District disparity: Innu schools get 'nothing close' to provincial funding, says board

The Innu School Board is appealing to Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada for more funding so students won't have to stay home from Sheshatshiu Innu School when teachers call in sick.

• Substitute teacher shortage cancels classes in Sheshatshiu

The board filed a proposal for money to offer teachers subsidized housing in order to offset high rent prices something the board saidhas been detrimental to recruitment efforts.

Sheshatshiu Innu School started last September with eight vacancies andrelied on its substitute pool to cover full-time positions. According to Elena Andrew, theboard's director of education in Sheshatshiu, this reliance created a substitute shortage.

When a teacher can't make it inand a substitute can't be arranged, individual classes are cancelled. SheshatshiuInnu School cancelled at least 11 classes in May.

'Not an acceptable practice'

"I mean, it's not an acceptable practice. But when you have nobody in the class to teach, you have no choice but to cancel the class," Andrew told CBC Radio's Labrador Morning.

"We've made offers to teachers and they just simply can't afford the housing in the Goose Bay area."

Staffing levels look better for next September, but there are still openings. According to Andrew, that means a possibility of individual class cancellations next year.

In a statement, the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs said "we are working with the province and theInnuNation to come up with a long-term plan to move forward with this project as soon as possible."

Money tight

The board said there's no way to reallocate the school's funds to come up with the subsidy money itself.

"I mean, it's in reports across Canada that show that on-reserve schools are the [most] underfunded schools in Canada," said Andrew.

• First Nations students get 30 per cent less funding than other children, economist says

"We're nothing close to what a provincial school would get."

Funding is provided to SheshatshiuInnuSchoolbased on enrolment.

Funding model

The Innu School Boardwhich runs two schoolsin Natuashish and Sheshatshiu pays its employees through funding the schools receive to operate, according to Andrew.

It's looking for separate funding so that money for the schools can stay within them.

"The board is very active in trying to get more money for the school board so we can operate on, kind of, the same standards that a provincial school would operate at," said Andrew.

The English School District, which runs schools in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, offered teachers subsidized housinglast school year.

However, it will not be offering help with accommodations for the upcoming school year as, it said,the rental market is improving.