The Editor,
Last year, I spent six months gathering information and speaking to everyone I could regarding the special education assistant (SEA) situation in School District 43.
When I presented my information to the board of education last spring, I was assured that changes would be made to improve the current system of placing SEAs with students. I was also assured that efforts would be made to reduce the number of SEAs a child would have throughout the year.
Unfortunately for my 10-year-old son, this has not happened. He started Grade 4 last September with a temporary SEA and then, two months later, his regular SEA was in place. This transition was not seamless and it took at least two to three months for the relationship to start to work without intervention from other teachers in the school.
More frustrating than this, however, is the fact that between January and May 2011, my son has had 11 different substitute SEAs.
Clearly, the efforts of parents like myself, who simply want consistency in their child's education, has fallen on deaf ears yet again. What will it take for SD43 to make changes to a system that is failing our students?
Jana Demelo, Port Moody
