Yukon to cut educational assistants, teachers' union says

The Yukon Teachers' Association (YTA) says the territory is preparing to reduce the number of educational assistants (EAs) working in Yukon schools next fall.

YTA president Jill Mason says school administrators were recently told by the Department of Education that "they wouldn't get as many educational assistants as they had last year."

Mason believes there could be around 40 fewer EAs next year. Right now, she estimates there are about 225 working as non-permanent employees in Yukon schools, "so 40 is pretty signficant."

According to Mason, an allocation committee made up of teachers, parents, First Nations, and others decided last year that EAs should be allocated based on students' needs, not with an "arbitrary cap" on their numbers.

She says word of the cuts came even before schools had submitted their needs-based requests.

CBC News asked the Department of Education on Friday for details or comment on Mason's concerns. The department said a spokesperson would be available on Monday.

Mason says parents should be given information as soon as possible.

"These students that we're talking about … are the most vulnerable students in our territory. So they're physically, or cognitively, or behaviourally challenged students whose needs often require the extra supports for the good of the whole school," she said.

"Parents might not even realize at this point that their children won't have the supports in place that they have now, until the fall."