Yellowknife (Jul 07/06) - A Yellowknife family says their 13-year-old son's right to education was violated when he was refused full time attendance and segregated from the rest of the students.

And the NWT Human Rights Commission has agreed to hear the case.

Jeffery, his son Tim in Grade 8, and wife Kate, not their real names, have won the right to be heard in front of the Human Rights Commission. They say Tim's right to education was violated by his school. - Jessica Gray/NNSL photo

Kate and Jeffery Brown, who didn't want their real names used, said their son, Tim, was forced to seek psychological help in June 2004 as a condition of continuing at St. Joseph Catholic school.

Their son spent six months in the Territorial Treatment Centre in Yellowknife only to be discharged and told nothing was wrong with him.

His discharge report stated: "(Tim) has shown little or none of the intake behaviours." This, according to the parents, meant the boy showed none of the negative behaviour reported by school officials.

The Browns also said their son didn't receive a quality education while at St. Joseph because he was only allowed to attend half days and didn't receive a report card at the end of the school year.

"Principal Flo Campbell said St. Joseph hadn't educated Tim, instead she called the school "a holding tank for your son,'" said Brown, still outraged by the comment.

She said the comment was made at a meeting before Tim was sent to the treatment centre.

Mrs. Brown said she and her husband had reservations about the plan to send Tim to the centre, but agreed in the hopes their son would be better for it.

"My son asked me, 'Mom, why are you letting me waste away my childhood like this?'" she said. "Do you know how difficult that was to hear?"

The Browns filed the complaint against the school in November of 2004. Section 11 of the NWT Human Rights Act states no person can be refused any facilities customarily available to the public on the basis of one of the prohibited grounds of discrimination, which includes mental or physical disabilities.

The exception to this rule is if the accommodation puts undue hardship on the party providing the service.

The family were told in May the case would be heard before the commission's panel. A date has yet to be set.

Mrs. Brown said St. Joseph staff decided her son had attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) or oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) because in Grade 5 at school in Edmonton, he had trouble with math and language arts.

Though Mrs. Brown said the St. Joseph staff reported Tim had been acting out and unable to focus his thoughts, he was never diagnosed with ADHD or ODD. Brown said the school also recommended Tim get medication for behavioural problems he exhibited at school.

The family agreed to this request as well, only to take Tim off the medication because he was falling asleep in class, said Mr. Brown.

The Browns chose the Catholic board because they are practising Catholics.

When Tim got out of the treatment centre in January of 2005, the Browns were unable to get a date from St. Joseph school officials as to when he might return. He was then enroled in Mildred Hall school.

Ms. Brown said her son is thriving at his new school because he wasn't segregated from the other children and Mildred Hall staff involved the family in the process.

She said Tim, now in Grade 8, has received all As and Bs in his classes, except for math, despite losing more than a year of classes.

Mr. Brown said he hopes that other parents who have experienced similar problems enroling their children know they're not alone.

"We feel this issue is important enough for the public to be aware of," said Jeffery. "Schools can't do this to students."

Yellowknife Catholic Schools (YCS) superintendent Kern Von Hagen is out of town until the end of the month and couldn't be reached for comment. Assistant YCS superintendent, Claudia Parker, said she could not comment.

St. Joe's principal, Flo Campbell, also declined comment.

YCS chairperson Shannon Gullberg said she has no knowledge of the situation because she sits of the Human Rights adjudication panel and would be in conflict of interest.