WATCH ABOVE: A 12-year-old St. Albert boy has won his fight to go to Victoria School for the Arts after his mother accused Edmonton Public of discrimination. Fletcher Kent has the update.
EDMONTON — An Alberta family is celebrating after being told Friday that Simon – who has a form of autism called Asperger’s – will be allowed to start Grade 7 at Victoria School for the Arts after all.
“I’m really happy,” said Simon. “I did a victory lap around the house multiple times. I just ran around the house.”
Caitlin Wray said she was contacted by both the Edmonton Public School Board and the province about the decision.
“Right now I think we feel like today was a victory for all parties involved,” she said.
“We feel like the victory is Simon’s because he gets to attend the school that he had a right to attend.
“And, it’s a victory for all special needs students across the province because the minister has confirmed that there’s general concern about how policies allowed this to happen.”
Wray said the Alberta government also told her it would look into the policies involved in her son’s case.
“All through this process our family has been very steadfast in two things. One is that our son had a right to attend that school and the second was that we do have a deep belief in the goodness of people and that people do genuinely want to do the right thing. I think that’s what we saw and that’s what we felt today.”
READ MORE: Funding dispute keeps Alberta student with special needs out of his dream school
Both her sons – Simon and Seth – applied and were accepted to Victoria School in Edmonton. A month ago, the family moved to St. Albert.
At that time, Edmonton Public Schools told the Wrays Simon could only attend Victoria School if his home board transferred designated provincial special needs funding. Wray didn’t think that would be a problem, but she was wrong.
St. Albert Public refused to transfer any money. The superintendent for the school division would not talk about this specific case due to privacy reasons. However, Barry Wowk said board policy dictates, “Only when we cannot provide appropriate programming do we consider sponsorship in another district.”
Because St. Albert would not transfer the funding, Edmonton Public revoked Simon’s acceptance at the end of August.
“This circumstance has brought to light some procedural gaps that I’m looking into further,” said Education Minister David Eggen on Friday.
“Especially around inclusion of students with supports in education right across the province,” he said. “I’m doing an overall review of our funding formula. And this will help to guide us, I believe, to build a policy that can help with individual circumstances like this and general policy.”
READ MORE: Advocacy group helping Alberta family fight ‘discrimination’ against boy with autism
Wray reached out to advocacy group Inclusion Alberta, hoping to get the issue resolved before the start of school.
“I think it’s a very significant day,” said the group’s CEO Bruce Uditsky on Friday.
“I’m actually impressed by the minister’s interest in wanting to review this provincially and to ensure that – I hope – students with special needs or disabilities have the same access to schools of interest, programs of interest as would be true for any other student.”
“I think it’s wonderful and great that Simon and his brother get to go to school together on the same day and he gets to pursue his passions.”
On Tuesday, Alberta’s education minister was interviewed on Global Edmonton’s Morning News. David Eggen said he had spoken to both boards involved. He respects the autonomy of those boards but added, “I certainly have made it clear, I expect that the school boards can find some resolution to this issue as soon as possible.”
In a statement Friday, Edmonton Public Schools said:
“The primary focus of Edmonton Public School Board is to do what’s in the best interest of kids. That has been the guiding principle in all recent discussions surrounding enrollment and residency and sponsorship, and we’re extremely pleased a resolution has been reached.
“Ultimately we’re educators, committed to ensuring the next generations have the skills and knowledge they need to be successful. The students’ job is to learn and grow; our job is to do whatever possible to help make that happen.”
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