A North Vancouver father who argues that schools discriminate against children with diabetes when they refuse to administer insulin or check their blood-glucose levels is taking his fight to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
John Paul Morrisons eight-year-old son Jack was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, which damages the bodys ability to produce insulin, at age four, requiring daily injections to maintain healthy blood-sugar levels. While older children can usually administer the medicine themselves, younger kids need help.
But when Jack started attending elementary school, district officials informed Morrison that staff members werent trained to administer insulin or check blood-glucose levels. Instead, thats the parents responsibility, and starting last September in Grade 1 that often meant two trips to school each day.
They have snacks and lunch and every time you eat with diabetes you usually have some insulin, said Morrison. The school basically pointed the finger to nursing support services and Vancouver Coastal Health, and their nurse said we dont do this.
After several complaints, Vancouver Coastal Health offered to train a school-support worker to administer insulin for Jack starting this September, but Morrison said they are still calling his a special situation. He wants to see the school districts policy on diabetes changed so other parents dont experience the same frustration.
We dont want to just fix this for Jack. We could just walk away and say were done, we got what we need, said Morrison.
The complaint was filed in March, naming the school district as well as the B.C. Ministry of Children and Family Development.
In a written response, the tribunal accepted the allegations and said the complaint could be heard on the grounds of physical disability. A separate complaint against the Ministry of Health Services wasnt accepted.
The North Vancouver school district couldnt comment on any specific case, but said the Ministry of Education doesnt fund full-time aides needed to provide that level of care. Instead, school staff try to find individual arrangements for each student.
Staff typically organize a meeting in advance of registration for parents of children with special needs, said spokeswoman Victoria Miles in an email statement.
Todd Pocklington is facing a similar challenge with his son Macoy, 5, who starts Kindergarten this September and uses insulin pump. The Pocklingtons asked the North Vancouver school district for a teaching aide to help him monitor glucose levels and administer insulin. Instead, Pocklington has been told that the aide of a different student will try to take time to assist Macoy, but the details are still up in the air less than a month before Labour Day.
Im very scared to know whats going to happen, said Pocklington. His wife has taken vacation time during the first three weeks of school, but both parents work, making frequent visits much more difficult.
In a way, theres ignorance towards the disease, he said, adding he doesnt see a reason why school staff cant be trained.
Morrison runs the website www.unsafeatschool.ca, which outlines more information about school policies on diabetes and shares the details of his complaint.
