Calling all Human Rights Lawyers

This is the bottleneck that parents are experiencing.

Parents want to hire lawyers for their human rights complaints, and they are struggling to find people. Some people are finding pro bono lawyers, and others aren’t. Some people can afford to pay lawyers and they are still struggling to find people. Some parents are lawyers themselves, but human rights isn’t their area of law.

I know there are legal-aid clinics reading my blog. I also know there are parents who are lawyers reading my blog, considering getting into this area. We need help!!

The need: Parents need lawyers to consult with for summary advice, and/or they need lawyers to take on their cases for human rights complaints. The non-profits that support this work are overwhelmed. They tend to shy away from education cases because they are complex, and they don’t have the capacity to handle these kinds of cases. Because of an overwhelmed legal system, parents are struggling to advocate for failings in the education system.

This is an area that needs expansion.

If there is a law firm that is willing to take this on and expand into this area, the need is great. Even to just offer summary advice. An hour of consultation here and there as they navigate the system can make a world of difference.

Parents all want to know… do I have a human rights complaint on my hands? They need the confirmation and validation. More parents would be filing human rights complaints with this confidence in their case.

If you are a lawyer or you know of someone in this field, please send me an email. I would love to be able to send you a referral.

If you are a parent and you have used a lawyer that you felt was positive, I would really appreciate it if you sent me their contact info. I would love to be able to send them a referral.

In the meantime, for parents looking for summary advice, please contact the BC Human Rights Clinic – Legal Services

Here is a list of disability law clinics and other legal-aid organizations that offer summary advice or lawyer referral services.

When you contact these places, I highly suggest you write out what you want to tell them to best utilize the time that you have with them.

Discrimination test

The test of discrimination is here from the BC Human Rights Tribunal website:

they have a characteristic protected by the Human Rights Code [Code];
they experienced an adverse impact with respect to an area protected by the Code; and
the protected characteristic was a factor in the adverse impact.

You are going to want to be able to explain to them what your child’s protected characteristic is, the harm they experienced, and how the harm is connected to their protected characteristic.

Timelines

Timelines are a great way to explain events. When lawyers present evidence in court, they tend to present the evidence in a chronological order.

Evidence

You may also want to explain what kind of evidence you have. Emails? Photographs? Video? Recordings?

Making the most of your time

I almost think of it as a 30-second elevator speech. People in business need to be able to succinctly give their business pitches. You want to make the most of your time when consulting with a lawyer, and the more organized you are in explaining the situation, the better they will be able to assess your situation, and you will get the most out of your time.

Consultation fees, I am being told, can range from $400 – $750 per hour.

If you are paying for a lawyer, every email you send or phone call you have will be added to your invoice for later. You will want to know how they will be invoicing you for your time with them. Human rights complaint settlements tend not to be high, so it will be important to keep your expenses low. The one great thing about being self-represented through the human rights complaint system is that you don’t need to worry about the school district lawyers playing games with you to drive up your lawyer’s fees.

Pro bono lawyers can sometimes take 2-3 weeks to call you back. Keep calling. Keep emailing people. Patience and persistence will be key.

You may want to go onto YouTube and search up videos on self-representation in Canada. There are a ton of videos on there. All tips and things not to do when representing yourself. Information overload. There are lots of articles stating that approx 50-60% of Canadians are navigating the court system without a lawyer… with self-representation on the rise. Very interesting.

If anyone has anyone specific or a law firm that they think should be on a referral list, please let me know.

More Students are Advocating!

Ministry of Education, I hope you are paying attention to this!!

New article posted April 3rd, 2025

Surrey students plan march to push for B.C. school funding

Surrey school district grappling with $16M shortfall in 2025-26 budget

https://www.cloverdalereporter.com/local-news/surrey-students-plan-march-to-push-for-bc-school-funding-7918382

When adults fail students in policy and legislation, students will be pushed to take things into their own hands.

Good for them!!!

Students were rallying previously in Surrey

There was this article:

Students rally against closure of White Rock learning centre

Supporters of South Surrey White Rock Learning Centre protest ahead of Surrey school board meeting

https://www.surreynowleader.com/local-news/students-rally-against-closure-of-white-rock-learning-centre-7763018

Students have been advocating by filing and speaking out in human rights complaints about the discrimination they have been experiencing in the education system. Here is the blog about that: The Next Generation of Student Advocates

I have started a new page to keep track of the advocacy activities of the students.

I have so many mixed emotions when I see students uprising. It’s a mix of feeling so proud of them and wanting to cheer them on. I also feel so embarrassed and ashamed to be part of the age of adults who are all in the same age bracket as me, who are making these ridiculous decisions and not properly funding schools. Our generation is creating such a mess, and students are being pushed to their limits. They are now forming a march. We are failing them!

I hope I am helping to share their advocacy.

I am sending this blog to the Ministry of Education this weekend. So shameful!

Blog: Budget Time!

Communicating with the School – Friend or Foe?

This can be tricky.

There are certain levels of advocacy. We always tend to start off slow and see how things unfold. Sometimes things resolve organically or with minimal intervention. Other times, things can turn adversarial. Building relationships with people has been an important element to advocating and building community in general. Pulling people in, instead of pushing them away.

However…. there will be times when major incidents can flip things upside down. Or, enough moderate levels of chronic discrimination make maintaining or building that relationship very difficult.

If you are reading my blog, you have probably found me through a Google search or Facebook. Chances are, you have found me because things are not going well. You may already be in the process of an external complaint system or are seriously considering it.

Communication when things get intense in schools is a different world.

Sometimes, school staff will recognize right away that the subject you want to discuss could potentially place them in hot water. They will call you instead of sending you an email.

Or sometimes it’s the opposite. They will send you a triggering email on purpose. Poking you intentionally. Wanting your elevated response to be documented.

Not all of their communication will be adversarial. Sometimes they are genuinely looking to resolve the situation and don’t want to escalate things further and so they want to meet with you in person. Sometimes we are so triggered by past negative experiences with school staff that we are automatically launched into defence or attack mode. We end up making the worst assumptions out of fear responses, from very lovely people. And I speak from experience.

On the other hand, we may truly be dealing with strategic “wolves in sheep clothing” type people. And I also speak from experience. It can be hard to weed through and figure out who wants to help and who is following instructions from the legal team. Friend or foe?

I saw a t-shirt online once and it read “Mr. Rogers didn’t prepare me for the people in my neighbourhood.” I laughed because that resonated!

When navigating the education system, there are rules on the order of who you can communicate with and how you can communicate with them.

Here are some examples of types of communication experiences:

They may tell you are not allowed to communicate with your child’s EA. (Which is true. All communication needs to go through the teacher. Some schools are more flexible about this.)
You need to first talk to your child’s teacher before you contact ______. (They have a strict hierarchy of who you talk to first and how to escalate. They also have internal rules on who the district can talk to and they need to follow an order. Be aware that if you email the district about your child’s principal, that principal will be contacted to get their side of the story, before they contact you.)
They may just ignore your email.
They may call you after you have sent an email instead of responding in writing.
They may request a meeting.
They may flat out lie to you.
They may gaslight you.
They may minimize the issues.
They may blame your child for not self-advocating.
They may distract you with irrelevant information about other topics.
They may send someone to befriend you to gather information.
They may want to de-escalate this as quickly as possible hoping the issues don’t blow up into bigger ones. (These are the trauma-informed responses. These are the ones we hope for.)

For people who are in independent schools, you need to be extra careful. Many parents sign code of conduct agreements and if you cross the line they can kick out your kid and blame it on you for breaking the contract. Some will even have in their written contract that you file an external complaint, that is reason to kick out your kid.

It’s easier to see some of the games they play in hindsight. It’s harder to recognize this stuff when you are in it and your emotions are high, and possibly feel like you are in survival mode for your child. It can be hard to trust our own judgement. Sometimes we read into things too deeply thinking we are under attack, when we are not. Sometimes we are, and our gut instincts are spot on.

There is a big difference when you are just advocating internally vs. you are costing the districts thousands of dollars in legal fees or taking up a lot of time of senior administration. It’s just good to keep our eyes wide open and reflect and pay attention to HOW they are communicating. It can be very revealing. It’s not just what they are saying and what they are doing. It’s also what they are NOT saying and what they are NOT doing that can also be revealing.

Also know, lawyers are involved way earlier than we think they are.

They may tell us that what we are doing is “inappropriate”. They may use silence. All of these are flags that we are onto something and have hit a nerve. I offer you all this blog. 5 rules on how to stay untouchable.

Having someone join you in a meeting to take notes can be very helpful. I have left meetings and wondered what on earth has just happened here. They can spin you in circles. It can be a good thing to have a support person and a witness. You will need to bring someone who isn’t a parent in the school district. Otherwise, they will claim confidentiality reasons that they can not attend.

When you email someone, and if you cc: people, those in the cc: line will not respond. If you want a response from someone, you need to stick them in the TO: line.

A great resource to find out who you need to talk to internally, the hierarchy, is in Chapter 7 of the Inclusion BC, Inclusive Education Manual.

I also recommend that you look on your school district’s website. They will likely have a parent’s code of conduct document, and/or a document on how to resolve conflict. You will need to follow that step by step.

Solution Options:

If they only want to talk on the phone, you can follow up with an email of what was discussed and ask them to clarify if you misunderstood anything.
For dealing with silence I offer you this page.
Some parents have resorted to recording phone conversations. There are laws around recording conversations. You will need to research this and stay up to date on any law changes. If they tell you in a meeting that they don’t want to be recorded, you will not be able to record them. If you are an employee wanting to record conversations at work, you are in a whole other area of law that is specific to employment and I HIGHLY recommend you consult with an employment lawyer before you go down this path.
Bring a note-taker or support person with you to meetings.
If you are making allegations against a staff member that they did something, be aware that they have every right to explain, clarify and defend themselves. They will be included in the resolution process. In all formal working structures that I am aware of, each complaint system wants you to try to resolve the issue with the person first.
If internal advocacy through the whole internal process (all the way to the top) doesn’t resolve anything, external options may be your only recourse.

For big incidents, parents/guardians are often looking for an apology. Some get it, some don’t. I wouldn’t hold your breath waiting for one. They are often advised by their lawyers never to admit to anything. Something else I saw online, “I hope you heal from the things no one apologized for”. The need for accountability can drive people through the external complaint systems. Which I don’t think is a bad thing. Filing complaints is a form of advocacy. Our experiences are included in data collection and this can lead to systemic change. School districts need to know they have external eyes on them. Letting them think they are untouchable is dangerous in my eyes.

Communication is the foundation of advocacy.

If this is an area that you need support with, I really encourage you to find an advocacy buddy, support group, request accommodations with the district if this is disability related, and/or connect with other support professionals who can help you navigate. There are non-profits offering this kind of support, but also people who do this kind of work full-time.

Individual Education Plan (IEP) – They aren’t just Words on a Page

IEP’s can play an important role in providing your child an equitable education. They are important.

We have law, policy and teachers’ standards on our side.

As written in the human rights decision P (by KD) v. Board of Education of School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria) and another, 2025 BCHRT 62 the Ministry of Education made it clear:

[70] …..The Ministry says IEPs do have a legal effect and function, as there is a valid legislative and policy framework that provides both authority and guidance for IEPs.

For more information about how the Ministry views IEPs in terms of a written contract or requiring a parent signature, please read paragraphs 66 – 71 in the above human rights decision.

So what do they mean by valid legislative and policy framework?

Authority School Act, Section 182 (2) (a)

On the Ministry of Education’s Inclusive Education website they say this:

“School Districts/Independent School Authorities have the autonomy to develop their own IEP template or choose the SMART Goal Template, or Competency Based IEP Template found on MyEducation BC. Specific templates are not mandated as long as the goals used have measurable outcomes.”

The Ministry of Education has an Inclusive Education Manual (2024), and section C is all about developing an IEP

Here is the Ministry’s Guidelines on IEPs for independent schools

Here is the Inclusive Educaiton list of policies and orders

If you are interested, here is a list of all of the School Act Ministerial Orders.

Here is a list of their policies for public schools.

On your own school district’s website, they will also have information about IEP’s and the consultation process.

Here are two excellent resources on information about IEPs and IEP meetings.

The BCCPAC has a guide for parents specifically for IEPs

Inclusion BC has a guide for Inclusive Education. Chapter 5 is all about IEPS.

Two notable human rights cases:

The duty to consult
Student (by Parent) v. School District 2023, BCHRT 237 – Your child doesn’t need to have an IEP in order for them to be protected by the Human Rights Code

Something else very important to keep in mind is that the Human Rights Code Supersedes classroom teacher autonomy. Your child’s teacher has to follow the Human Rights Code.

IEP’s are working documents.

The final decision is up to the school on what is written on your child’s IEP but they must consult with you. And it needs to be meaningful consultation. If they tell you they are only giving you 30 minutes for an IEP meeting and you didn’t have enough time to discuss everything and you feel in the IEP isn’t appropriate for your child, you can advocate that 30 min isn’t enough time for meaningful consultation. Some parents get letters being sent home that IEP meetings aren’t even happening. They get a paper copy and they are asked to provide feedback by email. umm. NO!!! If you want a meeting to discuss your child’s IEP at ANYTIME In the year, you can advocate for that.

If the school doesn’t allow this, then you can escalate it through the district and just keep going higher and higher.

The IEP is a working document.

For this human rights case X by Y v. School Distrct Z 2024 BCHRT 24, the expectation for them to defend that they offered reasonable accommodations is this:

120] Ultimately, on a balance of probabilities, I am satisfied that the District discharged its duty to accommodate X in his grade 2 year by reviewing the Diagnosis Report, developing an IEP, making various support people and strategies available that were incorporated into the classroom and outside, reviewing progress and changes, and adapting its approach in response……

If they aren’t reviewing progress and changes and adapting their response to your child’s needs, you have internal and external complaint options.

There is already legislation, policy and human rights law that will enforce consultation. You can use these in your advocacy.

It is very important to keep documentation of all of your emails with the school and letters being sent home. If you are getting any communication that parents are not allowed to attend their child’s IEP meeting, you may also want to alert the Inclusive Education department in the Ministry.

inclusive.education@gov.bc.ca

IEPs have meaning. They are important. They are a tool.

If you have a teacher who is refusing to follow any of the legislative framework and policies you can always file a TRB complaint.

This teacher was disciplined for the following regarding IEPs:

During the 2021-2022 school year, the following events occurred while Schwarz was employed as a teacher in a learning support program at School A, working with a small group of upper elementary school students (“Class A”):
a. Schwarz failed to properly follow procedures for students’ individual education plans
(“IEPs”):
i. IEPs must be reviewed annually to reflect individualized goals, adaptations,
modifications, services and measures for tracking progress. Teachers must
offer parents an opportunity to consult about their child’s IEP.
ii. Schwarz failed to plan appropriately for the fall 2021 IEP deadlines and
only updated the students’ pictures and changed the name of the responsible
teacher to her own name, before submitting the IEPs to the School principal.
Schwarz did not make changes to the substance of her students’ IEPs and
did not appropriately consult with parents regarding the IEPs.

You don’t need to accept teachers not consulting with you or not updating your child’s IEP.

You have advocacy options:

Internal – keep advocating all the way up the next levels. You will have an inclusive education department in your child’s school district. Inclusive BC in their manual, Chapter 7 is all about how to advocate in the education system effectively.

External – TRB, Ombudsperson, Human Rights Tribunal

Some schools automatically reach out in the spring for a review of the IEP. If your child’s school does not, and you would like this to happen, feel free to send them an email.

You also don’t need to wait for the spring. If at any point in the year, you feel there needs to be some changes, you can request a meeting.

Your child has a human right for an equitable education. The IEP is a very important tool that can help them have those accommodations in place. OH, and one final thing. Accommodations are not earned with good behaviour. Children with disabilities have a right to their accommodations because they are breathing.

Budget Time!

It is budget time for school districts.

School districts are struggling immensely!

Burnaby School District

“Just five years ago, the district was carrying millions of dollars in operating surpluses from one year to the next, but the district now expects to have only $43,795 in its reserves when the books are closed on the year this summer, according to an amended 2024/25 operating budget passed at a school board meeting last week.”

https://www.burnabynow.com/local-news/burnaby-school-district-reserves-at-low-ebb-due-to-cost-pressures-10400758

Surrey School District

“The Surrey Board of Education announced the district is facing a shortfall of $16 million dollars to pass a balanced budget for the 2025-2026 school year. This is due to provincial funding not keeping pace with inflationary pressures and years of population growth in Surrey.”

https://surreyschools.ca/_ci/p/184244#:~:text=Last%20year%2C%20the%20Board%20approved,to%20pass%20a%20balanced%20budget.

Vancouver School District

“Some Vancouver School Board trustees are sounding the alarm after they say the budget for the 2024-2025 school year fails to address key concerns.”

https://www.ctvnews.ca/vancouver/article/only-going-to-get-worse-parent-trustee-say-vancouver-school-budget-fails-to-address-key-needs

Why are they struggling so much?

“According to that 2021 data, BC allocates just 3 percent of its GPP to K-12 education, while Manitoba allocates 4.9 percent, Nova Scotia 4.4 percent, Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island 4.2 percent, Quebec 4.1 percent, New Brunswick 4 percent, Ontario 3.8 percent and Alberta 3.3 percent. This smaller percentage means BC school boards have less funding available for student support and to provide up-to-date, adequate and safe school buildings.”

https://www.policyalternatives.ca/news-research/increased-public-funding-for-private-schools-is-dividing-us-and-needs-to-stop/

Our province is the LOWEST.

WTF BC!!!!

I really encourage parents to attend their school district’s budget meetings. Many of them are offered online. To understand what is happening in education, we need to understand budgets and budget decisions.

Here is a report done by the Vancouver DPAC Inclusive Education Working Group. This is some serious next level kick ass investigative work. Here is their report. This report reveals the decisions on funding, staffing and the decline in support leading to barriers. Really, really, well done!!!

Public Engagement Period

At many board meetings, you can submit your questions beforehand. School districts have a public engagement period where you can make submissions or present at the budget meeting. You can read the financial reports online.

If you go to the school district’s website, most likely in the board area, they will have a financial section.

You will see a preliminary budget and an amended budget link.

Budget conversations can get people really riled up. Resources are scarce, and everyone is fighting for crumbs.

Why this province doesn’t prioritize public education is beyond me.

Pay now or pay later.

Blog: Who Does Society Care About?

Parents take Ministry of Education to Court – Win for Equitable Education

This case is a fascinating read.

Parents took the Ministry of Education in Alberta to court.

Kerber v Alberta, 2025 ABKB 98

https://www.ctvnews.ca/edmonton/article/parents-take-province-to-court-over-order-keeping-some-kids-out-of-classrooms-during-strike

There are two parts that stick out to me, that I think you will all find interesting.

The Ministry trying to disconnect from their own orders they create and the labour shortage paragraph.

Let me hook you in with this line:

[152] The Charter guarantees equal access to education for all students; the corollary effect is that that the equitable principle must be applied in times of labour or resource shortages. Here, what is apparent is that there was no consideration of how the reduced resources could be redistributed among all students. It was assumed that minimal disruption to the system would result by targeting only a sub-set of students – those who use an EA. However, this approach failed to consider that non-disabled students might suffer the least amount of harm since they do not have the same disadvantages as the students with disabilities and could adapt to an at-home learning program more easily, i.e., some non-disabled students switch to at-home learning to free up more resources for complex-needs students, or some of them, to attend school in-person even with the EAs presently unavailable.

EQUITABLE PRINCIPLES MUST BE APPLIED IN TIMES OF LABOUR OR RESOURCE SHORTAGES. Woohoo! Thank you!

This case is in relation to a strike.

[1] Approximately 3,700 complex-needs students have been advised by their schools that they must continue their education programs on an at-home or a rotating in-school basis because of the strike involving support workers at Edmonton Public Schools. This situation has persisted for over five weeks.

Why?

Because…..

[7] On January 9, 2025, CUPE 3550 issued a notice that it would be going on strike as of January 13, 2025. A range of support staff, including administrative assistants, clerks, educational assistants, food preparers, interpreters, library technicians, licensed practical nurses, speech language pathology assistants, and technicians have been on strike since that date.

So the Ministry of Education in Alberta did this.

[9] On January 12, 2025, the day prior to the strike, the Minister of Education, Demetrios Nicolaides, signed Ministerial Order #002/2025. The Ministerial Order states:

I, Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Education, pursuant to section 4 of the In-person Learning Regulation, exempt The Board of Trustees of Edmonton School Division from the application of section 2 of the regulation to provide an in-person learning option, at the schools under its authority, to students who require an educational assistant due to complex needs where the continued attendance of those students at in-person learning may risk the health and safety of the student or other students or staff, subject to the terms and conditions in the attached Appendix.

Which means kids with complex needs are being excluded from in-person learning.

So 4 parents took the Ministry of Education to court.

[4] The Applicants, who are four complex-needs students affected by the Ministerial Order, seek an interlocutory injunction suspending the operation of the Ministerial Order or, alternatively, an exemption to the Ministerial Order, until the summary judgment or trial can be heard and determined on the Charter issue.

The Ministry of Education tried to pass the issue and blame the school district. Saying the school district didn’t have to follow the order they were just given permission to do so. (OMG! Insert huge eye roll. I actually laughed out loud when I read this!)

[26] Alberta argues that the Ministerial Order does not require the ESD to stop providing in-person learning to particular students; it merely permits the ESD to make decisions about at-home learning considering the safety of all students and staff within its schools in light of the strike action.

The court saw through that BS.

[40] While Alberta is correct that the Ministerial Order does not require any student to learn at-home, the Ministerial Order is the permissive enabling enactment that grants the ESD the authority to make decisions about which students must switch to full or partial at-home learning. Alberta is the correct party to name in this application.

So Ministries of Education across Canada, if you write discriminatory policies don’t blame the school districts for acting on them.

For those who like legal mumbo-jumbo, there are various forms of legal analysis in this decision.

The conclusion was that the parents won the injunction they were seeking.

And as mentioned before I really like this paragraph

And yes I too would like to thank these parents for bringing forward education cases under legal analysis.

[161] I wish to thank counsel for their excellent submissions.

[162] I also wish to extend my gratitude to the parties and the families for their participation in this important issue.

If you want to skip the legal analysis and just go to the conclusion at the bottom, it starts on paragraph 153. Here is some of it.

[157] The nature of the harm that the Applicants would suffer is significant.

[158] The nature of the legislation under attack is the provision of education – a fundamental service owed to all young people.

[159] The public interest lies in ensuring equitable treatment of all students during a labour shortage and a fair redistribution of available resources that does not discriminate based on a disability.

The Next Generation of Student Advocates

In the last year or so, we’ve had an increase in student advocacy throughout the BC Human Rights Tribunal Process. These students are doing things that not all adults can even bring themselves to do. Here is some hope for the future.

All of these advocates want to make some noise about their experiences. I encourage you to read their complaints in full. All four were able to experience different layers of success with their decisions.

Let’s take a look!!

Advocate #1

Vick v. Board of Education of School District No. 41 (Burnaby), 2024 BCHRT 104

[4] Ms. Vick alleges having a learning disability and other mental disabilities. She is a former student at the School District. Ms. Vick was a minor during the period when the allegations in question occurred and at the time she filed this complaint.

[5] Ms. Vick alleges generally that multiple teachers at the School District were hostile towards her for being unable to complete course work on time because of her learning disabilities and mental illnesses. She says this occurred despite the teachers knowing about her disabilities.

[15] In the August 8, 2022, complaint amendment, Ms. Vick confirmed she wanted to name the School District as the respondent in the April 6, 2022, complaint

33] Ms. Vick is seeking justice for the School District’s alleged failure to accommodate her mental disabilities. She believes her case is unique and novel in that it involves a School District service provider failing to properly accommodate her disabilities.

[31] ….Ms. Vick demonstrated her maturity regarding the existence of the Code and the Tribunal process when she filed her first complaint with the Tribunal in September 2021 and this complaint on April 6, 2022, while still a minor on both occasions.

Two complaints she has filed. Good for her. As a way to enhance her justice seeking, here is a list of her allegations against the Burnaby School District from her complaint filed in 2022.

[7] On January 1, 2018, Ms. Vick alleges a teacher sent a rude email to her mother in response to her mother’s request that Ms. Vick be accommodated for her disabilities [the January 1, 2018, Allegation].

[8] On July 1, 2019, Ms. Vick alleges a summer schoolteacher refused to provider her with any accommodations while her support teacher was on a break. She says the teacher also stood beside her desk, pressuring her to finish a test [the July 1, 2019, Allegation]

[9] On November 1, 2019, Ms. Vick alleges that she asked a teacher for an extension of time to finish an assignment, but permission was not granted until her support teacher later asked on her behalf. Later the same day, Mr. Vick alleges she was told to leave the class during a manic episode, despite not acting aggressively [the November 1, 2019, Allegation No. 1]

[10] On November 1, 2019, Ms. Vick alleges a teacher made fun of one of her disabilities by asking if she was manic in a joking and sarcastic way [the November 1, 2019, Allegation No. 2]

[11] On June 1, 2021, Ms. Vick alleges a teacher who was aware of her disabilities acted in a hostile manner when she was unable to finish her homework on time following a “mixed episode”. Ms. Vick says the teacher later told her in an email that it was not discrimination to refuse an accommodation. Finally, Ms. Vick alleges the teacher later dismissed the class 40 minutes early preventing her from doing a mandatory presentation, which resulted in her failing the class [the June 1, 2021, Allegation].

[12] On September 9, 2021, Ms. Vick filed a complaint against the Ministry of Education alleging it neglected to make reasonable adjustments in how it provided education to those with mental illnesses, including herself, which would reduce the negative effects of mental illness on education outcomes. Ms. Vick alleges teachers’ lack the training related to teaching students with mental disabilities. She also alleges teachers failed to identify children with disabilities needing to be referred for an assessment of their diagnosis. Finally, teachers failed children with mental disabilities as they did not know the options for accommodating their disabilities.

Advocate #2

Child K (by Ehmke) and another v. Queen of All Saints School and another

Here are the allegations:

(37) Child K has a chronic health condition which impacts her ability to do certain tasks in a classroom, including writing. Mrs. Ehmke alleges that, throughout grade 2, her teacher failed to provide necessary classroom accommodations to meet Child K’s disability-related needs. She says that she asked the School to provide Child K with an Individualized Education Plan [IEP], but the School took the position that Child K was not entitled to one because her needs were being met through classroom adaptations. Towards the end of the school year, Mrs. Ehmke asked the School to apply for a Ministry of Education funding designation for Child K. The School declined to pursue a designation at that time. It said that it would address the issue in the fall of 2018, when the applications to the Ministry were due.

(38) Mrs. Ehmke says that, throughout the year, Child K’s school-related anxiety was escalating because her disability-related needs were not being met. On April 24, 2018, Child K stopped attending School because of that anxiety. She never returned. The following year, Child K enrolled in a public school, where she received a Ministry designation and an IEP.

This was an anonymization decision. The child and the parent were fighting to be named and name the school. The tribunal took caution and decided to name the parent and the school, and said that when she is an adult she can decide if she wants to change her name on this decision. It is noted in the decision,

[11] In consenting to anonymize and limit publication of Child K’s name, Mrs. Ehmke is clear that her purpose is to preserve Child K’s right to choose, when she is old enough, whether to make her identity in this complaint process public to people outside their school and faith communities. Mrs. Ehmke describes Child K as a person who is “activist-minded” and is used to advocating for herself in connection with her disabilities. She says that it is not helpful for Child K to keep her disabilities invisible, and that most people within their school and faith communities are already aware of the circumstances giving rise to this complaint. These submissions are important to understand Mrs. Ehmke’s position about whether to extend anonymization orders and publication bans to other people involved in the complaint.

[12] I anonymize and order a ban on publication of Child K’s name in connection with this complaint, unless or until Child K identifies herself as a party to this complaint after she is 19 years old, in which case the publication ban will cease.

It takes a lot of bravery to break through the stigma attached to anxiety and be a role model to others. Both child and Mom have paved a path by this decision.

Advocate #3

Student (by Parent) v. School District, 2023 BCHRT 237

[2] I commend the Student for her participation in this difficult process. She gave evidence that was helpful, straightforward, and credible, and which I have relied on to decide this case. I also thank the Parent and representatives of the District for their hard work and sensitivity in presenting their respective cases.

[114] Finally – a note for the Student. It was apparent to me in this hearing that there are many caring adults invested in the Student’s wellbeing and development. She is an impressive young person with a sophisticated understanding of herself and her needs, and a Parent who is proactively equipping her with the tools she will need to continue her success into adulthood. I congratulate her on all that she has achieved, and wish her the best with what is to come.

Testifying can be intimidating and stressful for adults. She chose to speak up and talk about her experience. By doing so, this decision was written. This decision brought meaningful inquiry into the duty to accommodate and other advancements in The Code.

Advocate #4

Bigam by MacDonald v. Board of Education of School District No. 23 (Central Okanagan) and others, 2024 BCHRT 288

Given that the tribunal is always overly cautious about protecting the identity of minors, I assume that the teenager wanted to be named.

If that is true then ALL 3 advocates wanted to be named in their complaints.

Here are the allegations made by Advocate #3.

[1] Faith Bigam, who has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis [MS], was in Grade 11 when a teacher allegedly prevented her from presenting during a school assembly at which she had been slated to speak [assembly incident]. In her complaint, she alleges that the teacher (Kathryn Lafontaine), the school principal (Kathy Weninger), and the school district discriminated against her based on mental and physical disability in the area of services contrary to s. 8 of the Human Rights Code by preventing her from speaking and by mishandling the assembly incident after it occurred. She says that because of these events, she was unable to return to school and ultimately lost out on important social and educational opportunities.

[7] According to Ms. Bigam, she was concerned that she would be bullied at George Elliot should the students there find out that she had MS. Ms. Bigam says that in Grade 11 she missed a lot of school due to health issues, which made it difficult to maintain her friendships. She says that she found it anxiety provoking to go to school. Despite these concerns, however, and with the encouragement of one of her teachers, Leslie Plummer, Ms. Bigam decided in early March 2019 to talk to the school about MS and living with MS. Ms. Bigam says: “I finally realized that it was important to me to talk about MS and to spread awareness about it in a positive way at school…” Ms. Bigam “thought it would be beneficial to the school, and to me and others like me.”

Another child and parent paving the path by exposing their complaint to the public.

**********

Learning to advocate for yourself and feeling the confidence and bravery to stand up for yourself does not come easy. Especially when you grow up in an ableist society and you are given these micro messages all day long that your rights are less than.

I can’t say how impressed I am that these four are speaking up for themselves and using their experience as examples for others to learn from and advance the human rights code. Just by having these decisions published for the public to witness and learn from is worthy advocacy. An interesting trend, they are determined to name themselves and the school districts. Is that due to anger? Justice seeking? There is so much stigma about mental health and disability and these four are pushing the boundaries on what can be talked about and not remain hidden. I wish all four of these students all the best and many many many thanks!

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

“It depends…”

People want to know what navigating the human rights tribunal system is going to be like for them. If it is going to be a lot work, or how many hours they will they need to have available for them to do it.

It all depends.

It depends on what your goals are.

Do you want a settlement for your child with specific remedies for them? For example, more EA support, a new school district policy, and/or settlement money. Currently, with the complaint process, the settlement meeting option is coming before anything else. Document disclosure, applications, case conferences, etc. Those all come after if the settlement meeting didn’t bring the parties together on an agreement.

If you want to take your case to a hearing, now we are talking about a whole other level. You are going to need to self-educate yourself more.

Everyone’s experience isn’t exactly the same and their cases aren’t exactly the same. Some parents are absolutely LIVID and that anger propels them forward into action. Some people are sad about how everything has unfolded, and they just want this to be over and move on. Some people need certain things to happen in order for them to move on. I find it also depends if you are in a public school or a private school. If you have a lawyer or if you are self-representing. It depends if your child is still in the school or if you have already pulled them out. It also depends very much on the complexity of your case, and how much learning you are going to need to do. Some people fear retaliation, while others see this process as protecting their child from retaliation. It also depends on who you are as a person and how much experience you have navigating systems. Some people have already been self-representing themselves in family court and so they already know how to regulate their emotions and go through the system. Their confidence levels are higher. Some people have support systems and are already part of advocacy groups, and/or they have other forms of emotional support in place. It all depends on so many factors. Some people navigating the tribunal system have had experiences of closure and peace, feeling heard. Others have felt it didn’t bring what they were looking for and it was a waste of time. For some people it feels like a big deal to file a human rights complaint, other people don’t think anything of it, just do it, and carry on in their day. It all depends.

There are a few common themes in people who file human rights complaints, that I have seen so far.

They want change. They never want another child to experience what their child did. They want to change the education system.
They want accountability. Having these people get away with what they did, they cannot accept. Part of this, I have noticed, is that people fear that they will just keep doing what they are doing and so this does come back to point #1, and not wanting another child to have the same experience.
They want to be seen and heard. Having their child pushed off to the side, discarded as unimportant, just eats them away. Many of these parents have been receiving nothing but the silent treatment and filing a human rights complaint is a way of saying, HELLO!

Sometimes people want to know everything before they start something. Others feel it’s better to not know everything and just do it. Deal with things as they come up. For example, some people want to go to business school to learn how to start a business and some people just do it. It’s very interesting how people approach things.

What I do want to say is that you can’t depend on your experience being like someone else’s. It really can be so different depending on so many factors.

It’s impossible to predict the future. I don’t know what this experience is going to be like for you. One thing that I think is true for everyone, is that you will learn more bout yourself by navigating this system. You’ll find out where your boundary lines are, and what triggers you and moves you forward. Or, what you are willing to live with. I think there is potential for it to be an interesting journey, nonetheless. Advocacy always is.

FOI and Human Rights Costs, Systemic Bullying.

Hey Parent(s)/Guardians,

Are you curious as to how much the school district was willing to spend on fighting you in the human rights tribunal system?

You can submit an FOI and find out.

This is a case where the parents of a Deaf child won a human rights complaint. When they were done they submitted an FOI request (Freedom of Information), and they found out that the school district spent $681,917.00 on legal fees to oppose them.

They won $150,000.00

Here is the newspaper article.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/carter-churchill-nlesd-human-rights-complaint-payments-1.6852768

“Todd and Kimberly Churchill filed an access-to-information request with the school board following their win at the province’s human rights tribunal in March. They discovered the district had spent $681,917 on legal fees to oppose the family’s complaints dating back to 2017, when Carter was in kindergarten.”

“In the end, the human rights commission ruled the district violated Carter’s human rights by not offering him an education in American Sign Language and ordered the school board to pay an additional $150,000 to the Churchill family.“

“I think it’s completely disgusting, because the Department of Education will say there’s no money for teachers, no money for supports, no money for children with exceptionalities,” said Todd Churchill. “But yet there’s money, almost three-quarters of a million dollars … to defend the discrimination of a five-year-old deaf child in a wheelchair.”

I have written blogs before about how much money is being spent on human rights complaints. I have done a couple of FOI requests with the Ministry of Finance to get access to the information.

The Ministry of Education doesn’t even track this kind of information. They are being told how much the district’s legal fees are, but how much of that is human rights complaints against families, they don’t know. Or won’t tell.

Read here. The Financial Cost of Human Rights Complaints in Education

I have also started tracking lawyers’ fees in general, mostly focusing on the school districts in the Lower Mainland. You can obtain all of the information from their SOFI reports that they have to publicly post on their district website.

2022-2023 School Year	*I didn’t include cents
SD	Legal Fees	SOFI Link
Vancouver	799, 700	https://media.vsb.bc.ca/media/Default/medialib/2022-2023-statement-of-financial-information.69747169697.pdf
Burnaby	206,471	https://burnabyschools.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/SOFI-2023-webcopy.pdf
Surrey	76,628	https://media.surreyschools.ca/media/Default/medialib/2022-2023-sofi-statement-of-financial-information.bafc72163618.pdf
Coquitlam	118,861	https://www.sd43.bc.ca/District/Departments/Finance/Financial%20Statements/2022-23%20Statement%20of%20Financial%20Information.pdf
Richmond	50,025	https://sd38.bc.ca/sites/default/files/2024-01/SOFI%202023_Redacted.pdf
Delta	43,830	https://www.deltasd.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/SD37-SOFI-2022-2023.pdf
North Van	142,542	https://www.sd44.ca/Board/BudgetFinancialInformation/Documents/Statement%20of%20Financial%20Information%20-%20June%2030%2c%202023%20signed%20for%20web.pdf
Victoria	58,715	https://www.sd61.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/91/2023/11/2022-2023-Statement-of-Financial-Information-redacted.pdf
2023-2024 School Year
SD	Legal Fees
Vancouver	3,204,911	https://media.vsb.bc.ca/media/Default/medialib/open-finance-and-personnel-agenda-2024-nov-13.4b231d77311.pdf
Burnaby	386,871	https://burnabyschools.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SOFI-2024-webcopy.pdf
Surrey	94,477	https://media.surreyschools.ca/media/Default/medialib/2023-2024-sofi-statement-of-financial-information.e9dc73180780.pdf
Coquitlam	256,354	https://www.sd43.bc.ca/District/Departments/Finance/Financial%20Statements/2023-24%20Statement%20of%20Financial%20Information.pdf
Richmond	32,885	https://sd38.bc.ca/sites/default/files/2024-12/Final%20SOFI%202324_Redacted.pdf
Delta	53,802	https://district.public.deltasd.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/12/SD37-SOFI-2023-2024.pdf
North Van	313,220	https://www.sd44.ca/Board/BudgetFinancialInformation/Documents/Statement%20of%20Financial%20Information%20-%20June%2030%2c%202024%20-%20for%20web.pdf
Victoria	57,521	https://www.sd61.bc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/91/2024/11/2023-2024-Statement-of-Financial-Information_Redacted.pdf

(**Human rights cases can take years, so when high numbers are back to back, that looks interesting to me. Not all legal fees are human rights complaints against families.)

I bet the school district in N. L never saw Kim and Todd Churchill coming.

“The family said the school was “dismissive” of their concerns and repeatedly said he was receiving a quality education, despite being in an environment where he could not communicate. They were afraid for his well-being, they said, and he was socially isolated because he was unable to communicate with his peers and teachers.“

Sound familiar?

It’s quite ironic to me that school districts tout all these anti-bullying messages and messages of kindness and yet, this is the kind of stuff that they are famous for across the country.

So for anyone interested, FOI away!! You can always do an FOI to the Ministry of Finance at the same time, and see what you get. If they refuse to give it to you, you can file a complaint with OIPC and see what the OIPC thinks about that.

Tag: Advocacy