Western Manitoba school division lays off support staff after loss of Jordan's Principle funding

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 a 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 says.

An email to CBC from Indigenous Services Canada spokesperson Eric Head emphasized that provincial governments already receive funding for children from reserves who attend school off reserve.

"Provincial governments are responsible for ensuring equal access to educational services for all students in their publicly funded school boards," the email says.

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.

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 Nations 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 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.

$4.3M budget shortfall

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 a $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.

Swan Valley School Division laying off EAs as federal funding dries up

3 days ago

Duration 1:30

Swan Valley School Division in western Manitoba has issued layoff notices to about a third of its educational assistants after confirming its funding through Jordan's Principle won't be extended into the next school year.