Who's Who in Your Nunavut School Team: Roles Parents Need to Know

When your child has a disability or learning difference, you will be dealing with a cast of school staff whose titles sound similar but have very different responsibilities and authority levels. Knowing who does what — and who can actually make things happen — is essential before you sit down at any ISSP meeting or send a single email to the school.

The Nunavut Education Act uses specific terminology that doesn't line up with what you'd find in Ontario, BC, or any US-based advocacy guide. Here's a plain-language breakdown of the key roles.

The Student Support Teacher (SST): Your Most Important Ally

The Student Support Teacher is the specialist educator who is supposed to be the hub of everything related to your child's individualized plan. Their core responsibilities under the Nunavut model include:

• Overseeing the development and monitoring of the ISSP
• Coordinating with classroom teachers to ensure accommodations are being implemented
• Liaising with external specialists (when they're available)
• Supporting parents through the planning process

In an ideal world, the SST is a knowledgeable advocate inside the school — the person who ensures your child's plan doesn't get forgotten when the classroom teacher is overloaded. In practice, across Nunavut's 25 remote communities, SSTs are frequently pulled away from their specialized role to cover general classroom absences or perform administrative tasks. This is a documented systemic problem, not an exception.

When you're preparing for an ISSP meeting, the SST is the person you should communicate with directly and in writing. Ask them what progress has been made toward current goals, what data exists to support any proposed changes, and what they intend to recommend at the meeting.

The Student Support Assistant (SSA): Daily Hands-On Support

You may also hear the term Educational Assistant (EA), which is sometimes used interchangeably with Student Support Assistant (SSA) in Nunavut context. The SSA is the person who provides direct, day-to-day support inside the classroom — running structured activities, providing 1:1 assistance during instruction, and implementing the behavioral and academic strategies outlined in the ISSP.

The SSA is not the decision-maker for your child's plan. They implement what's in the ISSP, directed by the classroom teacher and SST. But they are often the person with the most detailed, real-time knowledge of how your child is actually functioning each day.

The numbers are stark: in 2023–2024, Nunavut had only 131 SSAs across the entire territory for 10,852 students. Many communities simply do not have an SSA on staff. If your child's ISSP specifies SSA support and none is available, that is a failure of implementation that you have the right to escalate — not a reason to quietly accept that the plan won't be followed.

If an SSA is part of your child's support, the ISSP must specify exactly how many minutes per day, and in which subjects or contexts, the SSA will work with your child. "SSA support as needed" is not enforceable. "SSA provides 120 minutes daily of 1:1 support during language arts and math blocks" is.

The Ilinniarvimmi Inuusiliriji (School Community Counsellor)

This role is unique to Nunavut and is one of the most culturally significant positions in the school. The Ilinniarvimmi Inuusiliriji — often translated as School Community Counsellor (SCC) — is an Inuit staff member who serves as a bridge between the school's formal structures and the community's cultural values and practices.

The Ilinniarvimmi Inuusiliriji can:

• Help translate IQ principles into the school context
• Support families who feel uncomfortable navigating Southern-style bureaucratic meetings
• Facilitate communication when there are language barriers between Inuktitut-speaking families and English-speaking educators
• Advocate within the school for culturally appropriate approaches to behavioral support

If your child's school has an Ilinniarvimmi Inuusiliriji and you are Inuit or feel more comfortable operating within Inuit cultural frameworks, you should absolutely invite this person to be part of your ISSP meetings. Their presence signals to the school that the plan must be culturally grounded, not just administratively complete.

In small hamlet schools, the Ilinniarvimmi Inuusiliriji may also serve as the community's primary point of trust between families and the school. If you are uncertain about escalating a concern directly to the principal, reaching out to the SCC first can be a culturally appropriate first step.

The Principal: Administrative Authority, Not the Final Word

The principal holds day-to-day operational authority over the school, including decisions about staffing, resources, and the implementation of ISSPs. In the ISSP process, the principal chairs the Student Support Team meeting.

However, the principal is not the end of the road. If you cannot resolve a dispute with the principal, the escalation path goes to the District Education Authority (DEA) — the locally elected community body mandated to oversee local education — and then to the Regional School Operations (RSO) directorate and ultimately the Minister of Education.

A common mistake is treating the principal's decision as final. It is not. The Nunavut Education Act provides multiple formal escalation pathways, including the right to a Ministerial Review Board whose decisions are binding on the Department of Education.

Regional School Operations (RSO): The Real Resource Authority

Regional School Operations — divided into Qikiqtani School Operations (QSO), Kivalliq School Operations (KSO), and Kitikmeot School Operations (KSO) — is where actual funding decisions are made. RSO directors supervise principals, control the allocation of specialist resources (including itinerant speech-language pathologists, psychologists, and SSAs), and have the authority to intervene when a local school is failing to implement a valid ISSP.

Most parents don't know RSO exists until things go seriously wrong. You should know their contact information before you need it. For the Qikiqtaaluk/Baffin region, Qikiqtani School Operations can be reached through the Department of Education at 867-899-7350. For the Kitikmeot region, Kitikmeot School Operations is at 867-982-7420.

How the Team Should Work Together

The Nunavut Education Act is built on the IQ principle of Aajiiqatigiinniq — decision-making through group consensus. ISSP decisions are not meant to be handed down by the principal. They are supposed to be arrived at collaboratively, with parents as genuine participants, not observers.

This means you are legally entitled to ask for specific information before the meeting, propose your own goals based on your child's needs, object to elements of the plan you disagree with, and decline to sign if the plan is inadequate. The team is required to work toward consensus.

When schools skip this process — presenting a pre-written ISSP and pressuring parents to sign immediately — that is a procedural violation, not an acceptable norm.

The Nunavut Special Ed Advocacy Playbook includes meeting preparation checklists and communication templates designed specifically for working with Nunavut school teams. Understanding who holds what authority — before you walk in the door — is the single biggest advantage you can give yourself.

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