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#235 - 11/28/07 04:33 PM
Fair Schools? A new appeal level is pending.
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Katherine Wagner
enthusiast
Registered: 09/04/07
Posts: 212
Loc: British Columbia
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Note: A shorter version of this article first appeared in the Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows Times on November 23rd, 2007.
Fair Schools? A new appeal level is pending
By Katherine Wagner
The education of every student enrolled in B.C. public schools is a shared responsibility between the school system, parents and the student.
It works best when all three parties agree about what is best for a child.
But what happens if a parent or student disagrees with a decision directly and significantly affecting the student?
The answer to this question almost always starts with the phrase “it depends”:
- It depends upon what the disagreement is about.
- It depends upon how willing the school is to work with the parent or student to resolve the conflict.
- It depends upon the expectations of the school or district about how an employee will respond.
- It depends upon whether parents and students are aware of their rights to fair process.
- It depends upon whether parents and students feel safe bringing forward their concerns.
- Etc.
- Etc.
The “it depends” list is lengthy but it shouldn’t be. The gaps need to be addressed and it appears the provincial government is finally attempting to close some of them.
For many parents the first time they pay close attention to how our public school system is structured is when they encounter a situation where they feel their child’s needs are not being addressed.
How parental and student concerns are dealt with can either strengthen support of public education or seriously, often irrevocably, damage it.
In 1995 Dulcie McCallum, in her role as B.C.’s Ombudsman, released the Fair Schools Report.
Her investigation found, “…few students were aware that they were entitled to appeal a school decision, or that complaint resolution procedures existed within both the school and the district. Further investigation showed that this lack of knowledge was common among students in many districts. In addition, in almost all cases, students said that they expected retaliation in some form if they complained that a decision concerning them had been unfair. These perceptions, along with insufficient knowledge, contribute to the powerlessness many students feel. Failure to provide young people with clear information about the avenues available to express their opinions - including possible dissent - can lead to apathy, resentment and, at times, inappropriate expression of grievances.”
Though not spelled out in the Ombudsman’s report, it is clear to many of us who have worked with public schools and public school systems that failure to provide parents with clear information and access to appeal avenues yields similar negative results.
One of the Ombudsman’s recommendations reads in part: “That the Ministry of Education consider…establishing by regulation under the School Act a provincial appeal procedure for all districts that satisfies the requirements of natural justice and administrative fairness. Such a procedure should encourage the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation.”
A dozen years have passed and little has changed.
Few parents or students are aware of their right to appeal. In most schools and districts, there is no common understanding of what fair process looks like.
For example, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, school district 42, has an appeal process filed under JF in its policy manual. JF describes a dispute resolution process that is basically a hierarchical checklist of decision-making levels within the school district.
With few exceptions, JF mirrors similar documents in policy manuals across all 60 B.C. school districts.
Boards of locally elected school trustees have always had the ability and opportunity to enhance the processes within their districts beyond the minimum requirements of Section 11 of the School Act. Few have.
Section 11 grants parents and students the right to appeal when an employee of a board of education makes (or doesn’t make) a decision that significantly affects the education, health or safety of a student.
Within their bylaws, a few districts formally name and address the elephant-in-the-room; fear of reprisals or unfair consequences if a parent or student appeals a decision.
Greater Victoria, school district 61, makes its response to this serious situation very clear within its bylaw , “The Board of School Trustees will not tolerate any direct or indirect form of reprisal as a result of the initiation or outcome of an appeal. Where there is evidence of reprisal, the Board of School Trustees will take immediate steps to remedy the situation.”
Saanich, school district 63, has a proactive parent/student appeals bylaw that should be a model for other districts. They formally include a mediation process and ensure parents and students are aware of their rights. Their bylaw requires schools to include within student handbooks a description of the appeal policy and process. The Superintendent is directed to bring the matter up annually at a district parent advisory meeting and every school must talk about the appeal process at the first parent assembly of the year. The Saanich bylaw also clearly indicates the right to have an advocate present during an appeal.
Overall, the pace of change has been glacial, so the provincial government is shaking things up. In May 2007, Bill 20 introduced another level of appeal within Section 11 (see page C-23) of the School Act.
On the surface the changes sound simple. However, they will create (once the regulations are passed by Cabinet) a significant motivation for districts to closely examine how all decisions affecting students are made and implemented.
The changes should create considerable incentive for districts to ensure they have fair processes, including easily accessible dispute resolution mechanism.
The other aspect of appeals that must improve, if these changes are to benefit students, is communication. This means effective and on-going communication about parent and student rights – including the right to appeal - in addition to the plethora of communication that already occurs around parent and student responsibilities.
For starters, boards of education can and should hire an independent ombudsman in every school district. Ensuring fair process for everyone with the school system is at least as important, and arguably more important, than many of the discretionary district office positions currently being funded by boards.
Currently, the board of school trustees (a recent name change means they are now officially referred to as Boards of Education) is the final level of appeal. The only further recourse is court – an expensive option few parents have the resources to pursue. The fact that this option drains family bank accounts and removes dollars from the classroom is a significant downside, for students, of the current structure.
Bill 20 created four Superintendent of Achievement (SOA) positions. SOAs are appointed by the Minister of Education and report to the Deputy Minister of Education.
In addition to working with school districts to improve student achievement, the SOAs are the first step in a new appeal structure that is above boards of education.
After following local processes (set by the locally elected Board of Education as currently required by the School Act) a parent or student will have the option to appeal in writing to an SOA who will decide if the application has merit. The SOA will either dismiss the appeal (in whole or in part), refer it to mediation (both parties must agree), or refer it to an adjudicator. If mediation fails, an appeal will still be referred to an adjudicator.
A Student Appeals Branch has been established within the Governance and Accountability arm of the Ministry of Education. Once the legislation is activated by a set of regulations, all decisions will be reported to the registrar, Teresa Sullivan.
The office will have a reporting structure to inform the public of the general nature of appeals by district. This reporting should encourage districts to establish effective local dispute resolution processes.
At all levels, there will be an expectation that parent and student appeals are dealt with within a reasonable amount of time.
Predictably, in an April 2nd, 2007 letter to Education Minister Shirley Bond, the provincial trustee association took exception to the further level of appeal citing concerns about school board autonomy and a potential “flood” of appeals.
Sullivan points out, “There is a trend across Canada in the administrative justice sector to provide access to independent decision makers in order to resolve disputes as an alternative to the courts which tend to be a slower and more expensive route.”
Effectively, for the vast majority, there is currently no access to redress beyond the local board of school trustees.
Janet Phillips and Cathy Bedard have coordinated the provincial advocacy project for more than a decade and are in a unique position to recognize the potential of the new appeals process.
Phillips reports they are looking forward to working with parents and districts, “The new legislation refocuses school districts on decision-making practices and brings huge potential for local change. The BCCPAC Advocacy Project has been seeking better local decision-making practices since it began and this is an opportunity we can not afford to miss!”
Students entering kindergarten the year the Fair Schools Report was released are now in grade 12. These changes are too late for them, even though the need was identified twelve years ago.
Bill 20 is an opportunity. School districts and boards of education can either fight to maintain the status quo or they can work with parents and students to improve, in a timely manner, decision-making and fairness.
Related Links:
Administrative Tribunals Act (ATA)
http://www.qp.gov.bc.ca/statreg/stat/A/04045_01.htm
Dispute Resolutions Office
Alternative Dispute Resolution Policy and Design
http://www.ag.gov.bc.ca/dro/policy-design/statement.htm
BCCPAC Advocacy Project - Resources
http://www.bccpac.bc.ca/advocacyproject/resources.aspx
BC Ombudsman
http://www.ombudsman.bc.ca
School Watch
http://www.schoolwatch.ca
Student Appeals Branch (pending - will be a live site once regulations are in place)
http://www.studentappeals.gov.bc.ca
email: educ.studentappeals@gov.bc.ca
Edited by Katherine Wagner (05/08/08 09:21 AM)
Edit Reason: To fix a broken link
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#262 - 12/05/07 07:25 PM
Re: Fair Schools? A new appeal level is pending.
[Re: Katherine Wagner]
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Tunya Audain
newbie
Registered: 12/05/07
Posts: 43
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Defensive.
That's my conclusion upon reading an article in the Driftwood News (Salt Spring Island) about School Board trustees opposing this appeals route for parents (Nov 21/07). See full article:
http://www.gulfislands.net/news.asp?ID=1867
I wonder how the other 59 School Boards in BC feel and if they too are making such public statements to discourage the process. Frankly, what they say is not original at all -- just a rehash of their provincial organization's (BCSTA) official opposition.
The fact that the BCSTA expects a "flood" of appeals, and that they expect the new provincial Superintendents (SOA's) will be "inundated" says a lot about the current state of dissatisfaction with present procedures.
I've always thought school boards were an unnecessary and expensive level of government, and a convenient "cover" for political agendas. If we had school-based management, as in private schools, then we would have real local control of schools.
Maybe this defensiveness is based on trustees seeing the writing on the wall! Quebec actively debates this issue as abolition of school boards is a standing platform plank of the official opposition (ADQ), and supported by a citizens group, Citizens for Democratic and Autonomous Public Schools (www.acdsa.org).
Tunya Audain
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#362 - 01/08/08 05:46 AM
Re: Fair Schools? A new appeal level is pending.
[Re: Katherine Wagner]
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Dawna
newbie
Registered: 10/18/07
Posts: 46
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"Further investigation showed that this lack of knowledge was common among students in many districts. In addition, in almost all cases, students said that they expected retaliation in some form if they complained that a decision concerning them had been unfair. These perceptions, along with insufficient knowledge, contribute to the powerlessness many students feel. Failure to provide young people with clear information about the avenues available to express their opinions - including possible dissent - can lead to apathy, resentment and, at times, inappropriate expression of grievances.”
This statement goes hand-in-hand with the comment from Mr. Gatto.
"But the future is not so clear. Violence, narcotic addictions, divorce, alcoholism, loneliness...all these are but tangible measures of a poverty in education. Surely schools, as the institutions monopolizing the daytimes of childhood, can be called to account for this. In a democracy the final judges cannot be experts, but only the people".
The meeting with my son's principal, as mentioned in the School Fees portion of this website, was far from democratic. He had a whole list of what my son had allegingly done over the course of 3 months. He made it sound as if my son was a psychopath in the making. Granted, my son was speaking innapropriately to the teachers but as the meeting progressed, I found out that they were kicking him out of class for reasons such as...didn't throw the football so the other kid could catch it, didn't volley the ball right, didn't dress for P.E. even though he had a splint from thigh to ankle and on crutches and couldn't participate anyway,etc. In L.A, the teacher told me that she sometimes didn't feel like being around my son so she would walk into class and kick him out.
My son was getting very frusterated with getting kicked out for no reason whatsoever and swore at the teachers. I do not condone that at all, but he was frusterated. He was sent to the office and not given a chance to tell his side. When we were in the meeting, the principal wouldn't even let me talk, let alone my son. When I did get a few words in, I asked him if he or the teachers had given my son a chance to tell his side. The answer was, "NO". He said that the teacher's had a right to do what they feel is right and that was it, end of story. Democracy, my A**!
I had a phone call from from his L.A. teacher about some concerns she had with my son. It went something like this..."Dawna, I didn't know how to bring this up to you but when I walked into class today, your son was sitting holding his crotch and seemed to be crying. I think he had hit himself in the testicles. I talked to another teacher of his and she said that your son also jabs pencils into his thigh so hard that he bleeds". My response...Really, and how long has this been going on? Did you ask him what was wrong when you saw him crying? Did you ask him if he needed help? Her response was "NO and I don't know".
My son had Shop class right before L.A. and he had hit his thumb so hard that it spit it open...he was holding his thumb, not his crotch. As for the pencil episode, he laughed and said "Mom, I walk around in my boxers, do you see any holes in my thighs?" I phoned his teacher back and told her what had really happened. She had nothing to say.
When my son was injured, my husband and I faithfully went to the school to pick up his homework and faithfully took it back when he was done. When our son went back to school, they told him that he hadn't done anything and that they were not going to give him anymore assignments until he did all of the homework he had missed over the last month. He tried to tell them that his parents personally took it to the school and handed it in. They sent him to the office for lipping off the teacher. He was the one to ask to be taken out of the school and homeschooled this year.
He used to excel in school and now it is a stuggle to get him to do his assignments. So, it is true that if they can't get at the parents, they go after the kid. In our jurisdiction anyway, they do resent the kids and retaliate against them for trying exercising what little voice they do have. My son was told by me that he could voice his concerns and that the school had to listen and be fair...Do I feel like a liar! I set my son up for all of this. At no time was he ever told of his rights by any teacher or administration.
Damn right they should be held accountable! By law we have to have our kids in school.
Edited by Dawna (01/08/08 05:50 AM)
Edit Reason: added sentence.
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#490 - 02/24/08 11:33 AM
Re: Fair Schools? Additional Comments
[Re: Katherine Wagner]
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Katherine Wagner
enthusiast
Registered: 09/04/07
Posts: 212
Loc: British Columbia
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Some comments on the regulations, communication etc. around this new level of appeals:
Reporter Janet Steffenhagen wrote two articles for Saturday's Vancouver Sun. Trustees limit parents' right to appeal school board decisions and Regulations for student appeals To read the two-page regulations click here
Tomorrow, the Appeals Branch is hosting a one day conference to provide parents from across the province with information. See these items posted to the Report Card. Parents invited to symposium on student appeals and The meeting is Monday - where are the delegates?
Dawn Steele, a Vancouver parent, comments within Janet Steffenhagen's article (Trustees limit parents' right to appeal school board decisions) regarding the limitations the regulations have placed on a student or parents ability to appeal if the student is not provided with an effective education program.
I agree. I expect part of the concern the authors of the regulations had involved the scope of appeals. However, I believe the regulations could have been worded it in a way that would limit the appeals in this area to those that are significantly affecting a students education.
Providing an effective education is the fundamental reason we put billions of taxpayer dollars into a public education system in the first place. Shouldn't everything be aligned to ensure we are actually providing an effective education to each and every child?
My comments within the same article about the new level of appeals reducing court battles reflected my hopes before the regulations came out. The regulations, as they stand, are unlikely to significantly reduce future court battles in the area of service to special needs students. Though, to be fair, what they do have in the regulations addressing some areas of concern for parents of special needs students may prompt school districts to take a closer look at their practices...
I think there are some positive possibilities, but so much will rest on whether school districts embrace the spirit of the changes and improve their practices; whether only three SOA's (I believe they have the possibility of four but currently only have three) for the whole province (who also have other significant responsibilities) will have enough time to effectively deal with requests for appeal; and whether the ministry holds everyone accountable. Accountability would include allowing the appeals branch to publish appeal data by school district, so parents can hold their boards accountable.
Two potential positive outcomes of the new legislation and regulations:
1) Communication around the new appeals structure as well as the requirement for school districts to update their appeals policy may have the effect of informing more parents and students of their rights to appeal under section 11 of the School Act. While section 11 appeals to the school board level have been in place for years, few are aware of them (Check your school and school district website - does it spell out your rights as a parent/student? Check your student handbook - betcha there are pages of information about student and parent responsibilities but not a word about the right to appeal a decision, or information about how to start that process.) As well, a desire to limit appeals beyond the board level should prompt at least some boards to ensure there are more effective local procedures and policies to deal with parent and student complaints and concerns.
2) While I can think of areas that should have been included under "grounds for appeal" (an effective education program is a big one - especially for students with challenges), those that have been included "should" receive more attention from most school districts. For example: Perhaps this is just coincidence but the agenda of District #42's most recent board meeting (February 13th) included information about local alternatives to suspension for more serious incidents - something that has been talked about for years.
In addition, I think it is positive that simply moving a student into a distributed learning program (often done as an alternative to long term suspension or expulsion) is not going to block an appeal. I have long felt that many students who end up at the point of being given long term suspensions or being expelled are not suitable candidates for distance learning.
Long term suspensions and expulsions have life-long consequences for students in today's world. I think this additional level of appeal will provide further incentive for school districts and boards to try and find alternatives solutions.
The regulations are wanting because of omissions. It is always easier to add than take away. If the government hears from enough parents, they may address the gaps.
Katherine
--
Katherine Wagner
Maple Ridge, BC
educationwatch@gmail.com
http://www.schoolwatch.ca
Edited by Katherine Wagner (02/24/08 11:35 AM)
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#495 - 02/25/08 11:03 PM
Re: Fair Schools? Additional Comments
[Re: Katherine Wagner]
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Tunya Audain
newbie
Registered: 12/05/07
Posts: 43
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The fact that the School Trustees Association was able to stare down the Ministry of Education to limit Student/Parent appeals to the Superintendents of Achievement shows just how much clout they have.
It also shows considerable defensiveness.
In earlier pleas to the government the BCSTA argued that this new process would be costly as there would be “floods” of appeals and the SOA’s would be “inundated” with appeals…….If that isn’t an admission of their own failure in satisfying their public I don’t know what is.
Furthermore, the new interpretation of FSA scores done by the C D Howe Institute causes me to really question Boards’ accountability when some of their schools produce really low percentile scores. Because, after family backgrounds and socio economic factors have been considered, the C D Howe research still found around half of achievement was due to what the school contributed (or didn’t contribute) to student progress. This is called value-added, that is, what the school contributes to achievement expectations for that school.
What are the Boards doing to bring about effective education in each and every school in their jurisdiction? Shouldn’t parents and the Parent Advisory Councils be up in arms when their school scores way below the 50th percentile? Is this the ire of parents the Boards fear?
In her column, Katherine Wagner notes the flow of billions of taxpayer dollars spent on education. She asks, “Shouldn’t everything be aligned to ensure we are actually providing an effective education to each and every child?”
In the Vancouver Sun story on Saturday, the reporter noted that Katherine felt hopeful that parent rights would gain more prominence in School Board communications. “Despite its limitations, the new process may open discussions that will inform parents of their rights, she said.”
My concern is about parent rights in education. Rights are NOT what a government gives you, or grudgingly admits “These are your rights”. Rights are generally the natural expectations you have in certain circumstances, what is a “norm” for some people but, maybe not for you. Why not?
That is why family background and socio economic status is so important in education discussions. Parents who are articulate and assertive either naturally know what their rights are or are well informed through reading or through direct experiences in other consumer situations, e.g., with lawyers, doctors, etc. They demand good services, they negotiate, they write letters to the editor, to their MLA, etc. They move, if they have to, to another school to choose a proper education for their child and where their rights are respected.
Not everyone has this sense of their rights. That is why in 1977 I was involved with compiling a Parent Rights and Their Children’s Education document which was sent to all BC schools and districts and libraries. (We had federal government funding for this consumer project.)
I am attaching a link for parents who may want to download this document. It has a good section on APPEALS. Maybe it’s outdated. If so, there is nothing to stop current parent groups from reviewing the document and revising it as appropriate. Then, they can go to their Boards and their schools and say, "These are the rights we expect and we want them written down for all parents to know."
http://www.theschoolsweneed.com/forums/attachments/43.pdf
Tunya Audain
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Moderator: Katherine Wagner
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Quote from Andrew Nikiforuk's "If learning is so natural, why am I in school?"
"Barbara Bateman is one of the continent's leading authorities on "academic child abuse," the "use of practices that cause unnecessary failure in foundation skills and knowledge areas. When school boards ignore the research that identifies how to teach virtually all children, they engage in abuse."
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The Schools We Need
