Dorchester mom says CUPE is refusing to work with her son

A Dorchester mother says her special needs child is not getting the education he needs because educational assistants with the Canadian Union of Public Employees are refusing to work with him.

Deborah Jollimore, the boy's mother, said her son's education as been a patchwork of Band-Aid solutions since he entered the school system.

Jollimore said that with 11 different educational assistants in two years, developing a relationship with a support worker has been next to impossible.

She was told many of those changes happened because of union rules.

Jollimore admits her son can be a challenge to work with, becoming violent at times, but she feels strongly that he has had more success with some assistants than others.

The Grade 3 student has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder as well as severe oppositional defiant disorder, which requires him to have extra help at school since he started kindergarten.

Jollimore said she wants an educational assistant who understands her son's needs and follows the behavioural plan, which was developed by the family, medical professionals and the school district.

"I've been told multiple times by the district psychologist, the director of schools, the district social worker that I'm not asking them to do anything outside of best practice with my child," said Jollimore.

Her son Nolan is currently home from school, but Jollimore said she hopes a plan can be worked out and followed in the new year that will allow her son to return to class.

Gregg Ingersoll, the superintendent of the Anglophone East School District, said there are two cases involving two different students, where employees have filed a right to refuse under the province's Occupational Health and Safety Act.

Ingersoll said this is the first school year where an employee is refusing to work with a specific student because of safety issues, but he says no student has been forced to remain out of school as a result.

While there are two refusals files, Ingersoll wasn't sure how many employees had signed either.

Change is just not good for my son, it's dangerous for my son. Unmitigated change, is disastrous. It was devastating to my son.- Deborah Jollimore

The CBC recently reported on another case in Miramichi, where an autistic boy was not allowed to return to his school because unionized educational assistants refused to work with him.

Numerous CUPE members and representatives refused to comment.

The mother said she noticed an immediate change in her son`s behaviour when he entered school.

"Having been able to keep a fairly positive atmosphere for my child and then putting him into the school system and seeing him deteriorate so quickly was scary and devastating," she said.

There have been times when Jollimore said her son has thrived in school, participating in class and going for long periods of time without incident.

But that was when he had an assistant that worked well with her son.

Hiring shouldn't be 'based on seniority'

She said she wants a successful support worker to be assigned to her son and then to stick around.

"[He needs] a consistent capable EA who is placed based on results not based on seniority," she said.

Jollimore said that the last time she saw an EA that fit well with her son, the employee was working on a temporary basis and wasn't hired back at the school this year.

"Change is just not good for my son, it's dangerous for my son. Unmitigated change, is disastrous. It was devastating to my son."

The district superintendent said he knows a revolving door of support workers isn't an ideal situation for a student, but it is often out of the district's hands.

Employees sometimes take a leave for a variety of reasons and casual workers are sometimes moved around. He also noted that there is a collective agreement with CUPE.

"When you post a position, they are posted by seniority, so they are filled by seniority as well. That's the process, you don't have control over who is coming and going into those positions," said Ingersoll.

"The school doesn't have a lot to say until an employee arrives."

Complaint filed

A specific support worker can be paired with a student by using the "delicate relationship" clause in the collective agreement. 

"When it's found that a certain person works well with a student, and it's in the student's best interest to remain with the EA, there is a clause that can be used," Ingersoll said.

But Ingersoll notes there are less than 10 of those relationships established in the district right now and it doesn't apply to casual or temporary workers.

While Ingersoll said there aren't any children that have been removed from school because of a refusal to work filed on behalf of an EA, the increase in refusals from educational assistants to work with some children means a policy and plan is going to have to be developed.

In the meantime, Jollimore says she's filed a complaint to the Human Rights Commission on behalf of her son.