School |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Access to School Premises Teachers, Principals, and other school and school board personnel have a right to work in a secure and harassment-free environment. If school personnel are threatened or harassed, the principal can ban parents from school premises. This is a worst-case scenario for the parent-advocate, but does happen. If you are denied access to the school premises, it will be almost impossible to advocate for your child because you will have lost direct contact with the people directly responsible for providing your child’s education. If your emotions are getting the best of you, if you feel that you are about to act in a threatening or aggressive way toward school personnel, excuse yourself and get out of the school, or get off the phone. When you have calmed down, think about the situation, re-focus on the needs of your child, and call the school to arrange another appointment or telephone call. Talk to your support person if necessary. I Have been Banned from School Premises! If you are refused access to school premises under the Education Act, you will not be able to participate in the decisions made by the school about your child’s education. This is a worst-case scenario, because unless you can talk to your child’s education team, you will not be able to advocate. No Right to Review or Appeal Even if you do not think that you have done anything wrong, the Education Act does not give you any rights to appeal or call for a review of a decision to ban you from school premises. If you do lose access to school premises, you should be working to have the access ban lifted. This may require a period of mutual trust building. Establish regular contact with a School Board supervisory officer to help you restore trust between you and your child’s school, so that the ban from school premises can be lifted. Find a person who works for a community organization, and that works with parents on education matters, to support you, and to assist you in restoring the lines of communication between you and your child’s school. During this process, you will need to be patient, and communicate in a calm and non-threatening way. |
Copyright © 2006 School Advocacy.ca - All rights reserved. |
