Boy caught in middle of schooling dispute

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A St. Albert woman and the St. Albert Protestant School District are locking horns over the education of an 11-year-old Native boy.

Francis, whose last name is being withheld at her request, said her grandson has special needs that just aren't being met by the school district.

Eddy, not the boy's real name, has recently been diagnosed with central auditory processing deficit, a disorder that impairs a person's ability to break down words and sounds in his brain. He has been taking special schooling through the St. Albert Protestant School Board, but Francis said it isn't enough.

He's just finished Grade 3, she said, and he's about to turn 12 years old.

Francis has been lobbying the school board to send her grandson to the Heritage School, a division of the Alberta School for the Deaf, where he can get the specific attention he needs. The Heritage School has told the family that Eddy meets the criteria for enrolment, but must have all the transfer paperwork done by September.

The problem, said Francis, is that the St. Albert school board won't allow or pay for a transfer to the special school. The cost of such a transfer, including transportation, would be about $6,000. The board recently turned down Francis' request for the transfer, a decision which the grandmother is appealing to Alberta's Department of Education and Minister Gary Mar.

The boy, she said, is a non-status Indian (his mother is Native and his father is non-Native.) Francis doesn't want to see Eddy end up like so many Native kids who get caught up in the system, but finding support for the fight has been tough, she added.

"To the Indians, he's not Indian, and to the whites, he's not white," she said. "I just want my grandson to get the education he deserves. . . I don't want to see him get lost like too many of the Native kids do who fall through the cracks."

Francis has hired an advocate to help in the fight

Laurie Wilson-Larson, who fights for parents' and children's rights on education issues, said this may be an individual case, but it touches on any taxpayer in the province.

She said the St. Albert school board may already have spent between $11,000 and $33,000 on this case. Wilson-Larson said meetings since May with the school board and Eddy's family means that teachers have to be brought in, substitute teachers contracted, administration fees provided, meeting honorariums paid, and miscellaneous charges tallied.

But the costs don't stop there. At the Alberta Education appeal level, costs could be as much as $1,000 per day for an average 20-day process.

"Alberta Education could have paid the kid to finish high school with the money they are going to spend on this appeal," said Wilson-Larson.

But money is not the only cost, she said. The boy's future is also at stake. Eddy needs fast action if he is going to make the deadline for the Heritage School.

Richard Krenz, district supervisor of student services, said Eddy can be taught in the St. Albert system.

Although he admitted there are no specific programs for students with auditory disorders like Eddy's, Krenz is confident "the schools' [special education classes] can adapt programs to meet the needs of the kids."

Krenz disputed Wilson-Larson's estimations when regarding the cost to the district so far.

"All it costs us is a special board meeting," he said. "Let's say $1,000."

He said the provincial appeal can cost upward of $30,000.

In any decision, he said, money is of little concern.

Krenz said that special education classes cost the St. Albert protestant school system between $7,000 and $8,000 per student per year. It is two and a half times the $3686 per student costs in regular curriculum classes.

Total cost for sending "Eddy" to the Heritage School was put at around $6,000 per year.

"We don't think of money, we think of the kids," he said, adding that if the local district offers a program, why would they pay to send a child to another jurisdiction for a similar program.

"Eddy" has ben in the St. Albert system since kindergarten. He graduated to Grade 1, repeated Grade 1, graduated to Grade 2, then into Grade 3, and then repeated Grade 3. The school board has been offering the young boy speech therapy since Grade 1.

"Eddy's" family has spent the last two years trying to get the boy out of the jurisdiction and into the specialized Heritage School. This is their first appeal to the school board and the province.

Over the last five years, there have only been four other appeals made to the board.

School district trustee Kim Bugeaud said school board members have one important objective in making any decision, including appeals.

"Our policy enables us to focus on the child," she said.

And policy is carefully drafted and followed.

She stands behind any decision the board has made. When asked about special needs programming, Bugeaud said the district offers resources for all the children it serves.

If certain types of programs specific to a student's needs are not available in a school district, more emphasis is now being put on 'sharing' resources with neighboring jurisdictions, she said.

Any decision has only the student's best interests in mind, she emphasized. Money concerns, she said, are present, but are not a factor in decision-making.

Board decisions are based on policy and due process, she said, but that doesn't mean there are no emotions involved.

Many board decisions, and especially the appeals, are difficult situations for all involved, she said. In the end, it is the care of the student that dictates decisions.

"I know there's a lot of care for each and every child that's in that situation," said Bugeaud, herself a mother of school-aged children.

Alberta Education has confirmed that an appeal dealing with Eddy's situation has been initiated, but specific details could not be released.

"We are committed in the department. . . to make sure that everybody involved. . . can get on with the most important thing - the education of the studet," said Gene Smith, public relations officer with Alberta Education.