School welfare professionals plan to help every school, but are not necessarily present in every school.
Yukon Democratic Party Leader Kate White said the Ministry of Education’s commitment to focus on school health counselors, now known as experts, in the Confidence and Supply Agreement (CASA) between the Yukon Democratic Party and the ruling Yukon Liberal Party. He claimed that he was trying to move away from him.
Introducing wellness counselors or something similar in all schools is a pledge of CASA, which remains governed by the Yukon Liberal Party with support from the NDP.
The Yukon government’s cabinet communication says the Ministry of Education is working to recruit school health specialists to be deployed over the next two years.
A May 6 email from Cabinet Communications indicates plans “remain” to offer these new positions to all Yukon schools. However, not all schools have school welfare specialists assigned.
During the spring 2023 legislative session, Education Minister Jeannie MacLean told the House of Commons that the Yukon government aims to have a health counselor in every school by the 2023/24 school year. That didn’t happen.
Read more: All Yukon schools will have health counselors by next school year, education minister says
CASA’s language calls on the Yukon government to “create a full-time health counselor or similar position in every school dedicated to comprehensive mental health and wellness needs.”
Mr White has already put the ruling Yukon Liberal Party on “notice”. She said she is upholding her obligations, but the government is not following through on its end of the deal at CASA. She said there was no guarantee that CASA would continue if the government did not fulfill certain commitments under CASA (not including this one) by the autumn meeting.
“We have heard time and time again that the government repeatedly fails to consult with education professionals and their unions on issues such as the allocation of teaching assistants and training plans,” White told the House of Commons on May 2. Ta.
“Educators were similarly disappointed with the government’s response to adding health professionals. We recently heard that schools across the board seem to be moving away from wellness professionals, which we agree with. It was not something I did.”
Ted Hupe, president of the Yukon Association of Education Professionals, previously said: news The great task ahead means that school health professionals need to become “superheroes.” He wondered how their success would be measured, especially in the context of his two Auditor General’s reports, his 2009 and his 2019.
Read more: Yukon’s school health professionals must be superheroes, union leader says
The Ministry of Education is working with superintendents and school board directors to determine how to deploy school health experts, according to a cabinet communication.
School health professionals provide a variety of direct supports depending on the needs of students, families, educators, and the community.
“Depending on the recruitment situation, the needs of the school, and the distribution of schools in a particular area, this could mean one individual per school, or it could mean one individual working in multiple schools. In some cases, the government may do so,” the Cabinet Newsletter wrote.
Contact Dana Hatherly at dana.hatherly@yukon-news.com.
