There is a path to take when you advocate that will be required to increase your chances of success.
Many parents and caregivers feel that they are just spinning round and around on the same issues. Schools are experts in creating delay.
We aren’t in an easy position as the school must consult meaningfully with us, but they have the powers to make the final and last decision regarding our child’s education. If we don’t agree with it, we can just keep advocating internally (meaning just go higher and higher up the ranks) and/or we can file external complaints. We are co-parenting with the government and they have a voting power of 60%. We need to be able to work collaboratively with them in “good faith” and be able to express the harm our kids are experiencing and how this is connected to their disability related needs. The school has a list of responsibilities all connected to the duty to accommodate.
Inclusion BC has an excellent manual and provides an overview on advocacy.
You do have advocacy options. I wouldn’t recommend you kill a fly with a house. I would move through the ranks of the district. You start with the teacher, then the principal, then the district learning support services, assistant superintendent and then the superintendent. However at any point in time, you can use external complaints to possibly elevate your advocacy. For example, filing a TRB complaint will help you get an appointment with the superintendent, if you are being blocked. Filing a section 11 appeal (internal advocacy) will get you in front of the Board of Education.
No one wants to have to be advocating this hard, but they system is built and designed in a way that this is sometimes required. You are dealing with systemic issues that are entrenched into how schools operate. There is definitely still hope for improvement, and there are kids getting accommodations, but you need to be the squeaky wheel. These things don’t just happen organically. You are your only child’s advocate. If it’s not you, then who?
I recommend finding support. Family Support Institute and Inclusion BC have support services and support groups. BCEdAccess has a Facebook group with almost 7,000 parents who ask questions to those who have lived experience. Parents are the ones with the most updated information, as they are living in these systems.
Here are some pages to consider and are good to know:
