Flying for school

On a regular weekday, most Vernon students attend school in the local areas.

However for Necko Chisholm, 12, his school is over 400 kilometres away. He is deaf and the local education system has been unable to provide him with support, says his parents.

“The last few years we have had nothing,” said Necko’s mom Treina Chisholm. “No educational assistants or speech pathologists.”

Up until last year, Necko attended Hardwood Elementary school. Chisholm says that classroom supports started becoming less available around Grade 4.

“It has become problematic because he has fallen behind in his education.”

Necko now flies to and from Burnaby every week to attend the BC School for the Deaf. But with how long he is gone, Chisholm says she’s missing out on big moments with her son.

“We are missing out on so much that we will never get back. It is time lost.”

In a statement, School District 22 Superintendent Karla Mitchell says the school district provide inclusive support for learners who are deaf and hard of hearing.

"These supports have been reviewed through the Provincial Outreach Program for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and we are in alignment with expectations for service delivery," Mitchell said.

Cases like Neckos’ can be found across the country. Last year, parents of a deaf child took a Newfoundland and Labrador school district to court over their failure to provide reasonable accommodations to their son. The commissioner ordered the district to educate and evaluate the child with American Sign Language (ASL).

“It’s an eye-opener to the government and to other districts that this is a serious matter,” said Chisholm.

In a statement to Castanet, the Family Network for Deaf Children says there is a "dire shortage" of registered sign language interpreters and the other professionals required to provide language access and support to deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) students in B.C.

"Each school year, DHH students, like Necko, may not have access to the critical support they need," the statement said. "This ongoing shortage impacts all DHH students throughout B.C., but DHH students living outside of the Lower Mainland typically face more significant barriers to accessing language and education."

The group is urging the provincial government to address the shortage of sign language interpreters.