SAULT STE. MARIE — Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) changes related to Jordan's Principle funding remain a concern for the Huron-Superior Catholic District School Board.
H-SCDSB trustees, at their most recent meeting held Wednesday, approved a motion by trustee John Caputo calling for a meeting with Sault MP Terry Sheehan, Sault MPP Chris Scott and Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Bill Rosenberg to discuss changes to Jordan’s Principle funding that went into effect in April.
“This puts the board in a bad spot because we pride ourselves in our special education deliveries. This really put a dent in our budget because the funding wasn't there anymore. So, we really need to sit with our MPPs and our MP Terry Sheehan particularly to discuss the reasoning behind it and to see if it can be reinstated so that our Indigenous students get the support they need,” Caputo said.
Jordan’s Principle is named after Jordan River Anderson, a First Nations boy in Manitoba who died in hospital waiting for the province and Ottawa to decide who should pay for health supports that would allow him to go home.
Designed to keep federal and provincial governments from denying or delaying services to First Nations children while they decide who is financially responsible, Jordan’s Principle funding covered items such as mental health support, physical therapy and dental care and - in the educational sense - provided for tutoring services and special education for Indigenous children.
It included additional academic support or enhanced classroom support beyond what school boards provided through regular provincial funding.
ISC will now only consider applications for enhanced help where a school board clearly demonstrates that a child's needs cannot be met through its existing services.
“Jordan's Principle was an enhancement in service. It doesn't replace (existing) school board funding in any way. That said, of course, we have a number of families, particularly our Indigenous students who were accustomed to those enhanced services, often in the form of academic supports, no longer receiving them. That's where the challenge lies,” said Fil Lettieri, H-SCDSB director of education at Wednesday’s meeting.
“As a board, we remain committed to supporting families with the services that we do have to support all students, but specifically our Indigenous students, to fill that gap.”
Lettieri said the board will continue to reach out to Sheehan as well as Scott and Rosenberg on the matter.
As a result of the change in Jordan’s Principle funding criteria, 70 H-SCDSB educational assistant (EA) positions were made redundant at the end of the 2024-25 school year. Those positions were directly tied to enhanced supports funded through Jordan’s Principle.
Approximately 70 students were supported by Jordan’s Principle-funded EAs.
Meanwhile, Lettieri told SooToday the H-SCDSB is doing its best to adapt to the changes in Jordan’s Principle funding.
“When we learned about the upcoming changes to Jordan’s Principle, our Special Education Department - working closely with school principals - reviewed student needs across the system. EA allocations were adjusted accordingly, which resulted in an increase in Board-funded EA positions. We currently staff 149 Board-funded EAs, though this number is continually adjusted based on student needs,” Lettieri said in an email.
Lettieri said the board has invested money in tutors in classrooms across all of its schools to provide direct help in areas such as math and is continually assessing and enhancing its special education programming.
Lettieri said the board has:
- a new School Readiness Program at St. Basil Catholic Elementary School
- an expansion of Empower Reading programming at additional schools for Grade 6 to 8 students
- purchased new math resources to support students
- math facilitators and reading intervention teachers in place
- dedicated staff in its Indigenous Education Department that supports Indigenous students and families including a grad coach, transition coaches, and cultural resource workers.
“While the loss of Jordan’s Principle enhancements has created challenges, the Board remains committed to ensuring all students - especially Indigenous students - have equitable access to the supports and resources they need to succeed,” Lettieri said.