Parents of deaf child win human rights case against N.L. school district

Parents fighting for the education of their deaf son have won a human rights case against the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District.

The commission ruled that the district failed to provide reasonable accommodation for Carter Churchill and discriminated against him during the 2016 to 2020 school years, from kindergarten to Grade 3.

It has ordered the board to support Carter with education in American Sign Language and evaluate him in that language. The district will also have to pay Todd and Kimberly Churchill close to $150,000, according to the human rights commission's decision, released Wednesday.

"It's not shock, but it's just this disbelief [that]finally, this is finally over," said Kimberly Churchill. "There was so much evidence there to show that there was discrimination."

The Churchills, who are from Portugal Cove-St. Philip's, have been involved in a nearly six-year long battle with the school district. They filed a human rights complaint in 2017 after realizing their son, Carter, wasn't learning American Sign Language in his school.

Carter, who is 12 years old, has cerebral palsy and is deaf and non-verbal, and uses ASL to communicate.

Years in the making

Todd Churchill says the commission's decision is going to be a landmark case in Canada because it will help protect other deaf children from enduring discrimination similar to what his son Carter had to face for years.

Carter was a student at Beachy Cove Elementary in Portugal Cove-St. Philip's for four years, while he was in kindergarten to Grade 3. He now attends East Point Elementary in St. John's.

East Point Elementary created a classroom for deaf children when Carter was in Grade 4 in 2020. The classroom was made up of eight children who were all learning American Sign Language.

Todd Churchill says the long-fought battle was worthwhilebut he wishes his son never had to experience discrimination in the first place.

Todd Churchilll said whenCarter was a student at Beachy Cove Elementarythe school was dismissive about their concerns and he and Kimberly were told numerous times that Carter was receiving a quality education.

In a statement, the school districtsaid, "As the adjudicator's decision has just been released, district staff will take some time to review the decision before providing any additional comments."

"There's a sense of relief in the fact that we had the acknowledgement that he was discriminated against, and that there are systemic problems with deaf education in the province," said Todd Churchill.

"We've had other parents reach out to us in other parts of the province echoing similar concerns that we've experienced."

Todd says Carter's ASL is still not at the level it should be.During Carter's time at Beachy Cove Elementary, said Todd, Carter was assigned teachers who didn't know ASL and who had no training in teaching deaf children.

Kimberly says she experienced a lot of gaslighting through the past few years, frequently told by others that her child was getting a quality education and that he wasn't being discriminated against.

"It's been a roller-coaster. I personally have had myself close to breaking down, I've had mental breakdowns of great proportions," she said.

"At times I swear that I was being drove crazy because I felt as if what I was asking for was completely irrational."

Mental health concerns

The decision says Carter is to be supported in the development of ASL, in accessing and being evaluated upon school curriculum via ASL, in communicating his safety and personal needs via ASL, and in ensuring he is not isolated from peers who are able to communicate with him.

When Kimberly read the commission's decision, she said, she felt the adjudicator appreciated and understood that the discrimination Carter faced affected his mental health.

• Parents of deaf student receive human rights award for their advocacy work

Expert evidence cited in the decision said it's important for students like Carter to be exposed to a native ASL user and to participate and observe conversation in ASL to "mitigate the risk of social isolation and mental health problems."

Kimberly said it wasreassuring to read that after years of being told by some that Carter's mental health was nothing to be concerned about.

"For the first time, I feel that we are finally, finally believed, that Carter's story is now one that we've been saying since Day 1 that this has been happening to him, and now that we are looked at as, OK, this was happening."

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