Funding mess cancels school for "forgotten kids"

UXBRIDGE - Non-teaching staff at the St. John’s School for Boys in Uxbridge are calling on Ontario Education Minister Janet Ecker to clear up a funding mess that has left over 70 young offenders without schooling for three weeks.

After giving notice this past winter, the Durham Separate School Board stopped teaching young inmates at the secure custody facility, operated by the Christian Brothers. The Durham Public School Board has called on the Ministry of Education to arrange funding so it can hire teachers, but without success.

"Everybody seems to have forgotten these 70 kids," said Charlie Bryans, president of Local 361 of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union. "If we’re going to rehabilitate them, they’d better get an education. They need some success.

"The Minister of Education has to step in," he said. "Under the law, these kids are entitled to go to school, and get credit for it. Correctional officers like me are not certified to teach."

Bryans said staff and managers at St. John’s want to see teachers back in the school immediately.

"This is an educational emergency in the Minister’s own riding," he said. "We’re calling on Ms. Ecker to deal with this problem directly."

Bryans said boredom and frustration among students is creating an unhealthy work environment for his members - and that could lead to trouble.

"Eventually, staff are going to burn out. And when you have burnout in a correctional facility, that’s when you end up with problems."

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