Nova Scotia parents of children with autism and disabilities are worried about a pending strike by school support workers.
Thousands of CUPE members, from bus drivers to janitors, could be off the job by the end of the week, and the parents say their kids will be most impacted.
"Lucy wouldn't have an understanding that school will be cancelled, but she will understand when she doesn't go," said Heather Langley, whose 11-year-old has a host of medical issues, including the rare Wolf-Hirschhorn Syndrome.
She's also on the autism spectrum, is non-verbal, and has intellectual and physical challenges.
"I'm incredibly worried. Children like my Lucy already missed out on a lot of school during the pandemic," said Langley.
Nova Scotia was one of the only provinces that closed its learning centres during all three shutdowns, said Langley.
“So, kids with disabilities really lost a lot of important time in school, a lot of development, and a lot of children, including Lucy, regressed."
CUPE members took their message to the streets of Halifax with a march and rally on Saturday.
Although required to give at least 48 hours' notice, the 5,400 school support workers could be off the job as early as Friday.
Online learning, especially for older students, seems to be part of the contingency plans right now, but every education centre has been tasked with developing its own plan.
"But for my daughter, that doesn't work,” said Langley. “My daughter physically needs somebody.”
"My daughter's never going to learn math or English. She is learning life skills, and you don't learn those sitting in front of a computer."
The executive director of Autism Nova Scotia says her organization is being inundated with messages from parents.
"Parents are really worried,” said Cynthia Carroll from Ottawa, where she's attending an international conference.
“We're getting letters forwarded to us by education centres, and they are prepping parents to keep their children home.”
"We have been asking what the contingency plans have been, and we've been told there are contingency plans in place," said Carroll, adding some students on the autism spectrum could fall behind other students who could continue learning.
"We've seen in other education centres that have just come through collective bargaining that students on the spectrum, and students with disabilities are often asked to stay home, while sometimes their peers continue to go to school."
These are very diverse learners, and they do require that additional support, said Carroll.
Nova Scotia's Education Department directed CTV News to individual education centres for contingency details.
In a late-day email, the Halifax Regional Centre for Education (HRCE) acknowledged some students would be staying home.
"The needs of every student supported by EPAs have been carefully assessed by HRCE’s Student Services staff, school teams, the IWK Student Health Partnership Nurses and the IWK School Therapy Team,” wrote HRCE spokesperson Lindsey Bunin.
“The safety of each child is the paramount consideration in our contingency planning. Principals are now working closely with families on the details of each student’s plan for continued learning."
She says about 2,500 of the more than 57,000 in the HRCE are supported by EPAs, requiring varying levels of support.
"While our contingency planning prioritizes ensuring the greatest number of students can attend school safely, it will not be school as usual for some.
"Principals will continue to work with families on a case-by-case basis and will provide reasonable opportunities for continued learning from home in the event of a strike if a student is not able to attend school safely.
“Hopefully, a resolution will happen, but if it does not, we can expect that a work stoppage will create some disruption for students and families. We are doing the very best we can to minimize those impacts," the email concluded.
All of it is unsettling for Langley, who has a message for the premier.
"When Tim Houston was running to be our premier, I heard that he supported the advocacy work I was doing. I'm asking him to support our children now. Children with disabilities in this province have been forgotten for too long.
"They have missed so much valuable school time, and they deserve to be in school with their peers."
