'Angry and powerless': Temporary cuts to education will hurt vulnerable Alberta kids, advocates say

Temporary cuts made over the weekend to Alberta's education budget will have a big impact on the province's most vulnerable children, according to advocates.

The cuts, announced Saturday by Alberta Education Minister Adriana LaGrange, are meant to offer some financial relief to the province during the COVID-19 crisis, but will see thousands of support staff and education assistants laid off by the end of April.

'Families need help'

Lyndon Parakin, executive director with Autism Calgary, said these cuts leave children with learning disabilities without important supports, like education assistants, when they — and their families — need them most, and when they're programs have already been impacted by previous cuts.

"We saw that in the last budget with some profound cuts to Program Unit Funding and the weighted moving average to prevent special education programs from growing," he said.

Parakin said it makes him wonder if the government understands that special education is as much about safety and well-being, as it is about learning.

"Definitely the government needs to see that in the COVID-19 response, disabled students are part of Alberta's vulnerable populations and families need help with that," he said.

'Angry and powerless'

Donna Porter has been an education assistant in Calgary for 22 years and knows first hand the impact support workers have on the lives of Alberta kids.

Porter said to see those supports taken away from kids in an already difficult and confusing time — infuriates her.

"It's just really hard to think of the kids that you worked with missing out on everything they need," she said. "It's a vicious circle of being angry and powerless and feeling defeated."

Parakin said for many kids, like those with autism who rely on educational assistance every day, this will result in both cognitive and social regression.

"Educators and parents are trying to work together to minimize that impact so that the long term consequences aren't going to be detrimental to their long term growth but also to make sure that they're safe in the home," he said. "So families are shocked and discouraged by the decision."

Parakin said by removing special education supports and special needs supports for families and their students, there will be long term costs and consequences as well.

"We can speak to this as the COVID-19 response but it's also going to mean a lot of students taxing the systems a lot more heavily in the future as well," he said.

'Layoffs are painful'

Marilyn Dennis, board chair for the Calgary Board of Education, said the announcement of cuts came as a surprise to school boards.

"Certainly that is the change from what was said earlier in March around funding continuing to go to school boards," she said. "But we do understand that the province is dealing with the pandemic and that some adjustments have had to be used."

But what exactly that impact of the cuts will look like at the CBE has yet to be determined.

"We have not made any staffing decisions at this point," she said.

Dennis said the CBE is still waiting to find out exactly how much money they're losing.

"We're waiting to see how many millions of dollars will be cut for the remainder of the school and we're waiting for that confirmation from the government," she said.

But Dennis said she looks forward to welcoming these people back after the crisis has ended.

"We know that educational assistants are critical to the delivery of education to our students, in particular they they work with some of our most vulnerable students, from English language learners to students who are living in poverty, to our special needs student," she said.

"We know the services that they provide is not only educational support, but also in supporting their wellbeing because their educational assistants do have very unique and special relationships with the students that they support. So this isn't just about learning it's also about student wellbeing."

Bryan Szumlas, chief superintendent at the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD), said the news is extremely difficult.

"The CCSD is a family and any layoffs are painful," he said.

But, Szumlas said it's important to emphasize that this situation is only temporary.

"We will need them back when we return to our schools," he said.

Szumlas said that for now, all staff continue to work and are being paid as usual for the "immediate future."

"In the next week or so, our senior administration will work closely to determine the positions impacted by this new direction," he said. "All of our students will continue to be supported in their online learning by their teachers, principals and our Instructional Services team."

Some parents understanding

Sarah Bieber with Kids Come First said many parents she's spoken with since the cuts were announced understand their temporary nature.

"Half the parents I'm talking to have somebody in their home that has already either lost a job or is worried about losing a job or facing some kind of limited employment," she said.

"And so I think for everyone it just seems like an unprecedented time and there's not necessarily a lot of judgments about the cuts right now. Everyone can see that everybody else is just trying to manage and figure out what to do right now."

Bieber said it makes sense to her that right now that there isn't money going to pay for bus drivers who aren't driving students or to positions in the school that aren't being utilized at this time.

"Even though it is heartbreaking for those people as individuals," she said.

Her concern is if the money will be there when kids are back in the classroom.

"Right now they the word is that that money will be replaced as soon as kids are back in school," she said.

"But if when kids go back and resources are less than when they left, I think that would be quite problematic because teachers are already going to be so stressed trying to catch up kids that are behind."

The province has directed school boards to immediately issue notices to educational assistants with the expectation they will be laid off by the end of April.