B.C. school district told to pay student $5K for failing to address her anxiety
CTV
An unnamed school district in British Columbia has been ordered by the province's human rights tribunal to pay $5,000 to a student for failing to accommodate her anxiety disorder.
An unnamed school district in British Columbia has been ordered by the province's human rights tribunal to pay $5,000 to a student for failing to accommodate her anxiety disorder.
Tribunal vice-chair Devyn Cousineau said in a decision released last month that the school district "failed to take reasonable steps" to investigate and address the female student's anxiety over her transition to high school in fall 2018.
The family had filed the human rights complaint in 2020 accusing the school district of discrimination based on her placement into a language class that "exacerbated her disabilities and impaired her ability to access her education."
While Cousineau rejected part of the complaint, she found the school district failed "to reasonably respond" when the student's family brought their concerns to the district in April 2019.
"The parent had brought forward relevant facts of the student’s diagnoses and the toll that school was taking on her," Cousineau's judgment said.
"I do not accept that the onus was entirely on the parent or student to utter the magic word of 'accommodation' before the school took steps to explore the reasons that the student’s mental health was being so impacted by school," she said. "Nor do I accept that the simple fact that a 13-year-old child with anxiety says they are 'fine' is enough to end a school’s obligations."
The case stemmed from the student's move from a unique language arts program in elementary school, to regular language high school classes due to enrolment numbers not being able to support a separate class.
