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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION

Supreme Court rules against school board

Family wins battle over funding for those with learning disabilities

By: Tamsyn Burgmann

Posted: 11/10/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0

Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press Jeffrey Moore and his father, Rick, have finally triumphed in their long court battle. (CP)

VANCOUVER -- By the time he finished Grade 3, Jeffrey Moore still didn't know the alphabet and could not read his own birthday cards.

His parents sought help for the eight-year-old boy's dyslexia from his public school, but funding cuts gutted the program. So they instead remortgaged their home to put him into a private school catering to learning disabilities.

More than 15 years later, Canada's highest court ruled Friday a British Columbia school board discriminated against Moore by not doing enough to give him the help he needed.

"There's a good chance when I have kids, they'll be dyslexic," the now 25-year-old Moore said from his North Vancouver workplace after learning of the decision.

"For any kid out there that has a learning disability, they'll be able to get the help that they need and deserve and be able to thrive to their potential. It's just amazing."

In their 9-0 ruling, the Supreme Court of Canada justices sided with Moore and his father, Rick, who initiated the action in the early 1990s. He made his first complaint to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, alleging the district had discriminated against his son by failing to accommodate his disability.

Teachers had known of the boy's disability and referred the case to a diagnostic centre for special attention, but the district closed the centre for budgetary reasons before he could enrol.

In 2005, the tribunal awarded the family the cost of tuition at the independent school, half the cost for his transportation to the school and $10,000 in damages.

But the B.C. Supreme Court overturned the tribunal ruling and that decision was upheld by the B.C. Court of Appeal.

The high court, however, overturned the lower court rulings, restored the finding of discrimination and the tribunal's award of tuition, transport and damages. It also awarded court costs to Moore.

The ruling still fell short of calling the discrimination Moore suffered systemic.

Don McRae, B.C.'s education minister, said in a statement that the province is reviewing the ruling.

"We are pleased the court did not find that the government or the Ministry of Education discriminated against Mr. Moore," he said.

McRae said the province is now providing record levels of funding for students with special needs and this year, it's estimated more than $860 million will go to support them.

The province has also announced funding for school districts to hire additional teachers and special education assistants.

"Overall, students with special needs today have a wider variety of supports, funding and services available to them," McRae said in the statement.

Robyn Durling, a spokesman for the B.C. Human Rights Coalition, said it will be some time before the impact of the ruling will be seen by parents across Canada.

The Supreme Court of Canada did not remove the ability for governments or school districts to argue that increased supports for special-needs students are simply too costly.

"There will be more cases coming forward and there are already cases behind Jeffrey Moore that will have to be dealt with now that Jeffrey's case has been dealt with," he said.

But he added: "The law is much more clear around what has to be done."

-- The Canadian Press

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition November 10, 2012 A21

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