To the editor:
The B.C. Liberals’ failure to get children back into classrooms is disproportionately hurting families of children with special needs.
Anne Bélanger, a constituent of mine, recently approached my office, upset because her son, like all kids in British Columbia, will likely not be back in school Sept. 2. Her eight-year-old son requires a high level of support in child care and in school.
When school is in session, he has the support of an education assistant. In the summer, he attends full-time day care where the government pays for the extra costs associated with his complex level of support.
However, Bélanger recently received a letter telling her the Ministry for Children and Family Development will discontinue provisions to care for children with special needs in the event of continued school closures.
She has been informed that she will now be on the hook for $3,200 per month in additional child-care costs if classes are cancelled in September.
Hundreds of families across B.C., just like Anne’s, will now have to suffer because their kids won’t be in school getting the supports they need.
The B.C. Liberal government says it’s back to bargaining with teachers, but with less than two weeks to go before school is supposed to start, we’re now learning the two parties haven’t recently met face-to-face.
Furthermore, their newly-launched “B.C. Parent Info” website provides no information for parents of students with special needs.
The B.C. Liberals have spent more time bargaining through the media, putting up roadblocks, launching antagonistic websites with no useful information and creating chaos in our education system than actually reaching a deal.
Families of kids with special needs are going to be seriously disadvantaged because they’re not in school where they belong and can get the supports they need.
Judy Darcy
New Westminster NDP MLA
