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Education June 4, 2007
Improvements Made to Student Assistant Program
Students with special needs and their parents will no longer begin the
school year uncertain if they will receive the student assistant support
they require. The Honourable Joan Burke, Minister of Education,
announced today that, from this point forward, student assistant hours
will be determined prior to the end of the school year.
The school districts have notified all schools of their student
assistance allocations. Individual school principals are now in the
process of informing parents. If parents have not received notification
relating to student assistant support, they should contact their school
principal immediately.
�In past years, parents of children with special needs, student
assistants and school administrators experienced uncertainty in
September while they waited for the assignment of student assistant
hours,� said Minister Burke. �When this issue came to my attention, I
made a commitment to have it addressed. Following extensive
consultations with those on the front lines, we have made a number of
changes that will improve the system.�
In addition to ensuring student assistant hours are allocated prior to
school closing for the summer, the number of hours for student
assistants has been increased by four per cent. This is despite a
decline of approximately 5,000 students across the province over a
two-year period.
Minister Burke also announced today that school boards, rather than the
Department of Education, will now have the responsibility to assign
hours. �The boards have always conducted front-line assessments and
have a better grasp of their students� needs. Taking departmental
involvement out of the process removes the extra steps that were
time-consuming and ineffective.�
Minister Burke took the opportunity today to ensure that parents are
aware that school boards have a formal appeal process in place and that
a decision reached through this formal appeal is both binding and
final.
�These initiatives represent significant improvements in the process for
allocating student assistant hours. Parents and student assistants know
the hours allocated well before school closes. Any required movement by
staff will be completed before August. And there is a formal appeal
process at the school boards for people who wish to take an issue they
may have with their student assistant allocation to an independent
source. With these new steps in place, I am confident we will see a
much smoother transition at the beginning of each school year for
everyone concerned,� said Minister Burke.
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Media contact:
2007 06 04 8:30 a.m.
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