Parents, union raise concerns over EMSB staff cuts for students with special needs

A plan to cut dozens of positions within the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) is sparking concern among parents and staff.

A proposal could see more than 100 positions supporting special needs students eliminated.

“We all know the current challenges within the system and the lack of funding to support these special needs students and to remove all of those roles, particularly in those areas, it’s unfathomable in terms of how we reach those conclusions in terms of those being the right decisions to make,” said Vassilios Mandelos, chair of the advisory committee on Special Education Services (ACSES) and parent of a child at EMSB.

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The union representing workers at the EMSB says 117 positions are slated to be abolished, including attendants and special needs technicians. However, some of those positions are already vacant.

Kim Watson, a vice-president at the Association professionnelle du personnel administratif, which represents white-collar support workers at the EMSB, says the proposal comes at a time when many employees are already stretched thin.

“They are skipping their breaks, skipping their lunches, which is not OK. That’s not good for their mental health,” said Watson. “And they’re starting to suffer. They’re getting sick, injured, they’re feeling desperate, they’re calling us up in tears, very often. And that was before the added cuts announced this year, so I’m very concerned.”

The EMSB says the proposal is part of broader efforts to reduce spending and balance its budget.

School board spokesperson Mike Cohen says the board’s hands are tied.

He blames the government for preventing the board from using roughly 60 million dollars in surplus funds to help offset its deficit, and says it has made it harder for the board to attract international students.

“It’s like me being told by my bank, you have savings but you’re not allowed to use it,” said Cohen. “We’re not letting you take your savings out — this is our money — we earned it fair and square.”