Surplus requirement holds up some EA funding in Yellowknife

An eligibility requirement imposed by the GNWT to receive funding for educational assistants is delaying recruitment for those roles at a Yellowknife school board.

In August, the territorial government announced it would offer up to $14 million to schools whose funding for educational assistants was cut due to changes to Jordan’s Principle, a federally administered initiative.

The changes, mandated by Indigenous Services Canada, meant requests made through schools located off-reserve would no longer be approved.

The YK1 school district announced in June that it would cut 79 EA positions across its schools in response to the expected loss of Jordan’s Principle support.

When the GNWT’s stopgap funding was announced to help reinstate those positions, the territory said it would require school boards to first spend any existing budgetary surpluses on EAs before they could access the new funds.

“The GNWT recognizes that an education body may maintain surpluses for a variety of reasons,” said a spokesperson for the Department of Education, Culture and Employment in an email to Cabin Radio.

“However, ensuring students receive the supports they need in the classroom is a critical and immediate priority.”

Barbara Bell, the chairperson of the YK1 board of trustees, said the school district submitted an application to the GNWT requesting funding for EAs in early September.

“In that submission, we outlined the many ways YK1 already uses its limited surplus to support unfunded positions – including teachers, educational assistants, HR, and maintenance – as well as specialized services such as speech-language pathology,” said Bell.

She said the district continues to discuss this funding with ECE.

At YK1, meanwhile, one member of staff told Cabin Radio “nothing has happened and nothing has changed” in terms of educational assistant staffing – in part because access to the GNWT funding remains in doubt.

“I recognize things take time,” said the staff member, requesting anonymity to discuss a matter related to their employment.

“But we are a month into the first semester and nothing has changed, and we are already seeing impacts, and we are already feeling burnt out.

“This one of the roughest years we’ve had.”

The matter of whether or not to accept the GNWT’s funding – and its conditions related to surpluses – is expected to be discussed at the next meeting of the YK1 board in mid-October.

ECE said it “continues to emphasize to education bodies that any surpluses already allocated to approved expenditures – such as infrastructure projects included in an education body’s operating plan – do not need to be redirected toward support assistants.”

“By asking education bodies to first draw down the portion of their surpluses not already committed to approved expenditures, we are reinforcing the principle that available funds should be directed to frontline student support before seeking new funding from government,” the department stated.

Why do school boards have surpluses?

Adam Murray, superintendent for Yellowknife Catholic Schools, said for many divisions, budgetary surpluses accrue due to staffing shortages.

“We’re desperately trying to hire people and we’re not able to,” said Murray.

Often, he said, surplus funds are spent on infrastructure maintenance.

“Our buildings are ageing and the infrastructure needs repair, and we use those monies to make our learning environments suitable for students,” said Murray.

“They’re absolutely necessary to how we support kids moving forward in the territories.”

Murray said YCS has yet to feel the brunt of the changes to Jordan’s Principle funding because it has a multi-year agreement with the federal government that does not expire until the end of this academic year.

He said the district has 56 staff currently employed through Jordan’s Principle funding. There are 36 students who benefit directly from classroom assistants, 41 students who receive social and emotional coaching, and 93 students who work with a family and community liaison funded by the program.

The district runs land-based, culture and language programs that are also funded by Jordan’s Principle.

Similarly, François Rouleau, head of the Commission scolaire francophone – the NWT’s francophone school board – and Souhail Soujah, superintendent of the South Slave Divisional Education Council, each said Jordan’s Principle has helped support cultural programs. Soujah said the federal cash had also helped to pay for assistive technology for students.

Murray said ECE is allowing YCS to pull from reserve funds to help meet the needs of students requiring support who’ve entered Yellowknife Catholic Schools for the first time this year, and who aren’t covered under past multi-year agreements.

He said the district’s board has been lobbying the federal government directly to protect the funding available through Jordan’s Principle and is crafting a letter to the minister responsible for Indigenous Services Canada, Mandy Gull-Masty.

“They’re going to continue this fight, and we’re going to be in for a very rewarding year where all of us need to come together and we need to stand up for First Nations kids,” said Murray.

Ollie Williams contributed reporting