Laura Track is a human rights lawyer with Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS) with excellent knowledge and perspective on human rights in education. We hope you will be able to come learn and participate at AdvoCon2020, our 6th education advocacy conference held September 17th to 23rd online, with recordings available after to ticket holders.
Laura is a human rights lawyer and the Director of Education in CLAS’s Human Rights Clinic. She advocates on behalf of people who have experienced discrimination and assists complainants to navigate BC’s human rights process. Laura also has a strong interest in making legal knowledge accessible. She delivers workshops and presentations to a wide variety of audiences to help people understand their human rights and comply with their legal obligations.
Laura earned her law degree from UBC in 2006, and holds a Masters in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University.
Prior to joining CLAS, Laura worked with several other legal non-profits in Vancouver, learning much along the way about the law’s potential to advance equality and social justice. She is on the Advisory Committee of the Rise Women’s Legal Centre and a volunteer yoga teacher and Board Chair of Yoga Outreach, a charity providing free yoga classes to disadvantaged communities.
Education as a Human Right
You will learn:
-Your rights
-Your child’s rights
-Legal advocacy do’s and don’ts for parents of children with special needs
You know your child best. But how well do you know the school system? Or the legal system defining your child’s educational rights? This workshop will help give you a clearer understanding of your child’s right to access education along with information about how you can enforce those rights when things go sideways, as they often do.
Join BCEdAccess chair Tracy Humphreys for an overview of advocacy steps during typical times and during the COVID-19 pandemic. We hope you will be able to come learn and participate at AdvoCon2020, our 6th education advocacy conference held September 17th to 23rd online, with recordings available after to ticket holders.
Tracy has ADHD and is a parent to three children with disabilities. An entrepreneur in her business life, she has also been an active volunteer in BC schools for over 20 years and was awarded the 2019 Victoria Community Leadership Award in Lifelong Learning by BC’s Lieutenant Governor Janet Austin. She is currently the founder and chair of the BCEdAccess Society, advocating for equitable access to education for children and youth with disabilities.
Advocacy During A Pandemic
In this session, we’ll go over basic steps and tips to advocate for your child or youth with disabilities in K-12 education. I’ll explain their rights and your rights as a parent/guardian, and I’ll share the specific guidance to school Districts from the Ministry of Education during Covid-19.
You will learn:
About the complaints and advocacy process in the BC K-12 education system
About student and parent rights
About the Covid-19 specific guidelines to School Districts from the Ministry of Education
Learn more about advocacy and conflict resolution at:
Join this session to learn about recommendations generated from various educational stakeholders that call for the provincial government to establish a standard of practice for education assistants in B.C. We hope you will be able to come learn and participate at AdvoCon2020, our 6th education advocacy conference held September 17th to 23rd online, with recordings available after to ticket holders.
Cindy Dalglish is well-known education advocate supporting true investment into our education system. As a vocal advocate, Cindy continues to present and push all levels of government to increase financial support and update education policy with a focus on the K-12 system. In her professional capacity, Cindy is an instructional designer, curriculum developer, and post-secondary instructor across a broad spectrum of programs and topics. She holds a BA in Communications from Royal Roads University.
Ryan Kappmeier has dedicated over fifteen years of his career to working with marginalized and diverse learners in education and youth justice systems in B.C. and Ontario. Leveraging experiential learning tools and positive behaviour interventions, Ryan has supported a variety of educational programs including outdoor adventure therapy, day treatment, and traditional elementary and high school classrooms. He holds a Master of Arts in Educational Leadership and Management from Royal Roads University, where he focused on a re-envisioning of the role that education assistants can play in improving outcomes for underserved learners in B.C
Setting the standard for Education Assistants in B.C.
This session will explore recommendations generated from various educational stakeholders that call for the provincial government to establish a standard of practice for education assistants in B.C. We will share insights into current EA training policies, which risk increasing educational inequities for underserved learners and explore opportunities for leveraging research findings from international jurisdictions to propose solutions for systems improvement.
You will learn:
– The history and current status of efforts to implement EA standards in BC.
– That employment requirements to be an EA across BC are varied and with the current on-going shortage of EAs, school districts are implementing in-house training programs ranging in length from 4-6 months and recently a 2-week bridging program.
– About international research and evidence demonstrating the need for a standard of practice for EAs to ensure diverse learners receive an equitable education to that of their neurotypical peers.
This amazing discussion will be led by Andréa Coutu, who will be joined by entrepreneurs and leaders to discuss gender roles and systemic oppression. We hope you will be able to come learn and participate at AdvoCon2020, our 6th education advocacy conference held September 17th to 23rd online, with recordings available after to ticket holders.
Andréa Coutu, MBA, is the CEO of Trustmode Marketing, an entrepreneurship coaching and consulting company that works with small businesses, incubators and accelerators and non-profits to build businesses. She is also the founder of Consultant Journal, a leading resource for independent consultants, and she is the author of Consulting Fees: A Guide for Independent Consultants. Andréa has taught for SFU, UBC and other universities, been interviewed by national and local media, and written for outlets ranging from local magazines to USA Today. Andréa works from a trauma-informed model and leans into both her professional and lived experience. She is the mother of two teen boys and has navigated education, health care, social services and other systems, while somehow making a lot of friends.
Work & Economic Justice for Parents/Guardians
I’m running a panel on Work & Economic Justice, featuring Paulina Cameron (CEO of @fwecanada), @fly_consulting’s Galen Hutcheson, other folx and me. So excited to have a diverse panel on work as justice doing, holding space, human rights & economic input. #bcedhttps://t.co/zkyoi7aruT
Image of conference schedule with workshop names, dates and time
The schedule is out and the week is packed! Casual coffee connections, 16 workshops, 2 panels, 1 feature presenter and a birthday party is a lot to take in! So first let’s get this out of the way – if you can’t come to all of them, as long as you have a ticket you’ll be able to access the recordings after.
10:30 am Conference Opening with emcee Heidi Vinois
This live session will introduce BCEdAccess and what we do, and lay out how the conference works, community agreements, how to tech, and talk about the great sessions and prizes!
Join Tracy Humphreys, founder and chair of the BCEdAccess Society, as she talks about the advocacy process in K-12 education and the impact of COVID-19.
6:30 pm Work and Economic Justice – panel
Andréa Coutu of TrustMode Marketing and Consulting leads a panel discussion.
Erika Cedillo and Karla Verschoor of Inclusion BC and Jenn Newby and Nicole Kaler of BCEdAccess, co-present a workshop and training seminar to share the BCEdAccess Exclusion Tracker data with your school district.
Enjoy an evening of fun and trivia with your fellow BCEdAccess supporters! Trivia winners will receive an assortment of fabulous prizes, including our always coveted swag!
Join John Gaiptman of BCCPAC to learn how the School Act provides parents/guardians with the right to appeal any decision they feel significantly affects the education, health or safety of the student.
1:00 pm workshop Embrace Your Story
Explore how to create communities of belonging with principal Lisa Wallace and Madeline Kean, person with diverse abilities.
Dr. Kathryn Garforth will share a workshop for parents and professionals who would like to find out how they can support the reading development for individuals with exceptionalities.
Laura Track is a human rights lawyer and the Director of Education in CLAS’s Human Rights Clinic. She joins us with a workshop on human rights in the BC K-12 education system.
Moms Against Racism convenes a panel discussion that delves into the intersection of race and disability for students in the BC education system, intended to help reimagine education that is best for each child’s needs.
Coffee connections are a casual Zoom get together – see old friends and make new ones, chat casually or around a general theme
1030 am workshop Harnessing the Power of Storytelling
Author and advocate Cynthia Lockrey will help participants feel more confident, prepared and focused when sharing their stories in situations like conversations with family members, healthcare providers, educators and more.
1:00 pm Building an Accessible World
Tracy Humphreys presents a workshop written by @mssinenomine about making inclusive space for learning and living.
6:30 pm Students and Self-Advocacy
Student self advocates speak, and self-advocacy organization BC People First wraps up by presenting their self-advocacy tool.
7:20 pm Conference Closing
Let’s chat together and wrap up this amazing event!
This BCEdAccess fundraiser will be a chance to spend time with founder and chair Tracy Humphreys and celebrate her birthday!
Tracy will be joined by board secretary and queen of swag Chantelle Morvay-Adams, and our host and emcee the amazing Tamara Taggart!
Tamara Taggart
Tamara Taggart is a community leader, activist, veteran broadcaster, cancer survivor, mother, and former candidate in the 2019 Canadian election. Born and raised in Vancouver, she is a community leader who advocates for others and raises much-needed funds for many important causes. Throughout her career as a broadcaster on local television, radio and digital media, Tamara earned her place as a trusted voice for people in Vancouver. She has focused two decades’ of volunteer efforts on health care and the well-being of children and people with disabilities.
Tamara and her husband Dave have three children—son Beckett and daughters Zoë and Poppy. They also share their home with George their Airedale Terrier, Penelope their sweet rescue dog , and rescue cats Broccoli and Brussel Sprout.
Enjoy an evening of fun and trivia with your fellow BCEdAccess supporters! Winners will receive an assortment of fabulous prizes, including our always coveted swag!
This event will take place online, so you don’t even need to leave your house and you can wear your favourite jammies or loungewear to join the fun. It’s a part of #AdvoCon2020 but you can attend just this event by buying a ticket.
Ticket sales are by donation so choose your price and help us raise funds to support the activities of the BCEdAccess Society!
Annual Survey Shows Increased Exclusion of Children with Disabilities from Schools
BRITISH COLUMBIA–July 22, 2020–BCEdAccess has released the results of its 2019/20 Exclusion Tracker. The total number of parent reports of exclusion of BC K-12 students with disabilities increased by 179% over last year, from 492 to 883.
The survey results show that access to education continues to be an issue for BC children and youth with disabilities and the pandemic made the inequity worse. The discrimination even impacted some frontline Essential Service workers, who were denied child care. In April, only 20% of survey respondents said they were offered educational assistant support for their child. Several also noted that their School Districts had already offered their child’s educational assistant alternative work.
From a parent: “His EA felt pressure to do child care for essential workers’ children or risk being out of work so she is doing that. She is video conferencing with my son twice weekly for 20 minutes each on her own time to keep the connection with him.”
In May, nearly a third of respondents stated that no support had been provided from their School Districts when we asked about receiving child care, education, food, mental health, respite, technology, or tutoring.
From a parent: “My child requires full support in all aspects of daily living. Getting 20 minutes of video conference support to learn basics (numbers/letters) is not working.”
From a parent: “Had to email all the way up the chain and copy trustees to get my child access to 4 hours/week of in person instruction.”
“It is tragic that so many of our children were left behind by their schools during the Covid-19 crisis,” said Nicole Kaler, a senior Board member of BCEdAccess. “These exclusions have increased the traumatic impact of the pandemic. There is some time to plan and we want school districts to learn from these documented failures and make changes in September.”
Since March, all students with disabilities had the same option to attend school full time as the children of Essential Service workers yet the majority of survey respondents who wanted full-time schooling said that they were not receiving it. Even in June when schools reopened for all students, only 11.9% of respondents’ children were attending full time.
BCEdAccess also learned from a few survey responses and other correspondence, that several families were never informed about their right to have full time schooling. In May, of the letters provided from 14 different school Districts only 3 mentioned that full time, in person attendance was an option for students with disabilities. The other 11 Districts did not include this information.
Jenn Newby, parent and co-author of the final report says “Two years into tracking exclusion and a global pandemic later, we are seeing this tsunami of inequity and denied access to education. All I can think is, what are the long term effects of ongoing exclusion going to be on children like ours? Where is the accountability?”
Founded in 2014 by a small group of parents struggling to get their kids support at school, BCEdAccess has grown to over 2700 community members. We work to effect the change needed for all BC youth and children to have equitable access to education.
BCEdAccess will continue to provide grassroots support to families by hosting their 6th Education Advocacy Conference virtually, from Sep 17th to 23rd. The conference will provide information about the process of advocacy in the BC Education system and inspire parents by creating the space for advocates and allies from across BC to connect, share and support one another..
The Exclusion Tracker is a parent survey that has run for the last two years, tracking the exclusion of children with disabilities from the BC education system. This report represents the combination of the regular annual survey conducted from September 2019 to March 2020, and three respective “snapshots” (April 8, May 4, June 10) taken after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
On March 30th, BC school and District staff went back to work in most Districts. They began, in varying ways, to follow the guiding principles cited by the Ministry of Education in their FAQ:
Maintain a healthy and safe environment for all students and families and all employees.
Provide services to support children of essential workers.
Support vulnerable students who may need special assistance.
Provide continuity of educational opportunities for all students.
As the first 2 weeks progressed, different both positive and challenging results began to emerge. On Thursday, April 8th, we ran a survey with the intention of measuring how parents and guardians of students with disabilities and complex learners feel about how things are going so far. We received 209 responses.
We want to begin by recognizing the hard work by schools, Districts and the Ministry of Education, the unique nature of this challenge which no one has ever had to deal with before, and the fact that the Minister of Education has asked that School districts and independent school authorities put in place learning opportunities for students as soon as practically possible, no later than mid-April – and we have yet to arrive at that date. We have watched educators put together crisis learning while still managing families of their own. Many teachers and educational assistants also have children with disabilities. It’s a challenge unlike any we have ever faced before.
Who is represented by this survey?
This survey was shared in our Facebook community group which has about 2600 members. It was shared outside of the group by a few people so there was some limited response from families not part of the Facebook group. All responses are from families of children and youth with disabilities and complex learners in BC.
The survey was open from noon until 9 pm and was completed for 209 individual students.
All grades are represented.
35 districts – the Island, lower mainland, central, and the North are represented
Independent schools and Independent Distributed Learning schools, registered homeschoolers, At Home Program and more are represented
13.5% asked to be contacted for additional advocacy support. In reading the details, several have urgent needs that have not yet been addressed by Education or the Ministry of Children & Family Development.
Some key findings:
About 57% of respondents are still working in some way. Some are essential services workers, from front line health care to grocery store managers. Some are teachers trying to teach from home with children of their own. Many parents and guardians are working from home.
Are you currently working at a paid or volunteer position?
Over 3/4 of respondents have two or more children living at home with them. Nearly 27% of parents and guardians do not have a partner living with them.
How many children do you have at home?
Do you have a partner living with you?
Schools and districts have reached many families since March 30th – nearly 87% of respondents had heard from someone by April 8th. Only 27.8% had heard from their child’s educational assistant, who is often the key connection they have at school and the one who spends the most time with them. Additionally only 6.7% had heard from a counselor. Several families have heard from specialists: occupational therapists,speech and language pathologists, learning support teachers, gifted coordinator, vision teacher, deafblind consultant, and more.
Nearly 60% were offered educational support, while only 12.4% were offered mental health support. Some of those who have heard from someone have only received a generic email so far.
Only 20% of respondents said they have been offered educational assistant support. Several have noted that their educational assistant has been offered work doing childcare for front line essential service workers, unfortunately in some cases before the school or district has checked in with their family. This is one of the top concerns of families at this time.
Have you heard from anyone at the school or district about your child with disabilities since March 30th?
Technology Needs:
Approximately 20 percent of respondents do not have reliable access to the internet/regular access to a device to connect to the internet. Other challenges cited include broken, incompatible and shared devices, different teachers using different platforms, high cost of internet service (including satellite only access), and students who cannot or will not use technology independently.
Does your child have reliable internet access and regular access to a device to connect to the internet?
“He is not able to access online learning due to his needs. He has a device and has access to the internet but he can’t use it independently.”
“He gets overstimulated by technology (iPads, computers, TV) and not adequate for learning.”
“My three kids are sharing the iPad”
Communication:
So far, experience with communications from the school and/or district have been mixed. Many very positive experiences and many who are anxious because they have heard nothing so far, and everything in between. Those families who were already having challenges with advocacy are in some cases still having the same, while others have been pleasantly surprised.
“I am writing this because our school is amazing and has been in constant contact and offering support – I am picking up educational packages today for my two school aged kids (K and 2) and they are also putting together a package of specialized stuff that they are making right now even though I offered to do it. Our teachers have all called, we did a Zoom meeting before it was banned, we did FaceTime with our amazing EAs, and we are working on Microsoft Team. Our Grade 2 teacher is posting online class videos for the kids and also says do what you can and don’t worry about it. I fully realize that our school is an abnormality and I hope other schools are able to see what is possible. We specifically chose this school (out of catchment) because of the amazing staff.”
“We were having daily video communications with his EA and then the District put a stop to that, which resulted in an increase in anxiety and non-compliance and vocal protests. The teacher reached out via email the next day to ask us to set up MS Teams. The principal called a few days later stating that his EA was going to be doing childcare for essential workers’ children so they assigned a different support person to my son who spent the last two years building the relationship with his current EA.”
“The school is great but there’s not relevant support being offered for my severely disabled child.”
Educational Assistant Support:
We asked whether families felt their child needed the support of an educational assistant, and how and why. This generated many responses. The majority of respondents have not been offered this support. Families told us that educational assistants are needed by students for personal care, sign language, literacy and numeracy support, self-regulation, executive function support, and more.
Families said that the need for that consistency of connection between children and youth and their educational assistants during this traumatic time is greater than ever than ever.
Has your child been offered Educational Assistant support?
“He is having a hard time adjusting to everything but his EA has been wonderful with him and we have been working with her since Monday. “
“ASD/Complex learner.. Has 1 to 1 support at school. I am unable to support as I am dealing with my own mental health issues and am on disability. The schools needs to guide him in whatever capacity, as I don’t have the energy.”
“Yes. He had a 1:1 EA while in school and needs to continue that relationship for continuing his learning. I am not an educational professional and he needs that support for certain learning activities.”
My son had bell to bell EA in school and cannot navigate instructions on his own. He has a big detailed support plan at school and several staff members who help through the day. I just cannot do it all myself while also working full time, I find it all overwhelming so I can only imagine how he feels.”
“For all academic output – math, reading, scribing, planning, organizing, comprehension of material/breaking down complex information. Our child has challenges with executive functioning and emotional regulation.”
“He has trouble reading & writing. His self esteem is low & he thinks he’s stupid. Tutoring for funds to pay for an online program that works for him would absolutely make a marked difference in his successes next school year. Hi current EA has made such amazing progress & now he loses it. No support is available because he’s not disabled enough.”
“He wants to do what his peers are doing and is very aware he cannot right now.”
“EA is available online. Child only works through physical connection. Can’t deal with online connection. Too much of an adjustment.”
“We use full body communication and the EA knows his learning needs best.”
“My child resists me as his teacher. I am his parent. He needs prompting, direction, OT, reinforcement. I can’t accomplish all these roles. A simple art exercise resulted in tears. My child needs his EA.”
What do families need right now?
Finally, we asked the question, “What do your child and family need from schools during this pandemic?” We received too many responses to list. Here is a summary of just a few commonly cited needs:
Counselling/mental health support
Respite
Curriculum, inclusion, community & connection
Patience and LOW or NO expectations
To not be forgotten about
In Conclusion:
As an advocacy organization, we see one of our roles as checking in with our community members and providing data to stakeholders and the public as part of the ongoing conversation around the needs of families.
This report establishes that education has responded swiftly to the pandemic and has had some success in supporting families of students with disabilities and complex learners. The report also shows that there are ongoing large gaps in meeting the needs of families equitably within this crisis learning environment. We implore the government to look at this data in full and make necessary adjustments in line with the guidance already provided to Districts to ensure all families’ needs are being met. The Ministry needs to communicate these gaps and the Ministry of Education’s expectations around closing them clearly and directly with all Districts.
Essential service workers are vital and the support for their children are of equal importance to those students who are ‘vulnerable and need special assistance’. It has been disconcerting for families to know their EAs have been taken away without notice to care for other children, in particular because of the need to keep their child connected to the familiar supports they would have access to in the classroom. While we understand the uniqueness of the circumstances, we must react swiftly under these same circumstances to advocate for these supports to continue before they are lost. The first and fourth guiding principles include “all students.” BCEdAccess exists to continually remind that children and youth with disabilities and complex learners are part of the “all” in those statements.
At BCEdAccess, we believe that self-advocacy is the lens through which parents and guardians – and educators and policy makers – can learn the most about what students with disabilities need in education, in BC and beyond.
This year, the United Nations theme for #HumanRightsDay (December 10th) is Youth Standing Up For Human Rights.
Youth participation is essential to achieve sustainable development for all.
Participation in public life is a fundamental principle of human rights. Young people are seeking to participate in all decisions that have a direct and indirect impact upon their wellbeing. They need to be heard to inform more effective decision-making and achieve sustainable development for all.
Youth can play a crucial role in positive change.
Young people have always been major drivers of political, economic and social transformation. They are at the forefront of grassroots mobilizations for positive change and bring fresh ideas and solutions for a better world.
Empowering youth to better know and claim their rights will generate benefits globally.
Young people are often marginalized and encounter difficulties in accessing and enjoying their rights because of their age. Upholding their rights and empowering them to better know and claim them will generate benefits globally.”
From involving our children in their Individual Education Plan meetings to the youth self-advocate panel at our annual AdvoCon event and in our work with BC People First, we believe in elevating youth voices in their drive to access their human right to education.
Please watch this video created by BC self-advocate Damon Kirsebom. (follow him on Instagram @ damonkirsebom )
It articulates very well the history, and the international, national and local context of education for students with disabilities. It talks about current issues of exclusion and discrimination. It outlines his own experiences. And he asks,
“Will you walk with me?” Stand up for human rights, today and every day.
Thanks to Family Support Institute we’re going on the road – virtually, that is! Regional Network Coordinators (RNC’s) around the province are organizing remote conference events. Folks will get together to view and participate in the workshops, and to connect together in person with other local people!
We’re really grateful for the support of Family Support Institute to be able to provide this additional option, and we hope to expand on this to more communities at each future conference event. Other locations in the works this October include Kelowna and Victoria. Contact Family Support Institute if you are looking for a session in your area.
