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HR Decisions in Year 2025

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

P (by KD) v. Board of Education of School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria) and another, 2025 BCHRT 62

[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.

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Keeping Your Child’s Information Private

There is a way to keep your child’s information private as you go through the BC Human Rights Tribunal process (BC HRT). If you want to request that something specific happen you can email your case manager and they may tell you that you need to submit an application or they may be able to just respond to your request in the email. If you do send a request you must cc: the school districts in your email. Not every application that you submit will have a public decision, but it’s possible that a decision regarding your process/request could be posted on their website. These applications are things like amending your complaint, joining complaints if you file a family status complaint connected to yourself, fast-tracking, etc.

You can apply for your case to be anonymized. The the BC HRT will anonymize a minors human rights complaint automatically anyways as it is part of their rules, but it is always good to communicate your wishes.

Page 3 of their RULES book

Complaints about minors

(7) In an application to limit public disclosure of information that would identify a minor, the
tribunal will presume that the minor’s privacy interests outweigh the public interest in access
to the tribunal’s proceedings.

Or if you specifically don’t want the district to be anonymized, it’s good to put this in the application and explain why it is in the public interest for them to be identified. (See below for case example) HINT: The school districts REALLY don’t like to be named. You can use it to you advantage to put pressure on a settlement.

The BC HRT doesn’t really advertise this, but if you don’t want to settle and you want a hearing, you can also apply for a “CLOSED” hearing so that no one from the public attends.

IMPORTANT NOTE: I am going to write a blog on this specific topic, but I just want to drop some info. If the school districts lawyers are trying to scare you by saying they are going to force your child to testify and be a witness at the hearing – NICE TRY. Just because they may want them on the witness list, doesn’t mean they are going to get it. The BC HRT makes all of their decisions in the best interest of the child. But the respondents LOVE to dangle this threat as a way to send your protective parent instincts into overdrive. But, more on this later.

How you do either of these options (anonymization and closed hearing) is by filing out an application.

Go to the FORMS page on the BC HRT website.

You will be filling out a 7.1 GENERAL APPLICATION.

You will be asking to anonymize your child’s name. You don’t need to anonymize the districts name, but they will most likely fight for their name to be anonymized too. Their argument is often that it may expose the identity of the child. You can argue back. There are cases where the identity of the child is anonymized and the district is not. Or if that is not something you wish for, you can agree to anonymize the district as well.

Read everything on the form. There is a process that you have to go through before you submit it. You need to contact the school district lawyers and ask them if they agree. They will have to provide you with “their position” on your application. When you email them, I suggest you give them a deadline. Ask them to respond to you within 5 business days.

This is the same form you can ask for a closed hearing. Just tick off OTHER and write “closed hearing” on the PURPOSE OF APPLICATION page. They give you space to answer their questions, but you can always just write “see attached” and then type up your answers. You can submit up to 10 pages.

REMEMBER: They are always going to analyze you through a cost-risk lens. If you become too expensive, they are going to be more encouraged to settle with you. It costs them big money to respond to applications. So if your mediation meeting fails, become expensive.

Here is a list of some decisions around anonymization.

The Student (by the parent) v. The School District, 2025 BCHRT 17

[8]               Rule 5(7) presumes that a minor’s privacy interests outweigh the public interest in accessing the Tribunal’s proceedings. As such, it is appropriate to limit publication of information that could identify the Student in connection with this complaint.

Mother A obo Child B v. School District C, 2015 BCHRT 64

[21]           Rule 5(7) establishes a presumption respecting minors for good reason. Children are vulnerable, in some cases fragile, and those with disabilities even more so. It is difficult enough growing up in the face of existing peer pressure without having the additional burden of adult-driven issues being superimposed in a public way in their formative years. Moreover, these issues may not be readily understood by other children and used as a tool of ridicule and hurt. While some public exposure is inevitable, broad public exposure through unrestricted publication is neither necessary nor in the child’s best interests. At this stage of the proceedings, I find that the privacy interests of Child B outweigh the interests of the public and Child B’s identity and that of Mother A shall be anonymized.

[27]           I note that Mother A alleges that the complaint and future outcome are specific to the policies and practices of this particular district. Further, she says that understanding which district is involved may be important for the public, or future complainants in School District C or other districts. I find that school districts are large public institutions that touch a broad spectrum of the public. The reasons advanced by Mother A for identifying School District C reflect a legitimacy and the sentiment found in para. 11 of the School District 61 case cited above. In the circumstances as they currently stand, I find that there is nothing that outweighs the public’s interest in knowing the identity of School District C and the open court principle.

[28]           Therefore, I am prepared to grant School District C the requested anonymization for the purposes of only this decision. Unless a further order of the Tribunal is obtained, School District C shall be identified in all subsequent proceedings. If the Respondent School District C finds unique circumstances that weigh in favour of its anonymization, it may reapply for such an order.

Child K (by Ehmke) and another v. Queen of All Saints School and another, 2024 BCHRT 150

In this case the mother and child wanted to be named. The school did not want to be named. Child was anonymized until she is an adult and then can apply to have her name added. School lost their application and the decision was to name them.

(29) I appreciate that naming the School could make it easier for motivated and diligent people to identify the people who were involved in the events of this complaint. In that respect, my order will not perfectly protect the people involved. However, I find that – unlike the individual educators and staff involved – there is a specific public interest in the identity of the School as a publicly funded institution serving the public: A obo B v. School District 61, 2014 BCHRT 105 at para. 11. I am not persuaded that this public interest is outweighed by the potential that some of the educators may then be identified. There have already been a number of complaints and proceedings involving the educators and staff, and Mrs. Ehmke points out that many people within the community already know about the complaint.

(30) I deny the application to limit publication of the name of the School.

To search up more decisions, here are instructions on how to use CanLii.

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A Lighthouse to Those at Sea

My wish is to be a lighthouse keeper.
To be steady, strong, and free.
No matter what the weather is outside
I will always remain and be.

There are many adventurers out there
Sailing the uncharted seas
Many of whom I will never meet
But each of us holds a key

We are all pushing the boundaries
Unwilling to accept oppression
We cannot just bow our heads
And be satisfied with the concession

For the people that we fight for
Deserve a fair chance at life
They experience so much struggle
Exposed to too much strife

I keep the lighthouse burning
Steady, strong, and free
And on calm clear nights, I look out
And what oh what do I see

I see so many other lighthouses
And their keepers lighting the way
We turn the darkness into light
By refusing to go away

No matter the weather outside
Steady, strong as can be
Aligned with our integrity
We will always, always be free

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Defamation. You said what?

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend the defamation lunch and learn put on the PLEO society today. https://www.pacificlegaloutreach.com/initiatives

I recommend it to anyone who is interested. I took notes, and these are them below. Some of the terms I jotted down for future reference, and let me acknowledge that I think this workshop could have gone on for a week, there is just so much to discuss and talk about, so these notes are no way an exhaustive list on the topic.

Hopefully you can understand my notes or some of these terms can help you in your own research or lead you to inquire with legal minds about the topic. As someone who blogs, I find this topic fascinating. I can see how this area of law and the discussions around free speech are just going to intensify. Free speech to me is a VERY worthy conversation.

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Defamation is an area of law – protecting someone’s reputation who has had bad things said about them. Hatred, ridicule or contempt.

Said something about you, that it’s published, defamatory – something with a real sting to it.

Liable or slander

Oral or written – can take either form

Even if it’s deleted, still repercussions. It wont matter that it’s been deleted.

Defamation law around hundreds of years old

Someone is presumed to have a good reputation. The damage in defamation go to repair the harm in your reputation. You would need to prove your loses, what you lost due to the defamation statements.

Is a statement defamatory. The judge would decide – What does the statement you made actually mean?

The judge would need to decide if it went beyond insult or criticism.

You can have clear defamatory statements or it can be an innuendo.

Social media has been wonderful for defamation lawyers. Social media posts are not personal conversations, they are to the world. Lawsuits are on the rise.

Sometimes defamation lawsuits draw more attention to the statement and can make things worse.

It is not just a person it can also apply to an organization.

The organization can defame or be defamed. The person who said those things, can also be sued along with the organization.

Defenses?

Truth is a defense – the responsibility would be on the defendant (person who is being sued for defamation) is on them to prove that it is true.

Defense of Fair comment – free speech rights.  – matter of public interest

It can’t be said in a malicious purpose. Eg. You got fired, and so you are making a statement

Two types of privelage. Absolute privelage and qualified privelage (moral obligations, etc) Duty to warn

Duty to warn – is protected.

Qualified privelage is very narrow. Saying you were abused in a tweet, wont cover this.

Right to speak vs. Right to keep a reputation

The law does not protect a sexual assault survivor to speak their truth. The survivor can be sued.

The protection of Public Participation Act 2019. PPA – what kind of speech do we want to protect. The legislation is still new. Not enough case law.

Be ready to back up your statements. If you can support it, than you can make it.  Present it as a fair comment.  You can still be sued, even if you have a defense. They can sue you, just to sue you.

Who is your audience, who are you doing this for? Why are you saying this?

Defamatory is very accusatory, pointing fingers as someone specific

An opinion has be to be one that is reasonably held.

Comments meant to be kept in a friends social media group can be shared

Republication – recent case law

You can be liable for republicizing someone else’s comment. One person posted on Facebook and other people commented. The originally poster was found responsible for other people’s comments. Due to – It was the probable consequences of making such a post in the first place.

You can’t control where your posts go.

Term – Fair dealing

Don’t be fearful about commenting, but do be respectful. If you get it wrong, apologize. A comprehensive apology online.  It stops the damages clock.

If you do defame someone, use your words to deescalate and apologize.

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Self-Advocacy and Victim Blaming in Education

Self-Advocacy for Students in School

I have put this blog under my IEP category because this is a topic that parents deal with a lot during their IEP meetings. Teachers expect students to self-advocate during IEP meetings. Which can be really hard for kids, under that kind of pressure. They are also very eager to put self-advocacy into IEPs. I often wonder if they think this takes them off the hook, and they are less responsible for implementation. Even outside of IEP meetings, this topic of self-advocacy comes up a lot. The expectations are sometimes unrealistic, and they are creating new problems.

Self-advocacy isn’t easy, especially in an education setting, which is very authoritative, and kids are expected to fall in line.

Certain elements need to be in place to help nurture self-advocacy.

1. The student on some level needs to be accepting of their disability AND be willing to talk about it.

2. They have to be able to identify when they need help.

3. They need to identify what they need help with and have the language/a way to express it.

4. They need a trusted adult who has proved their willingness to listen to them over time.

5. They need to feel heard.

6. They need to feel that this trusted adult will believe them when they say they need help.

7. This needs to be repeated enough times and be predictable enough for the self-advocate to feel comfortable and safe to advocate for their needs.

School staff may say…..

Well _____________ happened, but if XXXX advocated for himself, this wouldn’t have happened.

The reality of the School Environment

Children, since they enter school, are socialized to believe they MUST follow authority, or something really bad is going to happen. They think they will be disappointing all the adults in their lives, and kids deep down just want to make their loved ones love them.

All they want to do is to make the adults (especially their parents but also their teachers) in their lives happy so that they will feel worthy and good about themselves. We need to look at their situation through the lens of a child.

Learning self-advocacy can take a lifetime. Adults have a hard time advocating. We need to have realistic expectations for our children. Especially when they are navigating an oppressive system, based on hierarchy and control. They live in this environment 5 days a week; we don’t. Many times, kids are expressing themselves and their needs, only to end up not being believed.

Children and teens need a safe adult to go to in schools. Someone that they know will help them when they need it. Finding that person and building that relationship can be key. If it’s not the teacher, could it be the counsellor, the case manager, the head teacher, the VP, or another teacher?

BC Human Rights Tribunal – Advocacy

We have a human rights decision on our side.

It’s easy for schools to make us think our kids share responsibility or are responsible for all of it.

Educators may have to be informed of how self-advocacy expectations have been defined by the BC Human Rights Tribunal. In Student by Parent v. School District BCHRT 237.

Remember the power of the Human Rights Code.

[90]           Generally, it is the obligation of the person seeking accommodation to bring forward the relevant facts: Central Okanagan School District No. 23 v. Renaud, 1992 CanLII 81 (SCC), [1992] 2 SCR 970. This can be challenging for children, and especially challenging for children with invisible disabilities. I agree with the Parent that children who require accommodation in their school are in a different situation than adults seeking accommodation. Though they have a role to play in the process, that role will be age and ability-specific, and the burden cannot be on a child to identify and bring forward the facts necessary for their accommodation.

We Learn. They Learn.

Advocacy will always be a part of your child’s life. There will never be a time when they will not be advocating for their own needs. Ask anyone with a disability, doesn’t matter their age, and they will still be advocating for their disability-related needs.

You are modelling what advocacy looks like. When they see you advocate, they learn from you how to do it, but they also learn that they are valued enough and that they are worth the effort. A lot of the advocacy that we do they will never know about. But we often reassure them that we are talking with the school and we are advocating for them.

My kids took notice of my efforts more than I realized. It teaches them to its okay to take up space. You are worth it.

I do have to say, it is very cool to watch your children self-advocate as they grow over the years and become adults. They are always watching and learning. Children have their own timing for things. My children grew into this at different times, and they are still growing as young adults. Of course. Self-advocacy skills never stop. They evolve and grow as we grow.

There are advocacy trainings you can take. Inclusion BC, Family Support Institute and the BC PAC have advertised for advocacy development workshops, along with disability specific orgnaizations, at various times of the year.

The name of the game is learning.

We learn. They learn.

Advocacy is Context Specific

As a self-advocate, I would say my advocacy is very context-specific. My approaches vary depending on who I am talking to, in what environment and situation I am in, and even my own capacity at that moment. I don’t have a memorized statement that I just play over on repeat in situations.

The environment of the education system is a very unique environment, and I tell people, this is a different kind of chess game you are in. It requires a specific skill set and a very specific process. Learning the “rules” of the game in education advocacy will help you greatly.

Internal School Advocacy
External Complaint Avenues
5 Rules on How to be Untouchable
Liability in Education
Understanding Systemic Change
The Duty to Accommodate

BC Human Rights Tribunal Complaint Process – The Blame Game

Do not be surprised that if you file a human rights complaint, the response from the lawyers will be blaming your child for not self-advocating, and that is why the school district is not responsible for their accommodations.

It is a common chess move they make. So, just a heads up.

They will also blame you.

However…..”Parental conduct or lack of parental authority cannot be used as a justification for not meeting an exceptional student’s needs“

We do have case decisions on our side, too – regarding fierce advocacy or lack of it.

We can have respectful conversations and advocate fiercely at the exact same time. It’s not one or the other. Both parties have the expectation to collaborate in good faith as part of the accommodation process. At the same time, our advocacy conduct cannot be used against our child to deny them an equitable education.

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L.B. v. Toronto District School Board, 2015 HRTO 1622

[77]        The Interim Decision sets out my reasons for issuing an order with respect to the first two points, as follows:

(a)      School boards have an obligation under the Code to accommodate their students with disabilities to the point of undue hardship, regardless of whether the students are receiving any medical treatment in the community or not;

(b)      School boards cannot order or demand of parents to place their children into residential psychiatric treatment programs and cannot deny or withhold accommodations to the point of undue hardship on the grounds that the student should be in such a program. While I have no evidence to show that this was the case here, that does not alter the principle;

(c)      School boards have an obligation under the Education Act to provide appropriate special education placements, programs and services to their exceptional students. Parental conduct or lack of parental authority cannot be used as a justification for not meeting an exceptional student’s needs; and

(d)      I agree with the decision in R.B. v. Keewatin-Patricia District School Board, (R.B./Keewatin) 2013 HRTO 1436, an HRTO decision cited by both parties in this case, at para 265, that a parent’s “fierce advocacy” for his or her child must not and cannot prevent a school board from accommodating the child’s needs to the point of undue hardship.

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Systemic Impacts of Scarcity in Education

I’d like to bring up the subject of scarcity and the concept of applying the impacts of limited resources in the education system. It could be physical, social, emotional, or mental scarcity.

Limited resources change how people interact and behave at the most primal survival levels. There are already many scholar reports on how scarcity affects decision making and neuropathways.  Scarcity is when there are limited resources and people are not getting what they need.  Animal and human behaviour will change in these environments. When something is scarce, people will put a higher value on it. People will use social capital, aggression, secrecy or whatever strategies they can to obtain those limited resources for their own unfulfilled need. This is evolution and not a personality deficit.

Whittling the education system to bare bones and creating an environment of such limited resources will turn Mary Poppins into Cruella Deville in just a few months. Work environments can become toxic. Communication and information among staff can be used as a source of power.  Confidentiality among staff can be used as a social manipulation tool to build a sense of belonging or exclude.  Subgroups become even more exclusive. People are being set up to fail. It’s not personal. It’s systemic design. Evolutionary instincts will kick in, and not the kind ones. Stress bubbles will burst. People will snap. Children included. Recruiting and retaining quality educators for any length of time, will be challenging. This will have more of an impact on students with disabilities and those in marginalized communities. I repeat. This will have MORE of an impact on students with disabilities and those in marginalized communities.

Understaffing is a form of scarcity. When there aren’t enough people to fill the job duties that are required for functioning, and people need to step over their own job description boundaries to fill in for other people’s work, that has multiple direction points of impact. If it’s chronic, then you’ll see the ripple effects of scarcity.  Work environments will become “unhealthy” and over time people will become very dissatisfied with their work, ultimately pushing them out of the system and creating a deeper wedge in the cycle and it just goes on and on.  Underqualified staff just filling “the body” in the role, is not the solution.  Take a look at the number of job postings for school districts and take a look at the ones that are just continuously on repeat.  The districts are all in the same basket. They are even competing with each other trying to coax staff out of each other cities with advertisements.

School districts are extremely complex human systems. The number of connections and moving parts is overwhelming to me when I try to put this system into a visual representation. It looks like a large spiderweb post wind storm. Not only do I look at all of the individual parts when I look at a system, but it’s the connections and relationships and what is generated out of those connections that also makes my head spin. Now put this very complex system in a situation of scarcity. This has disaster written all over it.

The alarming fact is that the direction the current climate of education in this province is heading, will require people to become even more competitive over the limited resources. Money won’t solve all of society’s problems; however, chronic underfunding is definitely the fuel to this education fire…amongst other things.

Brainstorming exercise:

Let’s list all of the resources that someone seeks in the education system. (I will list a few, but really, I am hoping to encourage the conversation and for people to start making their own lists)

Resources in education. (Staff and students)

  • Social relationships- support, sense of belonging, attention, power, purpose
  • Mental stimulation, communication, information, choice, adequate training, knowledge, context & meaning…blog about context and meaning for students coming in the near future!
  • Physical space, food, water, access to washroom, fresh air, safety…and yes all of this applies to staff too!!
  • Access to tools to complete tasks/goals with success
  • Time to process, time to complete work, alone time, enough sleep – proper work hours (homework or class planning)
  • Currency – (staff) to access resources in their personal life and avoid scarcity

Now take all of those resources to function. Put someone in the situation of abundance. All the time in the world, lots of attention, all the communication and information they need to understand their environment. Now take the minimal of what you need and cut it in half.  Survival mode kicks in. You will have very different people on your hands.

If people have options, they will leave the system. We all have our breaking point.

Who is controlling the resources to this system?

It’s not the school districts. They may be managing…I mean struggling, with the system, but they aren’t the Wizard of Oz at the end of the road. The Ministry of Oz is hiding amongst ambiguous unanswered questions in their huge castle.

Provincial systemic issues, are going to need a provincial intervention approach, and will require a provincial response.  Let’s start with some resources, shall we? Adequate funding please.

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What is the Ask? Email Writing for School Advocacy.

Before I jump into the theme of this blog, I do want to mention that if you email someone in the district (head office) and you don’t cc: the principal, the email you send to the district will be sent to the principal of your kids’ school first. They will check in with them before they touch base with you. You might as well cc: the principal in the email anyway, and appear transparent and working in good faith.

I can’t tell you how important it is to get really good at emails. Email is a tool in your toolbox. Knowing how to write emails and who to send them to and include, will help you. For example, to decrease the chance of someone ignoring you, include more than one person in an email. For more info about emails, read Inclusion BC’s manual and Family Support Institute’s email guide.

Always remember that any email you send can be sent to anyone in the district, can be sent to their lawyers, and could end up in a hearing. Emails are not private conversations.

Ok, now back to asking.

A very common thing for people to do when advocating is that they are not clear with their ask. They spill out an emotional story and are often all over the map. (No judgement. I have sent these emails too.) Then they end their email. The reader is left wondering what you are actually asking for. Some people don’t know what they want. All is very common.

What exactly do you want?

When do you want it?

How do you want this to happen?

Putting a clear ask in an email is very important and often overlooked unless you intentionally focus on it.

At the end of every email you send, if you want the school to take action on something, you are going to need a clearly defined request.

I even suggest you explicitly state things that are time sensitive. “This is time sensitive”. There are things that you can be explicitly clear about. The clearer you are, the better, for all involved. Putting a date of when you would like to hear from them can also be helpful. “Could you please respond to me by Friday, September 26th?”

If they are ignoring you, I suggest this page. How to Deal with Schools Giving You the Silent Treatment.

Some emails, it’s unclear if you are even expecting a response, or if you’re just venting at the person or telling them off (which I don’t suggest). If you want them to respond to you, you can say something like, “I look forward to your response”, or I would greatly appreciate a response within the next 3 days.

My suggestions for an email format is:

  1. Start off with a connecting statement. (I hope you are well/thank you for your previous email; I appreciate your follow-up/etc)
  2. State the facts of what has happened. (facts only)
  3. State your concerns (thoughts, feelings, opinions)
  4. State your ask (what do you want to have happen)
  5. End with an appreciative closing statement (I look forward to meeting with you and discussing this further/thank you for your support/etc)

    .

It’s really important that we are very clear on what we are asking for. If we aren’t getting the response from the school, it could be that they aren’t clear on what we are asking for or expecting from them. You want your communication to be ridiculously clear so they can’t wiggle out of it. Even if it seems ridiculously obvious to you what you want from them, just be ridiculously clear.

Never make assumptions, and no one can read your mind.

If you child is telling you things, you need to make that clear. Johnny told me…… Do not assume that you have the whole story. Quite often, you will not. Don’t automatically accuse the teacher of what your child has told you. You will need to do some investigating and be a detective first. So, your first approach is to be curious and inquire, seeking more information. You don’t want them to be defensive and shut down on you. A carefully crafted email could get you the information you are looking for before you make decisions on how you want to resolve the situation.

Never make assumptions.

A blog I highly recommend you read and consider when engaging with education staff is the blog 5 Rules on how to be Untouchable

A mug I saw on social media that makes me laugh. “Dance like no one is watching. Email like it will be read out at a tribunal.”

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What Does Ableism Look Like in Schools? It Looks Like This!

When a teacher daily allows a student with a learning disability to fail their class, but does not even lift a finger to inform the case manager or parent, that is ableism and its discrimination. Disabled children failing, falling behind and being excluded without accommodations have become the normality of the education system. It’s so common, it is woven into the fabrics of the system.

They just invisibly slip through the cracks, while a detailed IEP sits in a student database system collecting digital dust.

The fact that the Ministry of Education intentionally doesn’t even track information regarding the human rights violations that are occurring across the province is an example of ableism. Disability issues don’t affect them, so they have the privilege to ignore it. Want to know how to systemically keep a marginalized group of people oppressed? Keep them off your radar to begin with. OH…and by the way…the group the people the Ministry of Education are intentionally oppressing, are disabled CHILDREN and their family unit.

What is even more profound is that these teachers who are discriminating are caring people. They love teaching and are inspired by the creations of their students. We think ableist teachers are lurking somewhere in the dark with DON’T CARE tattooed on them, when in fact that simply isn’t the case. When children are ignored and neglected in the education system by good teachers, that is obvious discrimination at its finest. The “other” students get their gifts, and the disabled students get left alone, left behind, and just….left.  There are lovely people out there in the world completely unaware of their own biases and the normality of disabled children failing, just blends in with the wall paper.  It’s not even a big thing. It’s just something that happens. Shrug.

This is very common in the education system, and the ableism these kids experience is then internalized, becomes part of their self-concept, self-esteem and identity. Want to know why kids turn to drugs and crime? Failure in the education system has been proven to be foundational in many of the peer reviewed journal articles. IT’s not that we do not know. It’s not that more studies are need to be done. We have all the information. Government is just biased, ableist and discriminatory and this shows in their government run and funded education system. It oozes out of the pores of all 60 school districts. It’s not obvious to the people who are not impacted by it. You need to look at the system and not just focus on what is there, but what is missing. Who is missing?

We need to flip this education system upside down and inside out. The future of their lives and our society depends on it.

Ministry of Education- It is time for anti-ableism leadership from your government.

Are we on your radar? Or will we continually be swept under the rug?

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Groupthink…Does it Exist in School Districts and on Boards of Education?

Groupthink is defined as “a process of flawed decision making that occurs as a result of strong pressures among group members to reach an agreement”.

“Groupthink is a phenomenon that occurs when the desire for group consensus overrides people’s common sense desire to present alternatives, critique a position, or express an unpopular opinion. Here, the desire for group cohesion effectively drives out good decision-making and problem solving.” mindtools.com

RELEVANCE TO PARENTS: This could be why specialty programs never evolve, why some programs designed to fail are accepted by Boards, why some programs are described as a “dumpster on fire” and how they slip through the cracks. How things that are obviously broken in schools, stay broken, and how systemic oppression to marginalized groups are rarely challenged.

Does anyone remember the NASA Challenger disaster that exploded in space? When they analyzed the process that led to the deadly decisions, they concluded it was partly due to Groupthink.

Groups that are too cohesive, too tightly bonded, too tightly dependent on each other, too tightly socially connected, and are too similar, will bread an environment where it’s best that everyone just agree. Even when the evidence is laid out in front of them, it will be ignored and the pressure to agree will push people to just go with the flow and carry on. Conflict, even productive conflict, will be discouraged. An environment will become the norm where no one speaks up…even when they should. Groups that are too cohesive apply social pressure for everyone to conform.  Disagreement is then seen as a negative trait, insulting to the members, or that person is labelled a trouble maker and their input is disregarded.

It takes a specific type of person to want to be a teacher. Many teachers have similar personality traits and temperaments, a common thread amongst all of them. For the people who have the desire to advance their careers, and for the ones who fit the tight mold of administration, I feel it’s a fair assessment in concluding they are all expected to belong to a very exclusive highly dependent social-work group.

Groups that create an environment where it is safe to disagree with the topic, are the level that we want our district and Boards to function.  Especially because open system groups are the most responsive to change and feedback from their community. **Feedback is a crucial part of the program management cycle.

Points of impact:

  1. Program development and program maintenance
  2. Whistleblowing, staff not being able to bring up concerning issues
  3. Discrimination – exclusion
  4. Racism
  5. Ableism
  6. Policy development
  7. Workplace toxicity (Employee depression, bullying, etc)
  8. SYSTEMIC CHANGE
    .

One way to tell if the Board of your school district is potentially stuck in a Groupthink path is to conduct an interaction diagram.

letters in a circle with arrows pointing in different directions to the letters. Letter sympolize people. The different arrows are colours that represent info positive, info negative, questioning, blocking, leading off topic, supportive

When you attend Board meetings…is everyone just agreeing? Constructive conflict is healthy. If you are doing an interaction diagram and all you see are support lines…you might have a poorly functioning Board.

Common Roles in Groups:

Task Roles

  1. Defines problems
  2. Seeks information
  3. Gives information
  4. Seeks opinions
  5. Gives opinions
  6. Tests feasibility

Group Building and Maintenance Roles

  • Coordinating
  • Mediating-harmonizing
  • Orienting-facilitating
  • Supporting-encouraging
  • Following

Individual Roles (Non-functional)

  1. Blocking
  2. Out of Field
  3. Digressing
    .

After a few meetings you can start to identify if statements are ones that are asking questions for clarification, which statements are supporting other points of view, which ones are blocking, disagreeing, requesting more info etc.  Pick a few that you observe as repeated the most often and then start plotting. For every statement/question put a line. The arrows that go into the center of the group are statements that are said to the group. The arrows that directed at a specific person go directly to them. Then for any repeats of similarly purposed statements get a tick on the same arrow. This allows you to get a visual of how they function as a group. Too many supportive statements aren’t necessarily a sign of a functioning healthy group.

If school districts are interested in auditing their staff meetings from time to time, to get a birds-eye-view so to speak of how they function, the person doing the tracking, can’t be involved. Some meetings move really quickly and it will take practice for people to quickly identify and assess the types of statements/questions made. This is a quick way to take a pulse of the group for anything on the surface, and groupthink could be obvious.

For the parents attending board meetings, it’s great practice. Board meetings tend to move slowly so it’s a great place to practice and build your skill. Soon, you’ll be able to identify roles people play in PAC or school meetings.

Ideally, we want Boards of Education and district teams to have a high level of trust and respect in the group, where discussion or disagreement is welcomed, critical thinking is expected and they are open to feedback.

Sites of interest:

 * https://sites.psu.edu/aspsy/2020/10/07/how-groupthink-played-a-role-in-the-challenger-disaster/

https://sma.nasa.gov/news/sma-news-archive/watch-out-for-groupthink

https://medium.com/disruptive-design/tools-for-systems-thinkers-the-6-fundamental-concepts-of-systems-thinking-379cdac3dc6a

https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/systems-thinking#:~:text=Systems%20thinking%20is%20a%20holistic,the%20context%20of%20larger%20systems.&text=According%20to%20systems%20thinking%2C%20system,of%20reinforcing%20and%20balancing%20processes.

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Why a Diagnosis

Why a Diagnosis?

I worked as a school secretary and one day one of the teachers needed support from the principal for one of her students in the class. The principal was new and so she quickly went to the student files, plucked out the child’s file, flipped through it to make sure there wasn’t something she needed to know and then flew off to the class.  I realized in that moment that I should have something written confirmed by my child’s professional of their diagnosis, and not just have this info in emails and verbal conversation. If anything happened at the school, a staff member would check the file and they would be aware.  Wow, I have been SOOOOO thankful that I had that exposure and followed through in making sure that documents were in place for both of my children.

As you can see HERE on the BC Human Rights Clinic page they state:

“In a case called Matheson,[4] Ms. Matheson filed a human rights complaint alleging that she was subjected to abusive behaviour from a supervisor. She had a history of anxiety and panic attacks as well as depression. On two occasions during her employment, Ms. Matheson informed her employer that she was suffering from “stress.” However, she did not provide any medical information that said she had a mental disability.”

The Tribunal dismissed Ms. Matheson’s complaint, stating that “an essential element of a complaint of discrimination in employment on the basis of mental disability is proof that the complainant either had a mental disability… or was perceived to be mentally disabled by the employer.” Click HERE for her case.

Matheson’s case was dismissed because she did not inform her employer (school district) of her disability.  If we do not have a written diagnosis in their student file with the school, as a parent if you file a human rights complaint, the respondents (school district’s legal representation) will cite the Matheson case and your human rights complaint will be dismissed.

We have got to get our kids formally officially diagnosed by proper professionals or your child has no legal human rights ground to stand on.

We need this diagnosis for the following reasons:

  1. Legal human rights processes
  2. Application for disability tax benefits (if applicable)
  3. Navigating the health system for proper medical care
  4. Advocacy in the education system for proper accommodations
  5. Social and emotional reasons – so parents are not blamed for having poor parenting skills and they are able to find other parents who have children with the same disabilities and get support.
  6. For the child – so they understand why they are having specific challenges and they don’t blame themselves for the wrong reasons. For acceptance and self-esteem reasons.

******************************************************

Here is the wisdom, lived experience, and reflections from parents of children in the education system across BC. Thank you to all who were willing to share.

It’s a diagnosis not a label. I find once my kids knew why things were hard they stopped labelling themselves “stupid, lazy, dumb.”

  • Anonymous

I think a diagnosis helps us to know ourselves….better. it’s been a breath of fresh air to me personally and has helped me forgive myself a bit easier. It’s also helped me identify things that work and don’t work.

On a wider societal scale: .for ADHD, there’s so much stigma, misinformation, out there it’s hard to feel comfortable disclosing..

I ask myself why would I hide my identity/diagnosis? Why do I feel so scared of sharing?

Obvs cuz we are likely to be met with incredulity of “you aren’t that disabled” or they treat you as less than, and that is hard because-as XXXXX said they have power over us.

What they do with that information is the concern….the biases that come into play when they have that information in hand.

But I also know that being loud and proud and dispelling the myths of the neurodivergence I personally have, perhaps can help open the doors for folks around me.

However, I don’t speak from an intersectional voice (I mean not just “being female”). And as such I hope to be an ally to those who do and amplify their voices.

Because there’s even more work to be done there.

My hope is one day everyone can be loud and proud about themselves.

  • Chantelle Movay

And yet WHY should we have to make our private medical information public/known to people who have power over us in order to get support and accommodation? The idea that we have to out ourselves to be able to make a claim is problematic.

  • Anonymous

Our son was diagnosed in 2018 and since then we have seen a world of difference. Because of his formal diagnosis, we were able to get him the support he needed at daycare (1:1) and now in school. He lacked social skills and would only parallel play with his peers but because of his Supports & EAs he has flourished and now plays really well with his peers. The diagnosis has also given him access to speech therapy within the school, an IEP and other tools/resources to help him succeed.

  • Elena Lawson

Human Rights expects this in order for you to be entitled to accommodations. I know that is why it is critical and needed. As for my own child, in general professionals have never been able to give accurate recommendations. People can see “autism” and think they know what my son needs. But then surprise PDA, you actually don’t know shit.

  • Anonymous

I am relieved that you bright this to light. Accommodations and supports/ language/ professional and so on will never be enough. For our family it has been lifesaving – literally. We have found the most inspiring family’s that we could ever ask for. I am grateful for that. 😊

  • Anonymous

Having an early diagnosis for our older child led to assessments and diagnoses for all of us. That has led into participating in groups with others who started traveling the road before us and getting recommendations which, we wouldn’t have heard otherwise. I can’t imagine what family life would be like for us now without that first diagnosis and learning about other options to parenting from mainstream expectations. It’s hard enough as it is, but that would have been awful. In fact, I’m not sure our marriage would have survived. I’m not sure how my partner would have survived mental health crises. Having diagnoses has led to support options through their online school which would not have been available otherwise and which we wouldn’t have been able to provide out of our own limited finances.

  • Anonymous

We had our youngest diagnosed in grade one despite all the comments of “don’t give her a label” from relatives, friends and school admin. It was by far the best thing we ever did to put us on a path of understanding and acceptance. It has led to success in academics and my daughter has become a strong advocate for her needs. There are still some road blocks because of the severity of her Learning Disability but she is well equipped to find solutions to her issues.

  • Cathy McMillian

Without documentation of dx, we run the risk of trying to reinvent the wheel every year. Let’s channel the energy and hopefully the enthusiasm to what works. As well, if everyone could get accommodations by saying junior needs extra time or a scribe or oral exams …. We have to have a measurement or standard

  • Shannon Saunders

Socio-economic privilege provides access to diagnosis. Families in lower classes, disproportionately single parent households, are not provided with this same access. There are additional attitudinal barriers and medical bias that plays into even accessing the inequitable public system, along with personal barriers that are not supported (eg. difficulty navigating fragmented systems). BIPOC children are more likely to be written of as a behavior or family problem, without access to robust multidisciplinary assessment. Assessment and diagnosis are important for many many reasons. But using it as a gate to equity and support puts our most vulnerable families at risk.

  • Anonymous

A diagnosis made it easier for my child to qualify for accommodations in university. Without those accommodations he would struggle to succeed.

  • Anonymous

We missed out on so much due to lack of knowledge of dx and teen attempting suicide and spending 3 weeks in hospital as a result. I’m soooooo very mad at family doctor, psychiatrist, walk-in-clinics, counselors, school, and MCFD. Since dix, I have learned so much more

  • Anonymous

I value this as a way to deflect personal views..refer to medical i always said..but had teachers say we are the professionals..sigh..and another district learning support principal say we dont need reports to know what your child needs..had psychologists come to school to vocalize need..no go on supports..went online..but if we wanted to fight. Yes. Diagnosis would help. Thanks for your efforts..i feel our situation was uniquely bizarre..but sought to leave ir rather than put our girl as psychologist recommended.take her off the battleground..

-Anonymous

The arguing over why certain things were happening and why our child’s behaviour was being blamed on a personality flaw at school was putting our marriage under incredible strain. It was eating away at our son’s self esteem and identity. Once we got a diagnosis everything changed. Not only was he diagnosed but it led to my husband being diagnosed. We all understood and could learn and advocate. The blame and guilt game ended. Proper diagnosis is so essential for life.

  • Anonymous

long story short having documentation changes much of nothing when it comes to public school system. At the end of report from psychologist was around 10 recommendations, a big one was my kid needing 1:1 ea, bell to bell, never happened. Another was he should attend full days of K, never happened. That during school work he should have someone to scribe and or read for him, that happened when convenient for staff. Basically none of the recommendations were used. I had a OT spend an entire day at school, he had lots of good ideas and he too had recommendations, school didn’t follow any of them. His IEP, really was a piece of paper that brought in funding to the district. When my kid was in gr 5 he was at a gr 2 level academically, they tried telling me he was grade level. They say what you want to hear, when your gone, well sadly kids are not treated very well.

They destroyed his self esteem. Two mths in gr 5 I pulled him out of public school, he is about to graduate in a couple weeks and with his Dogwood diploma and he is a A/B student. All of his success no thanks to public school.

Anonymous