Surplus of students: a 4th change of school imposed on an autistic student

Parents from Lanaudière denounce the succession of school changes imposed on their autistic child, including the mother of a boy who is aged 4^e turnaround in less than five years.

“To be honest, I started crying. I thought I was being fooled,” says Cynthia Jarry, who lives in Sainte-Julienne.

On May 14, she received a call from the school telling her that her son Edouard will have to change schools again next year. It will be the 4th^e upheaval experienced by the boy.

“That does not make any sense. Routine, for an autistic child, is super important,” says the woman who denounces the instability imposed on her son.

Edouard, 11 years old, has a language disorder linked to his diagnosis of autism, but does not have an intellectual deficit. He likes to make friends, but he prefers “when things are always the same,” he said in an interview with Newspaper.

He did his regular kindergarten and his 1^D year in a specialized class at Arc-en-ciel primary school, in Saint-Lin-Laurentides.

Due to overcrowding, he was transferred to Du Ruisseau school, where he did his 2^e and 3^e year. We then announced to M^me Jarry that he would make his 4^e year at Carrefour-des-Lacs school, where all the specialized services would be brought together.

“Don’t worry”

Each time, she took the time to bring Edouard to play near his future school so that he could get used to the idea and to alleviate the stress of the new thing.

Then, in the spring of 2023, the Samares School Service Center (CSS) decided that Edouard would not make his 4^e year in Carrefour-des-Lacs, but in another town, in Saint-Calixte.

“We were told: don’t worry, there will be a school sedan to drive him.”

Edouard was ultimately never entitled to it. His parents have to drive him morning and evening.

And here’s the straw that broke the camel’s back: he was sent back to Du Ruisseau school next year. M^me Jarry therefore filed a complaint last week.

In the event of a surplus of students, some CSS have a rule stipulating that a student can only be transferred from school once. This rule does not exist at the CSS des Samares.

Population explosion

For its part, the CSS explains these upheavals by the demographic boom affecting the MRC of Montcalm, and more particularly Saint-Lin-Laurentides.

“We cannot build and expand schools quickly enough,” says the general director, Nancy Lapointe.

But even outside this explosion zone, students are being “barrouetted”. Marie Daigle’s son is in specialized kindergarten for autistic young people in Joliette. She has also just learned that he will have to change schools next year.

“It’s a bit ridiculous. We are told: I cannot guarantee that the following year, he will not change schools again,” testifies M^me Daigle.

A “catastrophic” situation due to unbridled real estate development

The educational situation in Saint-Lin-Laurentides is “catastrophic”, according to the city’s mayor who is trying to repair the damage caused by the unbridled residential development of recent years.

For two decades, the population of Saint-Lin-Laurentides, located in Lanaudière, has experienced meteoric growth while infrastructure and school construction have not kept pace, explains the mayor, Mathieu Maisonneuve.

“We thought more about attracting real estate developers than the well-being of citizens […] until we hit a wall,” says Mr. Maisonneuve.

It was in fact a water supply problem that made city leaders realize that development had gone too far, too fast, without urban planning.

The “big boom” took place during the pandemic, when people rushed to “regions where life is good,” adds Patrick Massé, prefect of the MRC of Montcalm.

No secondary school

In 2021, the City of Saint-Lin even decreed a moratorium on new residential construction, which is still in effect while waiting to catch up with the infrastructure delay, adds Mr. Maisonneuve.

There is also no secondary school in Saint-Lin, only a construction project which got the green light in 2022.

All this, in a sector which has many vulnerable students. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Education, barely 56% of CSS des Samares students graduate five years after entering secondary school, one of the lowest rates in the province.

Brushing up against the “unacceptable”

Meanwhile, lack of space is forcing schools to close library and daycare spaces to transform them into classrooms, in addition to adding modular units on the grounds.

“It forces us to make heartbreaking decisions,” says Nancy Lapointe of the CSS des Samares. “I’m not looking for excuses, it’s really difficult,” she says.

She also admits that repeated school changes like those experienced by Edouard, “it borders on the unacceptable”.

Parents who heard the news of a change of school last week will also be contacted again, she assures.

For the well-being of students?

But for Cynthia Jarry, the bond of trust is shaken. At each change, she sided with the arguments of the CSS, which pleaded for the well-being of her son. She repeatedly noted that the promised services were not delivered, despite the goodwill of the teachers.

From kindergarten, Edouard did not have access to the intensive individual support to which he was entitled due to his diagnosis.

“If someone had told me that by agreeing to enroll him in a special class, he would also change schools often, I would not have accepted. I would have fought for him to stay regular,” concludes M.^me Jarry.