BCEdAccess Society

November 7, 2024

Dear Honourable David Eby, Premier,

Congratulations on renewing your mandate as Premier of British Columbia! We recognize the progress made during your first term and through John Horgan’s government and specifically within the Ministry of Education and Child Care.

Building off your progress, and as one of several inclusion-seeking organizations within our education system, BCEdAccess Society requests that the Minister of Education and Child Care’s mandate letter explicitly include four tangible actions that will have the greatest positive impact for all students and staff within our public education system. They are:

1. Recognizing that human rights override professional autonomy, we want to ensure educators are better positioned to support inclusion and their duty to accommodate students. As such, we request
   a. the release of the newest Inclusive Education Policy Manual, AND
   b. a specific series of mandatory professional education or in-service training for all
   principals, vice-principals, teachers and education assistants that cover the duty to
   accommodate and practical application of what inclusion and accommodation looks like
   in the classroom.
   
2. Standards of practice for education assistants. There has already been consultation but little
   movement towards this body of work. We must move forward in support of the well-being and
   safety of all staff and students. The impact of standards will support hiring and retention efforts for districts across the province. And this speaks directly to the platform promise to add a well-trained education assistant to every K-3 classroom.
   
3. Increase funding to support students that have not yet received a designation or diagnosis
   beyond that of adding an education assistant to each K-3 classroom and contractually obligated
   increases. Districts are not able to adequately support students based on the current funding for designations and are spreading these dollars to support students without designations, leaving everyone without the adequate support they require to their equitably access their education.
   
   Please refer to the supporting information on the following pages.
   
   BCEdAccess Society is here to support you, Premier, as well as the new Minister of Education and Child Care in your quest for equitable access to education for all students in BC. While we keep this letter brief, know that we are here to support these mandate letter requests and help implement them in coordination with the different affected parties inside and outside of government.
   
   We also welcome a conversation at your earliest convenience to address any questions, concerns or on best ways to work together. Let’s work together.
   
   Sincerely,
   
   BCEdAccess Society Board of Directors
   

Supporting information

Human rights claims:

We recognize there are finite financial resources to support any one ministry. We also recognize the financial implication of the increased human rights claim payments.

Exclusion:

BCEdAccess Society asked our community to document incidents of their child’s exclusion since 2018. Exclusion noted in the data is due to lack of available and adequate support or due to lack of understanding of the duty to accommodate and the right of the child to an equitable access to education.

Note: We recognize our tracker does not represent all of the incidents throughout the Province and that while these numbers are unacceptable, they are only a portion of the actual exclusion incidents.

WorkSafeBC claims:

There are serious physical and psychological implications of inadequate classroom support for education assistants. This data also highlights the trepidation of people wanting to join the profession as well as the continued retention issues. The financial impacts continue to increase by staggering amounts.

Notes:
● There is a drop in claims and days lost during COVID but the increasing trend continues once school is fully
operational.
● Source of injury – People – is used in all data provided.
● In all claim types, except one, the source of injury ranked highest is People.