Inclusive education in Nova Scotia not working, some parents say

Some parents in Nova Scotia say they're taking their kids out of school or considering leaving the province altogether because the province's inclusive education policy is failing their children.

"It's not the people that are the problem, it's the system. The system is broken," Danielle Kellough said of the public school system. "When a child needs one-on-one help, they need one-on-one help."

Kellough's 10-year-old daughter, Anna, has sensory processing disorder. She's easily alarmed by loud noises, sensitive to bright lights and she can often become anxious or angry for reasons that might not be so obvious to others. 

Three years ago, her parents removed her from school because they said her needs weren't being accommodated.

Danielle said the school did not have enough resources, educational assistants or understanding of her daughter's sensory needs to foster a positive learning environment. 

She said Anna's requests for sensory breaks — a chance to leave the classroom for a short while to refocus or calm down — were often ignored because staff were too busy with other students.

"She did so well being in school for so long, but that was because of her own coping mechanisms," said Danielle, now Anna's full-time teacher and caregiver. "Now she is so strongly against going back that it causes her severe anxiety to even consider it." 

CBC News has spoken to more than 10 parents who've removed their children from the province's public school system for similar reasons. Their children have disabilities, and they say their respective schools were not equipped to support them. 

The Department of Education has previously told Nova Scotia Auditor General Kim Adair that it has increased the number of full-time teacher assistant and learning centre teacher positions significantly since 2016.

But in her June 2024 report on school violence, Adair said that educators are still "experiencing challenges" implementing the province's inclusive education policy. 

"At the schools we visited, a common theme in our interviews was the lack of proper support for educators to manage the diverse needs within a typical classroom," Adair wrote in the report. 

Nova Scotia's inclusive education policy was implemented in September 2020. It's not been revised since. 

When asked about inclusive education in June, Elwin LeRoux, the deputy education minister, said people often misunderstand the policy. 

"Our inclusive education policy does not say every student needs to be in every classroom every single day or all of the time," he said. 

Section 4.2 of the policy states: "Every student, including those with special needs, should receive full-day instruction every day, with flexibility based on the student's individual strengths and challenges."

All students in class all the time

One expert says that's exactly what an inclusive education policy should aim for. 

"I think when the choice we give to parents is you can have your child go to your neighbourhood school and it's complete chaos … or we have this special setting you can have your child go in, I don't think we're giving parents much of a choice," said Jacqueline Specht. 

She's the director of the Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education and an education professor at Western University in London, Ont.

"I think we've failed a lot of parents in that way." 

LeRoux seemed to suggest that some students could be diverted from classrooms, referring to "alternative programming" across the province. 

"What's intended is that every student can thrive. Every student can be successful with enough time, patience and high-quality instruction. It doesn't mean we need to be in the same room all of the time," he said. 

Melissa Anderson says she's out of patience after trying not only the public school system, but private school as well. 

Her 13-year-old son, Carter O'Donnell, is autistic and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. 

He received one-on-one support from an educational assistant at his school, but was separated from the rest of his class. 

"He's not going to be able to learn how to be in a classroom if you're not giving him that chance," said Anderson.

When Carter becomes overstimulated, Anderson said he may act out. She said the school was often calling home 20 minutes into the day asking her to pick him up. 

"He's 13 going on 14, and he has maybe a Grade 5 education level just because of so many calls from the school [resulting in him] being sent home. He's not learning anything. It's just honestly been horrendous," said Anderson. 

Desperate for her son to get an education, Anderson moved him to a private school that specializes in students with learning challenges. But she said the situation there was no better. 

After a year of private school, Anderson was told by a school administrator that her son couldn't return in September because his needs were too high and he required a more "specialized approach and setting."

Carter will go back to public school this fall, but Anderson is reluctant. 

"If this doesn't work out, we are strongly considering leaving the province because what other choice do we have at this point?" she said. 

Government comments clarified

On Thursday, Education Department spokesperson Krista Higdon clarified LeRoux's comments in an email.

She said he was speaking specifically to the "flexibility" aspect of the policy, in which school teams work with families to "ensure all students have access to an equitable and high-quality education."

Higdon added that sometimes a student spends part of their day in a smaller group setting or quiet space in the school with a specialist like a speech therapist or support worker. 

She said examples of "alternate programming" could be the International Baccalaureate or Options and Opportunities programs, skilled trades, a learning centre or other "stand-alone programs." 

But Specht argued that instead of removing a child with complex needs from a traditional classroom, school staff should be encouraged to help ensure students are accepted in a group setting.   

Specht believes teachers and educational assistants should also be given the tools to help those students regulate their emotions and behaviours so it doesn't get to a point where the student wants to leave the room altogether.

"When you do that, it's not just good for the kids with the disabilities, it's good for the teachers to learn diverse ways of teaching. It's good for the other kids to understand that there is this range of human condition."

In Anna's case, Danielle doesn't know if or when her daughter will return to school.

But for now, Anna is enjoying her time at home with her mother learning math through baking and grocery shopping, going outdoors, and working on her mental health. 

"Home is a place that she doesn't have to feel like she needs to pretend," said Danielle. "I know that her intelligence level will take her far ... but there are different things about the school system that I would love for her to be able to experience that I am really sad and disappointed that she's just not." 

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