It’s a painful thing to see your child suffer at school — to get calls telling you to come pick them up because they’ve had an inconsolable meltdown, to be told they’ve bit and punched their teacher, to see them endure panic attacks just at the thought of walking through the school doors.
These are some of the realities for parents of kids who have significant and complicated special needs.
When I first started at the Richmond News, I remember a mom came in wanting to talk to a reporter about her son who had a number of mental health diagnoses (at the time I didn’t even know an 8-year-old could have clinical depression) and had been kicked out of yet another school. I don’t actually remember the story I wrote, but I’ll never forget her sense of desperation.
Our school district is committed to ensuring all students are provided the opportunity to “develop the attitudes, skills and knowledge which will enable them to enjoy a productive and satisfying life and to be positive, responsible participants in our democratic society and the global community,” according to its mission statement.
It’s a laudable goal, and even an achievable one, but it’s not a reality. We have some great teachers and administrators here. My kids have had many who are both skilled and absolutely committed to the job, but it’s a big job and the system is simply not resourced to handle some of the toughest cases.
This is where Glen Eden comes in.
We wrote about the school in Wednesday’s paper. It’s technically an “independent” school, although it doesn’t even call itself a school. Rather, it’s a “multimodal centre.” That might not mean much to you, but what I’m sure means everything to inquiring parents is the centre’s tag line: “We never give up on your child... and that’s a promise.”
The story’s hook (here’s the other shoe dropping) was that the school recently lost a $200,000 education grant and will close by the end of the month if someone doesn’t bail it out.
I’m not a big believer in public funding of private schools. But no one puts their child in a school like Glen Eden just to give them an academic edge, or to have them exposed to religious education, or to play elite hockey — that, I’d say, you’re welcome to pay for yourself. Glen Eden is quite another thing.
The school is in the Richmond-Queesnborough riding of Liberal MLA Jas Johal. To hear him tell it, the school has been kicked around like a football as it falls under so many ministries – Education, Health, Child and Family development.
But it’s encouraging to see Johal take on the fight for the kids who need this kind of support. It’s also encouraging to hear Johal talk about NDP Education Minister Rob Fleming as “a good guy,” who he’s working with to find a solution. It gives one hope for productive politics.
In my mind, an ideal solution would be to fund all schools so full and genuine inclusion can happen, but we’re simply not there yet.
In the meantime, to do anything less than support a school that never gives up on its students is unconscionable.
