Hanover School Division laying off 93 EAs due to confusion over funding

The Hanover School Division is laying off 93 educational assistants, citing an "unexpected loss of federal funding for Jordan's Principle programming."

The school division said the situation is out of its control and work is being done to secure a long-term solution.

"We recognize the significant impact this decision will have on our educational assistants, students, and school communities. Hanover School Division remains committed to supporting affected employees and minimizing disruption to student learning while continuing to advocate for students and families," the division wrote in a statement on its website.

Hanover School Division Superintendent Joe Thiessen told CTV News Winnipeg getting Jordan's Principle funding used to come through the province, but this school year funding switched to the federal government.

He said they reapplied for federal funding, but they found out too late.

"We've been able to help kids and help support children and their learning. And we acted on good faith, on information that was given to us in June to move forward as status quo. So we did that. And then when we sent them the bill, essentially for EA wages, they informed us that they had moved to a different model, federal funding model, and that's when things started to unravel," said Thiessen.

Thiessen said the layoff decision is 100 per cent a financial decision, noting wages from September until present day were over $1 million.

"The board was forced into a corner here to make that decision. Without the funding in place, we could no longer continue."

Jeff Friesen, the board chair for the school division, said this was a decision they didn't want to make before the holiday season.

"We worked really hard at knowing that we were footing the bill for a little while, in case something would turn around, and it hasn't turned around, which is very sad on our behalf," said Friesen. "We would have loved to have waited until after Christmas and try to find a solution to this because we were under the impression that all these contracts for all these applications were approved."

Sylvain-Nicolas Bourgeois, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada, said it can't comment on the school board's decision to lay off the education assistants.

"The request for educational assistants support through Jordan's Principle from the Hanover School Division in Steinbach, Manitoba, is still under review. Requests are reviewed on a case-by-case basis to determine how the requested specific product, service or support meets the distinct needs of each child," Bourgeois said in an emailed statement.

A ministerial spokesperson for the Manitoba government said federal dollars were used to support EA positions.

"In (the) 2024 budget, we increased Hanover School Division's funding by 7.1 per cent and will continue to work with the school division to ensure students are supported," they said in an emailed statement.

However, Manitoba PC Education Critic Grant Jackson said the government should have stepped in.

"The whole principle behind Jordan's Principle is that students, children in need, get the services that they need provided to them and then governments bicker about who is responsible for them later, after the service is being provided," said Jackson.

Thiessen said the school division cares about the EAs and hopes this can be fixed.

"We want to hopefully resolve this and bring them back. I would say that we're going to continue to work toward helping students, all the students that are in our care, as best as possible, and we're going to find some creative ways to do that," said Thiessen.

In a statement, the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC), the union representing the laid-off workers, said they are “devastated” over the job losses.

“This shock is especially impactful so close to Christmas,” said Geoff Dueck Thiessen, regional president of CLAC.

“It’s unacceptable that funding for these critical supports for Indigenous students would be so tenuous.”

Dueck Thiessen said the union is also concerned about the workers who remain in the workplace, saying it will lead to burnout.

“Those students’ needs won’t just disappear in the school. EA work is rewarding but also exhausting and often comes with a risk of violence. Spreading more work among fewer employees is reason for concern,” he said.

- With files from CTV's Michelle Gerwing.