The parents of a child who has numerous disabilities are urging Prairie Spirit School Division (PSSD) officials to change the school division’s policies to allow external educational supports in schools during school hours.
Sheri and Jeff Zwack of Warman say their daughter Olivia, who has Down Syndrome and Autism, has been unable to access much-needed speech therapy and occupational therapy from Ability in Me (AIM), a Saskatoon-based agency, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the spring of 2020.
“Olivia is non-verbal,” said Sheri Zwack. “She functions at a two-year old’s level. She has intellectual disabilities, is medically very complex and emotionally fragile. She is a flight risk and relies to a large extent on a specially-trained service dog named ‘Ivan’ that was gifted to her by the Martensville and District Lions Club in 2019.”
In 2015, Olivia began attending weekly sessions every Tuesday during school hours at the AIM program’s facility in Saskatoon. At that time, she was enrolled in an elementary school in Warman. Sheri said the in-school support from teachers, Educational Assistants and Special Educational Resource Teachers has been very good, but the additional support through the AIM program is vital because of Olivia’s severe disabilities.
“AIM supports those with Down syndrome directly, one-on-one,” said Sheri. “It’s a great program and Olivia has benefited from it.”
But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020, the AIM program was forced to cancel its in-person therapy sessions and go online. That effectively cut Olivia off, according to Sheri.
“The online sessions at home did not go well,” said Sheri. “Her mind is very amazing but she gets overwhelmed very easily by sounds and visuals. These are painful to those with Autism.”
As an alternative to the online sessions, AIM support people dropped off resources, and her parents did their best to continue the therapy sessions at home.
In the summer of 2021, the provincial government lifted most COVID-19 public health restrictions, and the AIM program began taking registrations for in-person sessions starting in the fall. Sheri and Jeff enrolled Olivia in the program, thankful that weekly therapy sessions would be available because their daughter was also slated to move up from elementary school to middle school because of her age.
“The new school was very overwhelming for her,” said Sheri. “It took two weeks just to get her used to the transition to a new environment, new teachers, and new surroundings.”
Sheri noted the middle school administration was aware that Olivia would be attending AIM therapy sessions once a week during the school day and were “very accepting” of the plan.
Unfortunately, the AIM sessions were abruptly cancelled a week before Olivia was scheduled to start because of a breakthrough COVID-19 case. The AIM program was forced to revert back to online learning sessions.
“We approached the school and asked if they would accommodate our request to have Olivia, assisted by her EA at the school, participate in half-hour Zoom sessions with AIM resource people for her speech and occupational therapy learning, at no cost to the school division” said Sheri. “They were delighted to help.
“Then, a week later, we were denied.”
The reason, according to PSSD officials, is that “private, third-party services delivered directly to students during the school day are not possible in the school setting.”
In an e-mailed statement to the Gazette dated November 22, 2021, PSSD officials say the school division cannot speak about an individual student’s situation or circumstances due to privacy reasons.
However, the statement adds: “Prairie Spirit is focusing on a strong learning response for students following the interruptions caused by the pandemic. In addition, the Division is implementing strategies to support increased mental health and well-being among staff and students during the course of this school year.”
The PSSD statement goes on to say: “Prairie Spirit has the responsibility to be the primary provider of school-based programs and services for all of its students. Our professional learning support staff members provide specialized services for students who require additional supports. It is recognized that parents may also choose to access assessments and/or therapy from private service providers. These services can be coordinated by the family outside of school hours.
“Private third-party services delivered directly to students during the school day are not possible in the school setting due to considerations including: ensuring student safety, confidentiality, Division programming, supervision, liability and availability of space within school buildings, according to the Division’s admin procedure: AP-430 External Provider Involvement in Schools (www.spiritsd.ca).
“Third party service providers may access the school building after the school day, depending on the school’s booking and rental guidelines.”
Sheri and Jeff say they have had discussions with PSSD representatives as well as their MLA and Ministry of Education officials in an effort to convince them the policy is too restrictive and doesn’t take into account their daughter’s needs.
They note that many other school divisions in the province, including the Saskatoon Public School Division, allow the type of practice they’re requesting.
“We are not asking for the moon and stars,” said Sheri. “We’re just asking for extra help for her during school, tentatively till the pandemic is over and things can get back to normal.
“We feel the rules and regulations need to be looked at,” she added.
“Olivia has not had speech elbow-to-elbow therapy for three years, outside of what we’re able to do at home. The school division provides casual, not one-on-one speech and occupational therapy, and it sometimes takes months or even years to get a child assessed for help.
“This is due to the overwhelming backlog of students waiting to be assessed.”
Sheri said rules and regulations need to be reviewed and revised when appropriate, “especially these days, and especially for the kids that need and require it the most.”