LAKELAND - A new proposal submitted by the Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) Board of Trustees last month is aiming to secure more funding for First Nations students' learning and well-being opportunities.
Jordan’s Principle is a piece of federal legislation created to secure education, health and social services for First Nations children living in Canada. If approved, the funding for NLPS will be used for “Speech Language Pathology (SLP), Occupational Therapy, Educational Psychology assessments, and physiotherapy,” according to the school division.
Traditionally, the division has had to apply for funding on a case-by-case basis for the current 129 First Nation students who have been accessing the Jordan's Principle program across the division’s 26 schools. Overall, the process has been an inconvenience and not sustainable throughout the school year, said Jimmi Lou Irvine, NLPS’ associate superintendent of student services and Indigenous relations.
“Piecemealing support for everyone individually is difficult because if they approve us at $1,500 for SLP supports, it’s really difficult to figure out how we’re going to get the appropriate supports with each of those small envelopes of money,” she told the NLPS Board of Trustees during a Nov. 30 meeting.
As a result, creating pathways to have a large budget to provide support to the growing number of First Nation’s students who have had access to 90 full-time educational assistants along with more services in the future, will be beneficial, said Irvine.
“We’ve had to make several different attestations and the final step is a motion by you, our governors, in relation to the group proposal.”
The program, which is funded by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and operated by the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch in Alberta, will make the final decision regarding the proposal. A group proposal for large lump-sum funding is not common for Jordan’s Principle, but with a strong application and board approval, it could become a reality to provide the many First Nations students across the division with much-needed educational support, she explained.
Spring funding
If approved, the funding would kick in this spring for a two-year term, said Paula Elock, NLPS secretary-treasurer.
“They would suggest a two-year agreement to start at the beginning of their fiscal year,” from April 1 to March 31 from Jordan’s Principle, which also coincides with general Alberta Education funding, said Elock.
While the two-year funding is a trial, Irvine indicates it could be a great venture that could potentially set the pace for the school division's future funding for First Nation students.
“They're kind of setting the pace in the province with Jordan’s Principle and how to move forward. This is unique. And so, it’s navigating a new agreement in a different way… Two years gives us a length of time to give a taste to them without committing too much on the long-term.”
In the coming months, the division will be notified of the success of the $1 million funding proposal.
In memory of Jordan
Jordan’s Principle was named in honour of a young First Nations boy in Manitoba, Jordan River Anderson. He was born in 1999 with several medical conditions and remained in hospital until his passing at the age of five.
According to federal government records, Anderson’s family pleaded to create a home-based care option but disputes on whether the federal or provincial government should be financially responsible arose. Subsequently, Jordan’s Principle was created and passed by the House of Commons in 2007 in his memory to ensure security for First Nations children across the country.
