Mom keeps son from school for fear of his safety

[coffeeFreak]

What do people think about this story? Of course the student's safety is an issue here, but what about the broader picture? How can the cost of looking after this person be justified especially given his extreme disability? Integration is great, but is it always realistic? I think if I were a parent with a severely "challenged" (not sure of the politically correct term these days) I would rather my child attend a school that provides specialized care and education by those who are more thoroughly trained to address his type of issues.

Mom keeps son from school for fear of his safety

Katherine Mortimer/Morning Star
Published: April 06, 2012 1:00 AM

It was back to the classroom on Monday for students in the Vernon School District, but for Braden Walter, spring break isn’t over.

Concerned with her son’s safety, Barb Walton is refusing to send her son back to school until she is satisfied that he will be safe.

A Grade 12 student in the resource room at Fulton secondary school, Walter, 18, has a severe form of epilepsy and some mobility but is usually in a specially designed wheelchair that resembles a large stroller.

“My concern is Braden’s safety,” said Walton. “All of the students in the room have high needs, and Braden has seizure disorder.

“What made me irate is when he came home from school on the last day before spring break and I went to meet the bus and he wasn’t strapped into his wheelchair, he was leaning with his head forward — this is in no way about the bus driver, as they are all excellent.

“Some of these kids are non-verbal, and Braden can’t say when something hurts. If he’s not strapped in, he can have a seizure and fall out.”

When his feet are strapped to the chair, but not his upper body, Walter is in danger of toppling out of his chair as it comes down the ramp from the bus.

“One of the CEAs or resource room staff is supposed to make sure he is strapped into his chair,” said Walton.

Braden’s older brother, Matthew McKee, said the bus drivers are not legally permitted to make any kind of adjustments to the chair, including doing up the straps.

“But he could break his neck if he flips forward out of the chair,” he said.

Walton said the first time this happened, she was concerned but accepted that it was simply an oversight. But the most recent incident was the fourth time her son had come home not strapped into his chair.

She said the first incident was in spring 2010, at which time she “raised hell at the school.

“You can look and say, OK some things happen, so I try not to get too crazy about things.”

But when it happened again in January 2011, Walton phoned the school and spoke to the school principal and the resource room teacher.

“They assured us it would never happen again, they were going to go over the procedures with all of the CEAs. Twelve days later, he comes home on the bus again with no straps on.”

At this point, Walton contacted Don Wilcox, director of instruction, student support services, for the district. He said the district takes issues of student safety extremely seriously.

“I have grave concerns when it comes to kids with safety issues, particularly for someone who is wheelchair-bound,” said Wilcox. “She has a very valid concern and there is a challenge there.

“It is the responsibility of the CEAs, certainly when they are loaded onto the bus, the occupational therapist for the district oversees the restraining systems that are used for the wheelchairs and how they’re seated, so that individual would be looking after that, and the teacher would oversee all the safety issues there. We will be looking at all of those aspects, if there are problems at the bus levels, school levels, do we have faulty equipment?

“And we were looking at wanting to do some in service prior to the break, so this is a bit of a work in progress, and we will be meeting with Barb.”

As a special needs student recognized by the Ministry of Education, Walter has an Individual Education Plan (IEP), a written document that outlines everything to do with his education, including his safety, and that when he is in his chair, he must be strapped in at all times.

“When it happened again, I was livid. I know that everyone is in a hurry to get going for the holidays, but I have always been assured that safety is the first priority. I no longer believe that.”

McKee, a Fulton graduate himself, worked as a teacher’s assistant in the resource room when he was a student at the school.

“In those days, they had almost one person per child, and they still needed me to help. They treated them like they were their own children, the kids got constant attention. I was in there every day and helped to take them out to the bus, but the CEAs were always attentive.”

Walton, a Vernon resident for the past 40 years, said she now feels she has no choice but to make her concerns public.

“I told the principal that if it happened again, I was going to the media. There are other parents who feel the same way, who have put their kids in private school because of issues of safety,” she said. “He’s gone to secondary school for 13 years and all I want is to put him on the bus and send him to school and for him to have as normal a life as he can. I want to be home and not worry and hope every day that he comes home safe.”

Next year, Walter is off to an adult day program, something his mom had been feeling optimistic about.

“I had been feeling good about Braden transitioning into the adult system, but that has gone out the window,” she said.

“Malcolm (Reid, Fulton principal) has been responsive, but whatever action he’s taking, it’s not working — it doesn’t matter how cordial you are, my child is still in danger.

“So it’s at the point now that I don’t know what they can say to me that will reassure me that they are taking care of his safety needs, short of me sitting in the classroom every day.

Fulton principal Malcolm Reid learned of the incident late on the last day of school prior to spring break.

“We’re taking this very seriously and it’s an active investigation,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of work to do.

“We are still in the investigation stage, but it will take me a couple of days to reach a conclusion. We are obviously taking this very seriously, Braden’s safety and the safety of all our students is paramount.”

http://www.vernonmorningstar.com/news/146326085.html

[ticat900]

my personal opinion is the mother should take her kid to school and pick him up.There is NO way it should be at the responsibility of the tax payer to look out for her kid.no way

[LANDM]

my personal opinion is the mother should take her kid to school and pick him up.There is NO way it should be at the responsibility of the tax payer to look out for her kid.no way

The reality is that it *is* the responsibility of whoever is the designated caregiver at the time. In this case it is the employees at the school......would you propose that society not take any responsibility for its disabled. Or that the parent be forced to attend at all times and we then have to support the parent?
I know what you are saying but the schools are responsible for all kids when they are in their care. This is just a more severe version of that and they have already accepted liability. They need to do their job or come out and say that they cannot and then the parent can deal with it. To put a disabled kid in jeopardy isn't right.

[ticat900]

the reality really is that the parent in a severe case like this should transport there kid to school and also pick him up
the teachers will look after the kid while in school.Is that a little clearer on what i was saying?

[Merry]

This is a disciplinary issue. The Teacher Aide who is employed to look after this student isn't doing his/her job. Missing the straps ONCE could be seen as a mistake, but missing them FOUR times is gross negligence.

The issue of whether or not such students should be in the Public School System is another topic, and requires another thread. The fact is that right now such students ARE in the system, and need to be kept safe. That obviously isn't happening in this instance, and I don't blame the mom for keeping her son home.

[jimsenchuk]

IMO: This child should be be kept safe while going to school and being in school and coming home from school, as for the aide not doing her job, she should be fired for failing to provide safety for this child.

[rookie314]

Why don't you quick to judge "geniuses" go hang out in a school resource center. I have an autistic child so I speak from experience. You go sit in for one day and you will find out how devastated the Education system is in BC. The provincial government is quick to pat itself on the back over its Battle with the teachers but in reality they have stripped the BC education of everything that makes any student, disabled or not, succeed. The resource system folks are overworked and stressed to the max and still continue to do magnificent work with the little they have to work with. That is, as the government is spending thousands of dollars advertising to let you know, the FACTS.

[ticat900]

*try again without the personal attack/Jo*

[jimsenchuk]

Why don't you quick to judge "geniuses" go hang out in a school resource center. I have an autistic child so I speak from experience. You go sit in for one day and you will find out how devastated the Education system is in BC. The provincial government is quick to pat itself on the back over its Battle with the teachers but in reality they have stripped the BC education of everything that makes any student, disabled or not, succeed. The resource system folks are overworked and stressed to the max and still continue to do magnificent work with the little they have to work with. That is, as the government is spending thousands of dollars advertising to let you know, the FACTS.

on the post.

Braden’s older brother, Matthew McKee, said the bus drivers are not legally permitted to make any kind of adjustments to the chair, including doing up the straps.

Why is it the bus drivers cannot help make sure the passengers are strapped in properly? Is it a WCB thing or Management thing.?
I would think as a bus driver with specials needs people on board that the driver would have to make sure that everyone is safe, as he is the operator. (Just wondering)

[crysmom]

it's mandatory for children to attend school (public, private, home school etc ) as a result it is a requirement of the school system that they provide for the children in their care. We have a system of inclusion for special needs kids. A parent sending their special needs child to school is a part of "looking after that child" as you so eloquently stated above. If you disagree with inclusion of children with differing needs in public school then that's a whole different story, but the way things stand special needs children are included in mainstream school therefore the school needs to accomodate their needs.

[OnTheRoadAgain]

Why don't you quick to judge "geniuses" go hang out in a school resource center. I have an autistic child so I speak from experience. You go sit in for one day and you will find out how devastated the Education system is in BC. The provincial government is quick to pat itself on the back over its Battle with the teachers but in reality they have stripped the BC education of everything that makes any student, disabled or not, succeed. The resource system folks are overworked and stressed to the max and still continue to do magnificent work with the little they have to work with. That is, as the government is spending thousands of dollars advertising to let you know, the FACTS.

FACT. Also speaking from experience.
School safety is a misnomer, especially with regard to those students with 'invisible disabilities'.