This Windsor family is fighting to keep their son in school all day
CBC
It's 12:05 p.m. and Courtney Cameron is picking up her four-year-old son, Davis, from Marlborough Public School in Windsor, Ont. It's more than two hours before school officially ends for the day.
Davis has autism, and Cameron is picking her son up early because he needs an education assistant (EA) with him in the classroom.
With the other children Davis's EA supports, a second one is needed to help Davis for the second half of the day — and right now, Cameron says there isn't one available.
When Davis is home, Cameron and Davis's dad, Terry Graham, say they help him with his education as much as possible through educational toys and TV shows.
Cameron says she wants Davis to go to school for the full day.
Cameron says she was told there is a vacancy at Davis's school, and they are looking for someone to fill it.
According to Cameron, the school said Davis's end time would be extended until 12:45 beginning in January — but she now worries that won't happen when the school's principal retires this year.
Cameron says she relies on the Ontario Disability Support Program, requiring hip surgery and suffering from autism, anxiety and depression herself.
"The way that the world is right now, I have to push myself to go to work and I can't because he's not in school long enough for me to be able to even get a job," she said.
"Then if I do get a job and he was in school full time, there's that fear that they call and say, 'Come pick up your child', because that happens a lot."
The struggles for Courtney, Davis and Graham come as school boards across the province face a shortage of EAs. The Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) is no different, says Chris Boulay, the board's superintendent of human resources.
Boulay says how many EAs the board is short varies from day-to-day, depending on factors like staff absences and professional development activities.
"We work with families, teachers and principals collaboratively to ensure that student needs are met given the resources that we have on hand that particular day," he said.
Tyler Campbell is the president of educational support staff for the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF).