CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. - In an effort to clear up the backlog, the provincial government announced Monday that new psychologists and other resources are being added to the education system to help Island students.
Education Minister Jordan Brown said government has begun a $2-million, three-year plan to reduce the wait times for psychological-educational assessments from the current 3.5 years to less than one year, while increasing supports for students once they are assessed.
There are currently 435 students on the waiting list, although that number continues to evolve daily.
“We would hope to have that backlog cleared up by the year 2020,’’ Brown told the media following a brief press conference in Charlottetown.
“We’ve committed to working with private sector resources to bring that list down as rapidly as we can and to add to our psychology complement in the hopes that will help speed that up."
Related: Grimmer says P.E.I. students 'not lingering' on wait lists for psychological assessments
These assessments can only be done by licensed psychologists and can take up to 40 hours to complete. They may result in a diagnosis of a learning or intellectual disability, hyperactivity or mental health disorder.
Two psychologist positions will be added, increasing the complement from 8.4 to 10.4. Vacant positions will be filled through advertising, social media and visits to universities. Recruitment incentives will cover licensing, relocation and other costs.
“There has been a shortage of school psychologists in the school system for a number of years. We’re just really excited to tackle the wait list by adding staff and by other initiatives as well . . . it’s just an excellent way to kind of address the issue in a comprehensive way in terms of hiring new people and getting more rapid access to services.’’
-Ellen MacPhail
Four intervention teachers will be hired to help classroom teachers implement recommendations from the increasing number of assessments and two assistive technology facilitators will be hired to determine technology options for students and help with the implementation of recommendations in all schools.
Private practice psychologists have been contracted to do 68 assessments by October.
Brown said the $2 million is new money and doesn’t include the $200,000 the province spent in the fall to contract out for private psychologists.
Related: P.E.I. students waiting too long for psychological-educational assessment
The French Language School Board hired one psychologist in the past year, giving the board a ratio of one to 950 students.
Ellen MacPhail, a school psychologist, said everyone’s been frustrated with the backlog.
“There has been a shortage of school psychologists in the school system for a number of years,’’ MacPhail said. “We’re just really excited to tackle the wait list by adding staff and by other initiatives as well . . . it’s just an excellent way to kind of address the issue in a comprehensive way in terms of hiring new people and getting more rapid access to services.’’
Loretta Hawley-McAleer, another school psychologist, said government’s move will have an immediate impact.
“Having a larger group of colleagues to work with, more ready access to students receiving these services is going to change our day-to-day (jobs) in being able to offer the supports that brought us to the business in the first place,’’ Hawley-McAleer said. “Professionally, that’s much more satisfying.’’
Related: Association demanding more assessment for learning problems on P.E.I.
MacPhail said it will reduce travel time for school psychologists and how many schools each is assigned to, as well as how many students each can see.
“I absolutely will predict we will see some improvement in the day-to-day caseloads of school psychologists.’’
