A shortage of educational assistants at View Royal Elementary is undermining students’ education and putting undue stress on staff, say educational assistants, teachers, and parents at the school.
In a presentation to the Greater Victoria school board Monday night, staff complained that the shortage is forcing them to “triage” supports for students.
Anne Downton, an educational assistant, told trustees that EAs and teachers at the school have sent letters to the district asking for more help.
“The lack of funding is having a trickle-down effect that is negatively impacting the education our students deserve,” she said, speaking on behalf of the EAs.
“You’re asking us to rank kids like an emergency room, but schools aren’t emergency rooms and education is not supposed to be triage.
“You cannot insist on an inclusion model without funding it properly, and we’re asking for more educational support.”
Winona Waldron, president of the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association, confirmed that teachers at View Royal have similar concerns about the EA shortage and the need to “triage” resources to cover the most pressing issues.
“And that means that some kids will be going without support who should be receiving full-time support,” she said.
View Royal parent Jen Wark said the shortage has resulted in the school cutting EA support for her 10-year-old daughter, Abby, who has autism.
“We’re still seeing the fact that Abby’s EA is pulled approximately two hours every morning,” Wark said Tuesday. She doesn’t want the EA in the classroom just to help her daughter, she said. “But we want the presence there for her when she requires help. Abby isn’t capable of doing her academics on her own.”
By failing to provide the necessary supports, the district is effectively excluding Abby from the classroom and violating her right to an education, Wark said.
Colin Roberts, associate superintendent, said the situation at View Royal stems from an unanticipated change in enrolment this fall that has placed additional demands on the school’s educational assistants.
He said View Royal has been given the equivalent of two additional teacher days a week as an interim measure to deal with the issue.
At the end of September, the district will submit its enrolment numbers to the province. If enrolment is up, the district will receive additional money to distribute to its schools and that could mean more EA support for View Royal, he said.
“It’s certainly not a guarantee that there will be further supports to View Royal, but it’s certainly a possibility,” he said, adding that it will be up to the school, not the district, to decide how any additional money gets spent.
Roberts acknowledged that the EA shortage is being felt across the Greater Victoria School District. The district has filled all its EA positions, but like other districts in the province, it’s struggling to recruit enough on-call EAs to cover sick days and other absences.
As a result, the district is short an average of 15 EAs a day across the system, he said.
“It’s not confined to View Royal,” agreed Waldron. “It’s an issue across the district.
“And that, as you can imagine, has a huge impact on teachers and the learning conditions in the classroom.
“If you have a student that requires full-time support and that full-time support is absent, then it is hard for the teacher to do whatever instructional plan they had for the day.”
Roberts said the district is recruiting EAs by advertising. It’s also training promising candidates.
Jane Massy, president of CUPE 947 that represents EAs, acknowledged those efforts, but said the main problem is that EAs simply don’t get enough hours to make a living
“When you’ve got four hours and 22 minutes a day and they’re shaving off minutes here and there, it’s just absolutely crazy,” she said.
Massy said the situation puts a strain on everyone when students are shuffled from one EA to another due to shortages.
“It’s a chess game and everyone’s trying to do their piece,” she said. “We’ve got principals that are filling in at some schools for EAs, so they’re being taken away from their important work, too.
“Our provincial government needs to step up with funding these [positions] better.”
