Former Sask. teacher says lack of supports puts safety of students with disabilities at risk
Teachers at specialized John Dolan School help with personal care 'at times': school division
A former Saskatoon teacher says dwindling supports for students with complex needs put student safety at risk and created "traumatic" working conditions that forced her to quit teaching altogether.
Juliane Bell began teaching in the Saskatoon Public Schools division in 2017, and in 2021 the division praised her as an "unsung hero" for her "kind, compassionate" support for students.
But Bell said later that year, after she had spent a few months teaching at John Dolan School for students with multiple disabilites, she felt she couldn't keep her classes safe there.
Bell said teachers at John Dolan were expected to administer regular medication, change students' diapers and help them use the toilet, and also feed students or lift them in and out of their wheelchairs if needed — none of which are included in teachers' responsibilities under the Education Act.
"If you're on a field trip and a student requires toileting and there's no one else around or something, of course you want to jump in," she recalled telling an administrator at the time.
"But I'm concerned … if that's just becoming my routine and that's what I'm being pressured into doing because we don't have the supports available."
Bell said helping certain students meant others were often left without adequate supervision, including one student who needed close monitoring for frequent seizures.
"I was an anxious wreck and the stress made me physically sick. It was making me nauseous — vomiting, headaches. I was clenching my teeth so hard that I got Botox to relax my TMJ [jaw] muscles," she told CBC in an interview from her home in Comox, B.C.
Bell also said a colleague told her she was injured trying to lift a student who uses a wheelchair, and many staff members didn't have the time or training to lift students properly or with the necessary equipment.
When asked about Bell's concerns, Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation (STF) president Samantha Becotte said teachers are increasingly being asked to perform duties outside of their job descriptions as budget cuts cause school divisions to remove specialized supports.
"While teachers aren't always necessarily trained for these [tasks], when there is no other option, teachers will try and provide some sort of support to students," she said. "But kids need better support in schools across the province."
In a statement to CBC, the school division declined to comment on individual employees.
John Dolan is "a very specialized school environment," a spokesperson said, and education assistants are "typically" responsible for carrying out personal care needs under students' individualized plans.
"At specific times, teachers may support the student's team with carrying out specific tasks related to the student's personal care plan," the emailed statement said.
Bell said the STF was supportive of her and she refused the tasks as often as she could, hoping that making the gaps clear would lead to more supports for students.
"As teachers, we fill these gaps because we care about the students," Bell said. "But performing duties that are outside of your scope puts students, your career and your profession at risk."
After only a few months at John Dolan, Bell took a leave of absence in mid-October 2021, and left teaching altogether in June 2022.
"I felt like I experienced so much burnout and, honestly, trauma over my years of education that I needed some time away," Bell said. "I feel like there's no future for teachers in Saskatchewan."
Job action hinges on class complexity: STF
Bell said she is speaking out now, nearly two years after she left, because she wants people to understand the conditions in schools that the STF says are key to reaching a new collective agreement.
Rotating strikes, plus job actions such as withdrawing lunch supervision and extracurricular duties, have been affecting nearly every corner of the province every day this week.
Teachers will also refuse all extracurricular duties starting Tuesday next week, Becotte announced on Thursday afternoon.
For its part, the government has blamed the STF for the months-long impasse, and called this weeks' strikes "unfortunate" in a statement to CBC News.
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Education said it would make a $53.1 million in funding for class complexity annual in its budget next month, a deal supported by the Saskatchewan School Boards Association.
It also offered teachers a new salary increase at the bargaining table, which it said the union refused.
However, the STF says funding needs to be in their next contract to guarantee sustainable support, and says it won't negotiate until class size and complexity are on the bargaining table.
Bell, who now develops courses for a post-secondary institution and has taught a course on disability studies at a college on Vancouver Island, said she wishes she could be on the picket lines with her former colleagues.
"I really believe that although these job actions are harmful and disruptive in the short term," she said, "we are doing this to provide safer and more effective care for children in the long term."
With files from Bryanna Frankel