The Western School Division (WSD) is seeing unprecedented need for additional funding this year due to an influx in newcomer students.
Morden's successful immigration program, a swell of newcomers arriving post-pandemic along with the organized support for people fleeing worn torn countries, like Ukraine, are three reasons why WSD Assistant Superintendent Marianne Fenn said the division is seeing the unprecedented need for additional funding this year. She said WSD has always had quite a few learners from newcomer backgrounds.
"Right now, in our school division, we have about 440 students who are considered Funded EAL (English as an Additional Language) Learners, meaning they have arrived to us within the last four years. For the first four years, the government provides us with a little bit of extra funding to help support English as an Additional Language acquisition in classrooms for our kids who are coming from newcomer. backgrounds. Of those 440 funded EAL learners we have, 214 of those students are here for the first time this year. So, about half of our population of newcomer students are new just this school year."
Fenn described the challenge this dynamic creates for the division. Thirty percent of the 214 are from Ukraine.
"They're not evenly spread. Over those four years, there's just an intensive drop of new people who have arrived this year, who need the same kind of additional supports than any others, EAL language learner would need. We're seeing so many more of them, at the same time, and less evenly distributed over our entire school population, we're finding our needs, to provide additional support, is more intense than it would normally be."
At the November 28th school board meeting, Fenn reported the division had applied for the Provincial Intensive Newcomer Support Grant. She noted the grant is available annually, but WSD has never felt it met the intensive need to qualify for the grant, until this year. In November, the Provincial Government doubled the funds available to qualified school divisions, making the grand total $1.8 million. The additional $900,000 was allocated as a result of increased immigration from countries experiencing war.
Before school started in September, knowing there was a swell of newcomer kids coming in, the division authorized additional EAL teacher specialists to do language assessments and placements for newcomer learners. Fenn explained, if they are given grant money, the division would increase staffing to add a home liaison worker to work with all students and their families, as right now they are focusing on newcomer families, some technology for things like translation and some resources such as culturally sensitive reading material.
"We're also looking at possibly having some additional clinician time for occupational therapy, physical therapy. Some of these kids are coming in, and they haven't been able to be in school for a little while because of either COVID or civil unrest in their home communities and countries. Some of those milestone assessments, they might have received as preschoolers, didn't happen and we're looking to add some additional opportunities for those screenings to happen."
Fenn said these supports help and benefit all students, as the added support will make sure everyone has the support they need.
She went on the say, although supports are needed for the larger swell of incoming learners, all learners benefit and learn from this kind of diversity in schools.
"All of our students thrive and are able to positively benefit from having diverse friendships, connections with kids who come from families and lifestyles in countries are similar to theirs, but also ones that are vastly different. They get a chance to learn on the playground and through friendship what some differences look like from themselves and kids across the country and across various countries, and it provides perspective and understanding, empathy, and kindness. We're super excited for all of our students to be able to sort of enjoy those opportunities with each other."