B.C. school district backpedals after excluding student with complex needs from field trip

A 12-year-old girl with complex needs will be allowed to go on a field trip with her classmates after journalists began pressing the Langley School District about the lack of accommodations it was providing.

Grade 6 student Sophia Burrell lives with autism, epilepsy and impaired vision, and according to her parents, “going swimming and water has always been a huge light of her life.” She’s a “great swimmer” and has “enjoyed immensely” previous trips to the water park with her family.

Leah and Stephen Burrell were told last week, however, that she would not be able to go on a West Langley Elementary School trip to the Cultus Lake Water Park on Thursday due to safety concerns that were never specified. The Burrells said the Langley School District, SD35 supported the principal’s decision and also referenced WorkSafeBC issues.

“Other than a WorkSafe issue, we haven’t been told what the possible safety issues are or any resolution for them,” Stephen said Tuesday.

“She’s been very excited about this, and of course she listens to her peers when she’s at school and has their excitement as well about this. For her now, not to be able to go — she’s very aware of that.”

Global News spoke with Sophia and her parents just before the Langley School District reversed course, called a press conference, and said Sophia would be allowed to go on the field trip late on Tuesday afternoon.

A brief email sent to Leah and Stephen from the district’s assistant superintendent of schools, Marcello Moino, offered no explanation as to what the safety concerns were and what had changed since last Friday, when they learned Sophia would be excluded.

“As we have indicated in our last emails to you, we have continued communicating with WorkSafe and Cultus Lake Waterpark. We now have a plan in place that will allow all students to attend this field trip on Thursday, including Sophia,” the Tuesday email states.

At the press conference on Tuesday afternoon, the district repeatedly declined to elaborate on the safety concerns and any resolutions to them, referring to privacy matters, but said it is dedicated to “equitable access” to all learning opportunities, including field trips.

Joanne Abshire, communications manager for SD35, said the district has now worked out a plan for the field trip that includes accommodations, such as additional staff, so everyone can attend. She also thanked the venue for its support.

“Due to privacy, I can’t comment on specific information in relation to student health or student safety plans,” Abshire said. “In this situation, sometimes those safety plans take time to develop.”

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During their interview, Leah and Stephen said that even if SD35 changed its position and allowed Sophia to go, “the damage is done.”

“She’s not the only one that gets treated like this and it should never come to this. It should be that she was included from the start, she was thought about,” Leah said. “Inclusion is really about that she always had a place there, not that they had to make one to accommodate after the fact.

“It’s really disappointing from a district that really preaches about inclusion.”

In a text message late on Tuesday afternoon, Leah called the district’s reversal “great,” but raised an additional concern: “Did they bother to ask if she still feels comfortable going after everything they put her through? She has a voice.”

Leah said the district ought to have plainly explained the safety concerns, so she and Stephen could help resolve them.

“There are procedure and ways to handle it that help address the concerns that they may have,” Leah said, adding that the current back-and-forth only contributes to “more severe behaviours” for Sophia.

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According to Leah and Stephen, Sophia has been included on previous school excursions, like trips to the swimming pool and Playland in Vancouver.

Leah said they were initially told Sophia couldn’t go to Playland on June 8 either, but the district followed up afterward to say she could go and “would be participating in all field trips with her class.” That’s why the family was surprised by her initial exclusion from the water park trip.

Stephen said Sophia may sometimes struggle to wait in lineups, but has no problem going down water slides and being collected at the bottom.

“It’s not inclusion if you have to fight for your child to go to everything, it’s not inclusion if every year we have some sort of issue where she’s being singled out and treated differently because she has a disability,” he said.

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Global News has reached out to the education minister for comment.

Tamara Taggart, an advocate for people with disabilities and president of Down syndrome BC, said “there’s no excuse not to include a student.”

“She’s making memories at school. She has friends at school,” Taggart said. “Her entire class is going on a field trip. Did no one check to see if it was inclusive for everybody in the class?

“And what are we teaching our children in school? If we’re willing to send 99 per cent of the class on a field trip but the one kid that has some challenges has to stay back?”

Taggart said better salaries for educational assistants is one way to make much-needed improvements to inclusion and accessibility in B.C. classrooms, and schools should be willing to put bureaucracy aside on a case-by-case basis to work with parents on solutions for their children.