Schools need mental health resources, NDP says

The Opposition NDP is calling on the UCP government to hire mental-health support workers for every school in the province.

Education critic MLA Sarah Hoffman made the call Wednesday, a week before most students in Alberta return to the classroom.

Speaking outside a northwest Calgary school, she said her party estimates the initiative to help students cope with COVID-19 affecting school schedules would see 2,200 support workers hired at a cost of approximately $180 million.

She said that money could come from the province's COVID-19 contingency fund that was budgeted at $1.4-billion in the latest fiscal plan.

“This will mark the third school year in a row where students have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Hoffman. “The last two school years have already had a negative impact on students' mental health and caring. I'm hearing from parents and from teachers everyday who are concerned about the impact this year can have on their children.”

Students were first sent home to learn virtually in March 2020 when the global pandemic arrived in Alberta. That school year ended that way before most kids returned to the classroom in September 2020. The following school year saw thousands of students bounce from in-person to virtual learning as COVID -19 cases spread throughout classrooms and the greater community.

Citing a letter from the Alberta Medical Association Section of Pediatrics that was sent to Premier Jason Kenney, Hoffman said bouncing from in-person to athome learning has strained students' mental health throughout the pandemic.

“They will need even more support to get through this year. So we need to do everything we can to support students through this difficult time and to set them up for their future success,” said Hoffman.

Jesse Roos, executive director of Calgary counselling service Cultivate, said she supports the NDP'S call, saying that while teachers and parents support kids, they are not mental-health experts.

“While children are resilient, we cannot simply applaud them for their resilience and move on. In order to protect children's resilience, we must give them the proper supports to process their experiences,” said Roos.

The province updated a returnto-school plan earlier this month outlining COVID-19 protocols for the upcoming year. That plan showed that many restrictions, such as masking, would not be required provincially but could be mandated by local school boards.

The plan also outlined that students would have online and telephone mental-health support resources available to them.

Eliza Snider, acting press secretary for Education Minister Adriana Lagrange, said the NDP plan requiring workers in every school was unrealistic. She said the government has provided $40 million to school authorities to provide supports and services to students for the school year.

“This funding allows for psychological and social-emotional support, supports for loss, access to mental-health workers and behavioural consultants, and other wellness supports as needed,” Snider said in an email.