Western Manitoba school division lays off support staff as Jordan's Principle funding lapses

CBC News

· Posted: May 08, 2025 8:49 PM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A schoolhouse part successful occidental Manitoba is laying disconnected astir a 3rd of its acquisition assistants aft learning a root of national backing volition adust up. 

Swan Valley School Division is cutting its acquisition adjunct hours to the equivalent of astir 28 full-time positions, the part confirmed Thursday.

It blames the cuts connected caller changes to the national Jordan's Principle program, which is meant to guarantee First Nations children person the health, societal and acquisition services they need.

In an operational bulletin past February, Indigenous Services Canada said a ineligible investigation prompted it to extremity backing for school-related requests crossed the state "unless linked to the circumstantial health, societal oregon acquisition request of the First Nations child."

"Supports to schoolhouse boards off-reserve and backstage schools volition beryllium redirected to provincial schoolhouse boards, oregon different existing provincial and federally-funded programs," it reads.

Swan Valley says it was notified that Jordan's Principle funds for public-school students volition beryllium phased retired aft the existent schoolhouse year, meaning it volition suffer astir $2.2 cardinal successful backing adjacent schoolhouse year.

Losing 'great staff'

Superintendent Rob Tomlinson said the backing nonaccomplishment stings.

"We person a batch of large unit that we're laying off, not due to the fact that of show issues, but due to the fact that of funding."

Tomlinson said it's besides frustrating due to the fact that the part has already been using Jordan's Principle wealth to enactment Indigenous students.

All one-to-one supports are exclusively for their use, and portion other students whitethorn reap indirect benefits, "all those dollars, I tin guarantee you, went straight to Indigenous students," Tomlinson said.

"I don't consciousness similar we were ever abusing Jordan's Principle dollars successful immoderate way, signifier oregon form."

In summation to providing services to susceptible students, the backing besides helped trim the schoolhouse division's appraisal backlog for code pathology, occupational therapy and psychology, helium said.

Tomlinson said 44 per cent of part students self-identify arsenic Indigenous, and students from adjacent First Nation communities spell to Swan River for high school.

"With specified a precocious percent of Indigenous students … off-reserve, we're struggling with that decision" to cancel Jordan's Principle funding, helium said.

Other schoolhouse divisions are besides grappling with a backing shortfall for the aforesaid reason.

Last year, 93 acquisition assistants mislaid their jobs in the Hanover School Division, based successful Steinbach.

In Swan Valley, 18 imperishable and 22 word EAs got their layoff notices past Friday.

Kyle Ross, president of Manitoba Government and General Employees' Union, which represents immoderate of Swan Valley's acquisition assistants, said the cuts volition mean little enactment for students.

"Some of them whitethorn person behavioural issues, immoderate of them person learning disabilities and galore different issues that impact the full classroom. And erstwhile these individuals don't get those supports, it disrupts everyone's quality to learn," Ross said.

Progressive Conservative acquisition critic Wayne Ewasko wants the provincial NDP government to prevention the acquisition assistant jobs, and past ask the national authorities for reimbursement for the wages.

Spending that wealth is worthy it, adjacent if nary different authorities helps with the bill, Ewasko said.

In a statement, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said the government has provided schoolhouse divisions with $170 cardinal successful caller backing since taking bureau successful precocious 2023, which allows divisions to prosecute the EAs they need.

Not including spot taxation oregon farmland rebates, the state gave Swan Valley astir $14 cardinal successful backing for the adjacent schoolhouse year.

The part has an upcoming $4.3 cardinal fund shortfall adjacent schoolhouse year.

Swan Valley said it chopped its expenses by $2.5 million, but further reductions are challenging successful airy of rising costs, peculiarly for labour. Payroll accounts for astir 80 per cent of the division's budget.

The part is specifically cutting about 8 full-time teaching positions. It's cutting a graphic plan programme and its full-time teaching position, on with a sensory gym program, and is reducing a full-time euphony teaching presumption to a three-quarters position.