Here is a list of the BC human rights decisions related to students and education (K-12) that were posted publicly in the year of 2025. Only 2 decisions show parents/caregivers who had legal counsel, the rest were self-representing parents. These decisions are important as we learn how the tribunal will make decisions about similar issues in the future. They also can help us to elevate our advocacy and understand our rights. These complaints become part of the wider data collection on these issues that the BC HRT collects.
This does not reflect the total cases that were navigating the HRT, just ones that had public decisions. Cases that settle at mediation meetings, often do not have decisions attached to them as mediation meetings are part of the early stages of the complaint process.
January 24, 2025
The Student (by the parent) v. The School District, 2025 BCHRT 17
[1] In April 2022, the Parent made a complaint against the School District on the Student’s behalf. The complaint alleges that the School District discriminated against the Student regarding its services based on the Student’s mental disability. Specifically, the complaint alleges that the School District failed to accommodate the Student by not providing him with an Education Assistant in one of his classes.
February 4, 2025
Child L (by Mother L) v. BC Ministry of Education, 2025 BCHRT 27
[1] This is a decision about whether eligibility criteria for a government grant, set out in a regulation, could be a service customarily available to the public.
February 5th, 2025
The Parent obo the Student v. Meadowridge School Society and another, 2025 BCHRT 29
[1] The Parent is the mother of the Student. The Student attended middle school at Meadowridge School Society [Meadowridge]. The complaint alleges that Rhys Clarke, a teacher at Meadowridge, sexually assaulted the Student during an incident in Mr. Clarke’s class, and Meadowridge failed to address the matter appropriately. The complaint says the Student was in a vulnerable position due, in part, to his Chinese ethnicity. The Tribunal accepted the complaint on the grounds of the Student’s race, ancestry, place of origin, and sex.
March 7th, 2025
[2] P alleges that during the 2019/2020 school year, the respondents did not provide her an appropriate education by refusing her at-home instruction, one-to-one Educational Assistant [EA] support, and not following her Individual Education Plan [IEP]. P also alleges that the Ministry changed the requirements for IEPs which rendered them ineffective. Finally, P alleges that the School District caused her harm by failing to properly address abuse by another student and took her on an inappropriately long walk despite her scoliosis, which caused her pain and swelling.
April 4th, 2025
Child (by Parents) v. Surrey School District No. 36, 2025 BCHRT 85
Generally, the complaint alleges that the Respondents failed to provide the Child with meaningful and safe access to education. Particularly, the complaint sets out five allegations that the Respondents:
a. failed to incorporate medically recommended accommodations into the Child’s Individual Education Plan [IEP] in 2019 [IEP Allegation];
b. failed to consult the Parents in 2018 in formulating the Child’s IEP [Consultation Allegation];
c. discontinued specialist support for the Child in 2017 [Specialist Support Allegation];
d. failed to provide the Child with reasonable accommodation to assist them with managing their disabilities [Accommodation Allegation]; and
e. disciplined the Child in a way that put them at medical risk as a result of their disabilities [Discipline Allegation].
May 14th, 2025
Parent obo Student v. BC Ministry of Education and another, 2025 BCHRT 112
[1] The Student is a young Indigenous child who has diagnoses of various mental disabilities. The Parents allege that the School District and the Ministry of Education [Ministry] discriminated against the Student based on her race and mental disabilities when they would not allow her to attend school full-time or participate in school activities with her peers.
No other decisions were posted after the May decision.
We will see what year 2026 brings us….
Here is a page I have created that collects links and decisions for advocacy.
