Province expands supports for higher-needs students

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This article was published 26/02/2024 (593 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government is expanding supports for the kids who need it most by adding seven more locations to its community schools program, which offers meals to students and other resources to families.

“When you put the supports in early, you reap the benefits,” Education Minister Nello Altomare said Monday.

The community schools program was launched following the 2013 Community Schools Act, which says the health and well-being of students cannot be separated from the health and well-being of their families and communities. The legislation says in order to achieve success in an academic program, students need to have the social, emotional and physical health and well-being to come to school ready to engage in the learning process every day.

“It’s one of our priorities to help kids who need help and to include families — make them more effective — (so they can) see themselves as students who can actually achieve and move onto greater things,” Altomare said in an interview.

The program started with 29 schools a decade ago and has since expanded to 41 this past school year. That number increases t0 48 schools this year with an additional $560,000 budgeted, and will benefit more than 10,000 students.

“Forty-one (schools) wasn’t filling the need,” the minister said. “There are other schools that need it, so let’s get it done.”

The seven schools added to the community schools program are:

• Niji Mahkwa School, Winnipeg School Division (kindergarten to Grade 6)

• Strathcona School, Winnipeg School Division (K-6)

• Frontenac School, Louis Riel School Division (K-8)

• Jack River School, Frontier School Division K-8)

• Ecole Powerview School, Sunrise School Division (K-12)

• Betty Gibson School, Brandon School Division (K-8)

• Fort la Reine School, Portage la Prairie School Division (K-7)

“These are schools that we know have required the support,” said Altomare, a retired school principal. “We see the need and we have to fill it.” Eligibility for the community schools program is based on Indigenous student population, socioeconomic indicators and school migrancy rates, according to a spokesperson for the minister.

Legislation requires reporting on the community schools program activities. A 2018-22 report found a significant number of families living in disadvantaged circumstances: limited income intertwined with physical and mental health concerns, limited social networks, cultural and language differences, unstable housing, unmet nutritional needs and transportation challenges. The report concluded that “concentrated disadvantage” can have detrimental impacts on children’s educational outcomes.

For the 2016-17 school year, one school reported students from 29 different countries who spoke 23 languages. A significant number of schools serve inner-city and northern communities where, according to a 2012 Manitoba Centre for Health Policy study, one in four mothers of children were diagnosed with a mood disorder.

“Research indicates that parents, in particular young single mothers and those who are experiencing serious or recurring emotional distress or mental illness, carry not only a heightened risk burden for themselves, but also for their children,” the report said.

A number of schools covered by the program also contend with high rates of student migrancy: the number of students who enter and exit a school over a school year, not including graduates and early school leavers. For the 2016-17 school year, nine schools reported a migrancy rate of 40 per cent or greater, with two schools reporting rates above 70 per cent.

The Community Schools Act uses schools as hubs within communities to strategically gather and deploy school services and resources in ways that attain better outcomes for students, families and surrounding neighbourhoods.

Each school has a designated community liaison who builds relationships with students and their families to facilitate participation and student success.

The program provides extra education, public-health and social services to promote student, family and community well-being, including:

• Breakfast and lunch programs

• Early childhood literacy programming

• Parenting information and programs

• Before-school, evening, weekend and summer programs

• Mentoring and youth-development programs

• Other services, such as first aid/CPR training, cultural-awareness activities and crime prevention.