I have worked at St. Thomas for a number of years and can whole heartedly say that the reason I stay is because of the dedicated and welcoming staff. The support staff go above and beyond to help the teachers with their programming. All staff work collaboratively, and support each other. When there are issues, in my experience, maturity and integrity reign, and they are resolved. It is for these reasons I stay. It is my second home.

Staff morale is at an all-time low, with many employees either on stress leave or having left entirely due to poor working conditions. There is little to no discipline, with students frequently running through the halls unchecked. Staff concerns are routinely dismissed by administration, leaving employees feeling unheard and undervalued. The lack of support has created a chaotic and unsatisfying workplace. Overall, this is not a place where staff feel respected or supported.

Staffing levels do not equate the needs of the school. EAs are often managing 2 plus special needs students and the students who are lower academically get very limited, if any support.
There is no standard for any disciplinary action. Staff are often exposed to verbal abuse, students always have the upper hand as there is no follow through. Unacceptable behaviour becomes the standard because of this and staff feel frustrated and helpless.
Being hit, slapped etc has become the norm for EAs. It shouldn’t be. It’s unacceptable that violence is so accepted and no one is looking for a solution. Yes ,PPE is provided but the term educational assistant implies you are helping students with their education not dressing in PPE to face a day of physical abuse. Something needs to change. I don’t think this schools experience is unique I think this stems throughout the Catholic board across the schools. I have worked in many and it also applies there too.

Dear…


On behalf of myself, my fellow student support workers and the students we work with, I am writing to you today to share my experiences and express my concerns about a school system in crisis.

I have been working in the education system for over 20 years; my career in education began after several years of working in the private sector and spending a few years at home with my small children. When I reentered the workforce, I had the opportunity to work at a high school as a Student Supervisor and was introduced to the work Educational Assistants do for students with special needs. I felt a calling, and chose to go back to school, attending part time evenings and weekends to earn my Educational Assistant College Certificate. I started working in schools and was excited to be a part of the educational process. Today, I am frustrated, disheartened, spirit-broken; I am afraid for my physical safety at work and suffer mentally from what I have experienced and witnessed in the recent past, while doing my job.

When I started as an EA, the job consisted of attending to the academic, physical, emotional, and behavioural needs of students who, with additional support, could find a level of success in their education as well as their ‘life skills’ abilities. This was done in mainstream classes and a variety of small class programs. My day would consist of altering lessons according to the students’ learning needs, supporting them with the completion of their assignments, providing assistance with improving speech etc., assisting with social skills and helping them to self-regulate emotional and behavioural difficulties. There were only occasional incidents where a student would lash out physically and these would be addressed in a manner that made it clear the behaviour would not be tolerated at school. I was expected to dress professionally and it was expected that I would be treated with respect by the students. It was a learning/working environment that was safe and conducive to student success. Flash forward to today: the job still consists of attending to those very same needs but the environment has vastly changed. Students with very diverse needs and levels of ability are being placed in the same small classes. My attire now includes Personal Protective Equipment ( padded jacket, arm guards, sometimes a face shield, shin guards). I now witness and am subjected to almost daily incidents of physical aggression (sometimes multiple incidents in one day), as are the students I work with. It is an unsafe, unhealthy environment for staff and students and not conducive to successful learning outcomes for all.

The ‘Right to an Education’ for all must be balanced with the ‘Right to a Safe and Healthy Work/Learning Environment’. If we are going to honour the ‘RIght to an Education’ and not diminish it to a ‘Right to be in School’ we need to be providing the programs that recognize the
Individuality and varying needs of students. Students with special needs require programs that will provide the education for their intended outcomes. These outcomes may be higher level education, the ability to join the workforce, independent living, among others. These outcomes involve different education processes with some overlap. They also come into the school system with a variety of barriers to their success (physical barriers, lack of social skills, lack of ability to self-regulate behaviours, emotional difficulties, learning gaps…). For the most part, students with different ‘barriers’ can be taught within the same classroom environments. However, an exception should be those students who pose a significant physical risk to others. These students deserve the ability to attend a program that will help them learn to self- regulate their behaviours so they can socially interact in a positive manner with their classmates and educators - so that they can benefit from the education provided in the class. Until the self- regulation piece and its underlying causes are addressed these students will not be able to experience an education that meets their potential outcomes.

The success of other students in the class is also affected when a student acts out in a physically aggressive manner. Students’ learning is interrupted when they have to be evacuated from the classroom or if behaviours arise that interfere with a lesson. Some students become afraid to come to class - some dropping out entirely, having witnessed aggression towards staff and other students. For some, the environment creates increased anxiety and results in a decline in that student’s ability to self-regulate and their ’behaviours’ increase. In the class I work in, during the past year, we have had 2 students leave the program because they do not feel safe in the class; we have several students who have expressed fear of being in the classroom and students whose ability to self regulate has digressed due to their increased anxiety (being evacuated regularly, interruptions to lessons, witnessing aggression towards staff…) This is where we are failing to provide a ‘Safe and Healthy Learning Environment’ for all students. We are not honouring their ‘RIght to an Education’ by not providing an environment that is conducive to their best opportunity for a positive outcome.

A ‘Right to a Safe and Healthy Work Environment’ should also be applied to education workers in a more serious manner. In offices and other environments all over, we see signs and posters that tell us certain behaviours will not be tolerated against workers yet it has come to be tolerated towards education workers and accepted as ‘part of the job’. ( Parents and other caregivers of students at our school have actually expressed that they believe it is part of our job to accept this behaviour).We have workers suffering serious physical injuries in increasing numbers. Workers are experiencing high levels of stress, anxiety and other mental difficulties due to their own experiences and witnessing incidents of aggression towards their peers. I, myself, filed 18 violent incident reports in the last year; these are incidents that happened against me and does not include the number of incidents I witnessed against fellow workers or students. I was off work for over a month due to the mental effect of some of these incidents, and am off again for mental health reasons related to work. Education workers with years of experience and knowledge are leaving the profession due to the increasing violence in special education classes. Education workers want to be in their classroom helping students and for many there is a sense of guilt when they are absent as this puts added pressure on co-workers and disrupts the routine of students. Education workers deserve to feel safe, both against physical harm and mental stress, while they are attempting to serve the special needs community through their work. We too have a ‘Right to a Safe and Healthy Work environment’.


There has been a lot of the ‘Blame Game’ happening over the state of the school system and Special Education in particular, government blaming government, government blaming school boards, school boards blaming government, lack of funding, etc. etc. It’s time that all who have the power to affect change stop blaming ‘the other guy’ and get together to find a solution so that the needs of the students in Special Education can truly be met -so that we are truly honouring their ‘RIght to an Education’ and not just giving it lip service by saying they are in school. Politicians and others have claimed “We value our Education Workers.” . Then prove it, bring back appropriate small classes that will serve the students and create safer work environments for the staff. Stop trying to hide what is going on in the schools, let’s bring it out in the open so we can seek solutions. Acknowledge what Education Workers are experiencing so that we can find ways for them to feel supported instead of feeling unheard and under appreciated.

"Not enough money” you say? If we don't provide the funding necessary to provide appropriate small class placements and to staff those classes following realistic staffing models: What will the long term cost be of supporting students, after their education journey, who were unable to overcome their barriers and were unable to attain learning that would help them become more independent, help them find employment, help them self-regulate and become socially involved in their community in a positive way? What will be the cost of providing supply workers for absent Education Workers, the cost for providing care to injured employees, the cost for those workers who suffer long term disabilities who can no longer perform their jobs? And of what worth is the negative effects on our students and staff emotionally and mentally? What will be the cost to family, friends, classmates, coworkers should an incident take place that is truly life-altering or life-taking to a student or staff?

Our school system is in crisis, our schools are in crisis, many of our students are in crisis and school staff are in crisis. We need to acknowledge this and start taking it seriously in order to truly be respecting the Rights of all -’to an Education’ and to a ‘Safe and Healthy Learning / Work Environment.’

Sincerely,

Overall the school has been great for many years UNTIL!!! the new principal *** came on board and now *** has taken reigns to give kids the most MINIMAL support for special education - we have lost many EXCEPTIONAL EDUCATIONAL ASSISTANTS and do not know where they are / UNACCEPTABLE!!!! Children need help especially spec. Needs. Tired to fight the battle as she doesn’t seem to care nor listen. *** allows *** to do what she wants and it’s WRONG! EAs are a mess, not structured and always changing. Board has not done much to stop this / we need our exceptional team back with regards to EAs who go over and beyond!!!!!!!

As an employee, this angers me to write this because this school was ONCE so so great!! To have a great school, you need a strong admin team who values the staff, and is empathetic & sensible. Also, part of maintaining a successful workplace is working where your admin team values your contributions and input. St.Annes is not this place. There is no appreciation from admin for the chaos we control, the kids that we love, the laughter and the teaching we give and the lives that we try to normalize while providing a save place for kids to be themselves!! I feel so undervalued as an EA. There are so many needs and not enough EAs or support for one on one. I feel parents are lied to, support is taken away from those who need it most with no communication to parents about this. I’ve been feeling unappreciated for all my efforts and contributions to the team. But I don’t need a medal, I’m just looking for respect, as I’m sure others are also. I’m proud of the work I do, But feeling deflated and unappreciated, hits hard below the belt. Knowing that admin doesn’t have your back is it really terrifying situation! Be careful don’t turn around, keep eye contact at all times when walking away. This is not a safe place, nope.