Minister of Education Jeanie McLean has provided a one-year progress report to the Yukon Child and Youth Advocate Office:
“Our government is committed to protecting the safety, wellbeing and protection of students when they are in our care.
“As part of this commitment, we honour and appreciate the important role of the Child and Youth Advocate and their thorough review and report on sexualized abuse in Yukon schools.
“We firmly believe that students deserve safe, caring learning environments where they can achieve their full potential. This requires transparency, accountability, collaboration and reconciliation in all of our territory’s educational settings. We accepted the Child and Youth Advocate’s recommendations made in October 2022 in principle and provided a response directly to the Child and Youth Advocate on November 23, 2022.
“Many of the recommendations in the Child and Youth Advocate’s review on sexualized abuse in Yukon schools closely align with the work of Reimagining Inclusive and Special Education (RISE) and the Government of Yukon’s Safer Schools Action Plan.
“In November 2022, we committed to providing the CYAO with a one-year progress report. Our progress reflects that the work of the Safer Schools Action Plan has been fully implemented and integrated into the department and across the Yukon government. We will continue our efforts to make schools safer and more inclusive environments for all students.
“We are learning from our mistakes. We are implementing real changes to minimize the likelihood that incidents like these take place in the future. We have taken significant action to increase student safety by developing and implementing the Safer Schools Action Plan. We will continue to address issues identified in this and other reports so that we can improve the safety and wellbeing of students at school, as well as the government’s ability to respond effectively to critical or serious incidents that take place in an educational setting.
“Thank you to all the organizations and individuals who have reviewed, reported or made recommendations on the Hidden Valley Elementary School incident. Your support and engagement in this critical matter are highly appreciated as we work together to create a safer learning environment for our children.
“Together, I am confident we can continue to make our schools safer and improve the wellbeing of all Yukon students.”
Actions that are underway:
- Creating dedicated wellness counsellors or similar positions in all schools specifically dedicated to addressing the need for comprehensive mental health and wellness.
- Increasing the allocation of Educational Assistants and Learning Assistance Teachers starting in the fall of 2023.
- Providing a one-year training plan program for Educational Assistants and Teachers on Call by 2024 in collaboration and consultation with the Yukon Association of Education Professionals, Learning Disabilities Association of Yukon and Autism Yukon.
- Providing, completing and delivering the final report for psychoeducational assessments necessary to obtain an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) within six months of referrals from teachers, administrators or physicians.
- Providing all students in need of special education with the option of an IEP.
Completed actions to date:
- Finalized and implemented a Yukon School Post-Incident Communication Guidance document all school-based and administrative staff can use to communicate internally and with families after an incident at a school occurs.
- Enhanced corporate guidance and leadership capacity across the Government of Yukon that will improve coordination and response management of critical incidents.
- Finalized a new government-wide communications policy that outlines the roles and responsibilities of the public service for leading internal and external communications related to critical incidents and emergencies.
- Established the Hidden Valley School Parent Committee. There are four active members and the committee met with the Minister of Education four times in the past year and has provided feedback on the development of the student protection policy and procedures.
- Developed and implemented a stand-alone version one Student Protection Policy on Preventing and Responding to Harm by Adults.
- Updated and enhanced school procedures by developing and implementing procedures for school staff for Preventing and Responding to Harm by Adults.
- Developed and implemented a Report Form school-based staff can use to document and report adult behaviours or incidents to students to protect students from a range of inappropriate behaviours, including potential and actual abuse or harm in school activities.
- Trained all school-based and administrative staff, including principals, in post-incident guidance and procedures for preventing, responding to and reporting serious incidents involving harm to students.
- Implemented child sexual abuse prevention training provided by the Canadian Centre for Child Protection (C3P) that all school-based and administrative staff have to complete on an annual basis.
- Enhanced onboarding practices all new school-based and administrative staff are required to complete, to outline how government works and their roles and responsibilities to protect students from potential and actual harm by adults; and
- Updated the General Administration Manual GAM on best practices for interdepartmental coordination and communication publicly.
Renée Francoeur
Cabinet Communications
867-334-9194
renee.francoeur@yukon.ca