New Brunswick youth advocate calls partial day program violation of right to education

New Brunswick’s youth and child advocate, Kelly Lamrock, has denounced the province’s practice of reducing school hours for high-needs children without providing more support, calling the practice “illegal.”

In a report released on May 30, he said more than 500 children are out of school most of the week because of the programming, called “partial days”. Lamrock said it violates children’s right to education.

“How does an education system simply stop educating children?” he asked.

He said some parents lost their jobs and then their houses because their children weren’t in school full-time, and another boy dropped out.

The Education Department did not respond to a request for comment by the deadline, but the advocate’s report included correspondence from the province.

In it, the deputy education minister, Ryan Donaghy, said partial day programming is for “exceptional circumstances” when a student’s mental health or behaviour limits their participation in school.

He said undue hardship justifies partial days, and endorsed the New Brunswick Human Rights Commission’s statement that “in some situations, placement in a mainstream classroom may not be the most appropriate accommodation,” like when a student is a risk to themselves or others.

1:57 N.B. failing to provide basic services, says new report by child advocate

Lamrock agreed that the law provides authority to remove some students from class, but he said providing no educational alternative is illegal.

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“To vary a learning environment means that you have to put a child in some kind of learning environment,” he said.

The New Brunswick Teacher’s Association’s president, Peter Lagacy, said the government is failing to fill staffing vacancies. He said the group is eager to read the report, and that children and teachers deserve better.

In the report, Lamrock also called on the education department to clarify its legal position on partial days, and provide more oversight when it’s put into place.

He said if the standards aren’t accepted, and the department cannot resolve the disagreement with him, he will explore asking the court to clarify the limits of the act.

His office is also committing to provide workshops to teach schools about inclusive education policies.