SALMON ARM–The Board of Education of School District No. 83 (North Okanagan-Shuswap), as well as every member of that board is being sued by a student.
The Notice of Civil Claim was launched by Brandi Lee White on behalf of her daughter Jenica Henton.
It claims decisions made by the board and trustees impeded Jenica’s education and development.
An Individual Education Plan was in place for Jenica, but her mother claims much of the requested physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, supervision and other required services were denied based on the board pointing to a lack of available resources.
The lawsuit alleges the School Board and individual trustees diverted operating funds in excess of $10 million to a surplus account when they “knew or ought to have known” that this would lead to a reduction in education and support services.
“I can’t even quantify how much it’s impacted her throughout the years, how much it’s impacted the entire family,” says Brandi Lee White.
None of these allegations have been proven in court.
Jenica is now 17 years old, and attends Salmon Arm Secondary School.
School District No. 83 released the following statement:
As this is now before the courts, we will not be providing a comment at this time.
The lawsuit also names the B.C. Government as a defendant for allegedly failing “to provide proper or any oversight”.
The defendants have 3 weeks to file a statement of defense.
~ With files from Neetu Garcha
Comments