said there's widespread confusion about the state of federal funding to support First Nations students. The money had been funnelled to schools through the Manitoba government, he noted. While saying the funding has provided 'absolutely essential' support to many children, he acknowledged there have been cases in Manitoba and elsewhere where grants were not used as intended in the education realm. The long-serving trustee in the Interlake is scheduled to meet with federal officials to discuss the matter on behalf of all school boards across the country in early June. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
