‘Heartbroken’ school staff mull future after Jordan’s Principle cuts

“Our lives have been flipped upside down and we aren’t sure what it means for our future.”

Gregor isn’t the only educational assistant feeling that way as staff, parents and administrators try to understand the long-term classroom consequences of a federal funding shift.

More than 200 educational assistants (or EAs) in the NWT are funded through Jordan’s Principle, a federal program that has announced dramatic changes in the criteria under which it gives cash to schools.

Jordan’s Principle managers say they will no longer agree to fund requests from schools located off-reserve unless there are special circumstances.

The federal government introduced the changes nationwide after a tribunal found some Jordan’s Principle cash was being used to fund inappropriate expenses. A spokesperson said Ottawa was “ensuring long-term sustainability” of the program.

Almost all NWT schools are off-reserve.

The YK1 school district said last week it was cutting 79 educational assistant positions in response to the expected loss of Jordan’s Principle support. Superintendent Shirley Zouboules told Cabin Radio the district does not yet know precisely how each of its schools will be affected.

While not all EAs are affected – some YK1 jobs won’t go, Yellowknife Catholic Schools said it has Jordan’s Principle funding in place until at least the end of 2025-26, and the territory’s francophone school board said three of its support assistant positions may be in jeopardy – communities beyond Yellowknife are also hit.

MLA Richard Edjericon has described multiple jobs being lost in places like Łútsël K’é and Fort Resolution.

In total, the NWT’s Department of Education, Culture and Employment said, almost $60 million is believed to have been distributed by Indigenous Services Canada to the territory’s schools through Jordan’s Principle and the equivalent Inuit Child First program, each of which are designed to offer supports that help Indigenous children.

“ECE’s estimate is that Jordan’s Principle has provided funding for about 205 positions for the 2024-25 school year,” the department stated by email.

There is so far no precise figure for the proportion of those 205 positions affected by likely cuts, but some EAs told Cabin Radio they were among those being let go – and contemplating an uncertain future.

“Honestly, I’m heartbroken and devastated,” said Jennifer, an EA at Yellowknife’s Sir John Franklin High School. Names of all educational assistants in this article have been changed as those who spoke with Cabin Radio requested anonymity to discuss sensitive details of their employment.

“I would love to continue living in the North, but I’m going to have to seriously evaluate if that looks like living in Yellowknife and what career that looks like,” Jennifer said.

Jennifer and her partner will move elsewhere “if needs must,” she said, describing a meeting at the school where, of 14 EAs present, seven were told their jobs would go.

While the Jordan’s Principle changes are happening at the federal level, the territorial government has been repeatedly called on to fill the gap – and has maintained that it does not have the money to do so.

Jennifer said the GNWT had shown “a lack of commitment” to education.

“During my time there has been a huge push for inclusive schooling, for supporting under-supported students, and a move to BC curriculum for the betterment and support of students,” she said.

“The constant message being shared by overworked, tired teachers and EA staff has been that we needed more support.”

Gregor and his partner “just bought a house in town and planned to live in this community for the foreseeable future,” he told Cabin Radio by email. Now, that might have to change.

‘Cultural connection will be broken’

Critics of NWT schools’ approach to Jordan’s Principle funding have suggested some educational assistants may provide services that don’t fully meet the program’s criteria, which specifically relate to First Nations children.

At Mildred Hall School, Patricia – another EA – estimated about a third of her 30 or so colleagues stand to lose their jobs under the YK1 school district’s current approach to the funding change. The school has a significantly larger number of Indigenous students than other schools in Yellowknife.

“Mildred Hall already has significantly more children with special needs, or who have trauma in their lives. There are already more kids in each class that require an EA than are currently getting one,” Patricia wrote.

“Perhaps they are right that the funding should come from [the NWT government’s Department of Education, Culture and Employment] rather than Jordan’s Principle, but there are many kids who probably should have one-to-one support who are currently not getting it, meaning EAs at our school are already stretched thin as it is.”

She described EAs working with children whose complex needs including a lack of toilet training, impulse control issues, and comprehension difficulties. Some use apps on tablets to speak, she said, “and it’s the EAs who teach the children how to use these devices while they’re in school.”

“The students with complex needs won’t get some of the support they need, the students without complex needs will get less attention and learning from the teacher, the EAs who are still in the school will be burnt out from all the extra work, and the EAs who are no longer still in the school are scared of the prospect of unemployment,” Patricia wrote.

Alicia, who is keeping her job, echoed the concern that staff who remain will burn out.

“I am scared for what this means for me,” she said. “I don’t want to move to another school when I have put time and effort into building relationships with the students around me.”

But at the same time, Alicia worries that fewer EAs will mean no reading interventions, no academic support, and less for students to do after school.

“If my day is all one-to-one with super high needs kids, I will not be staying after school to support our students in other ways because I will be exhausted,” she said.

“This isn’t fair to our students and I don’t think our parents really understand what will be gone.”

Heather, who described herself as a residential school survivor and Indigenous educator, told Cabin Radio she is proud to have become “the educator that I needed growing up.”

Now, Heather is worried that if Indigenous support assistants are no longer present to help Indigenous students in small communities, “the cultural and traditional connection will be broken.”

“How individual support plans will be successful in meeting the students’ milestone development is beyond me,” Heather wrote.

Jordan’s Principle ‘masked’ deeper issues

To some parents, these worries are being expressed about a system that they say was already incapable of meeting some children’s needs.

Tawanis Testart, a parent of a child at Mildred Hall School, said her five-year-old son Jack has a range of diagnoses – including autism – but receives “no in-school support” despite what she said are recommendations from doctors and specialists.

Jack is “likely not eligible” for legal status under the Indian Act, said Testart, so she is told schools have “no funding.” In the past, had Jack been eligible, Jordan’s Principle might have helped.

“For my kid, nothing will change. These funding cuts just bring everyone else down to the level we’ve already been surviving at: a level of no services,” Testart wrote.

Daniel, who is not presently an educator but said his wife stands to lose her job, has significant experience in the Yellowknife education sector.

“Jordan’s Principle funding has been masking the full extent of our social catastrophe in the North,” Daniel told Cabin Radio.

“The schools have been on the brink as the amount of complex needs have skyrocketed. Without EAs, classrooms might all but collapse.

“The change made to Jordan’s Principle funding is also an insane example of how federal decisions are made without any knowledge about the reality of the territories.”

Mandy Gull-Masty, who is Cree, is the new Indigenous services minister. Last month, she placed Jordan’s Principle first in her list of priorities as she takes the position – but did not set out how she would address that priority.

Last week, Indigenous Services Canada said Jordan’s Principle funding for schools “will only be approved if the requests can be clearly linked to the specific health, social, or educational need of the First Nation child or if it is required as per the principle of substantive equality.”

The federal agency said each request is reviewed on a case-by-case basis.

Adam Murray, the superintendent of Yellowknife Catholic Schools, told Cabin Radio NWT education minister Caitlin Cleveland had been “doing excellent work to draw attention to the urgency of needs of child development and youth services at the territorial health level and between the education and health departments.”

Murray said YCS “will continue to advocate for Jordan’s Principle funding for our students and families through all means available.”

Over the weekend, Cleveland confirmed online that she had met with federal ministers in the past week to discuss Jordan’s Principle as well as other issues.

In the NWT, there are “differences that need to be understood to see how policy and programs work different here,” Cleveland wrote on Meta’s channels about her trip to Ottawa.

“There are so many opportunities within the NWT and it was exciting to share them, along with the priorities that need urgent attention.”