There is a new decision that was posted on the BC HRT website. All these decisions being posted by the BC HRT are so helpful to parents.
It’s always great to have decisions that give examples of the kinds of human rights complaints that get accepted and the public get a peak into the education system when they read the allegations. So many parents are always wondering….is this a human rights complaint? Well, not getting accommodations by failing to provide an EA is an example.
This decision is an interesting read. I encourage you to read it in full.
The Student (by the parent) v. The School District, 2025 BCHRT 17
This is an anonymization decision but check out the first paragraph.
[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.
So…….
For all you parents struggling to get the appropriate amount of EA support for your child…which in recent years is becoming more and more of a struggle…here you go!
The BC HRT has confirmed that in this case the parent who filed a human rights complaint alleging the school district failed to accommodate their child by not providing him with an Education Assistant in one of his classes is an ACCEPTED human rights complaint which is proceeding through the process.
If you feel your child isn’t getting enough EA support, you have a potential human rights complaint.
For situations that are an emergency, you can apply to have your complaint fast-tracked.
Scroll to page 2 near the bottom. This is the form that you would fill out along with your complaint to fast-track your complaint.
General Application
https://www.bchrt.bc.ca/app/uploads/sites/876/2023/03/form_7_1_print.pdf
If you are filing a family status complaint for yourself, you can also send in a separate complaint just for you. Here is the human rights decision outlining this as an option.
The Parent v. The School District, 2024 BCHRT 113
Here is the summary page.
If you are curious, here is what the complaint form looks like. You will need to be able to answer these questions. Complaint form.
For those of you who would like some help filling it out, you can ask the Human Rights Clinic or contact the people on this page.
You certainly don’t always need to file a human rights complaint to have human rights needs addressed. You can use human rights law in your own advocating. If things are serious, sometimes people will find a lawyer who can address the issues directly with the school.
Also, what is also very interesting about this decision is that school districts clearly do not like being named. So, you know what that means. Something to consider is…..naming them!
Here is my blog on this topic.
Specifically this case:
This tribunal member of this decision felt this situation was distinct from another case that named the school, but we still have decisions that are in support of school districts being identified. In this situation, the tribunal member wanted to err on the side of caution. I can’t blame the HRT for wanting that. It’s hard to predict what is going to happen in the future. If the mother is already creating online publications and has an internet presence, who knows.
It’s a shame school districts are so focused on fighting parents and not choosing the route of peace and resolution. It seems like they are so willing to spend taxpayers’ money on a ridiculous amount of lawyers’ fees instead of spending a ton less money and giving it to a child who experienced harm. The settlement money goes directly to the child, so even if they absolutely hate the parent, it’s not going to the parent. They really do provide the opportunity for people to sharpen their advocacy skills.