Students and parents in conflict with the school system should have an advocate, says Shelley Milne, whose daughter’s suicide is the subject of a coroner’s report.
After reviewing the Feb. 2, 2010, death of Freya Milne, B.C. regional coroner Matt Brown made six recommendations — one for the Vancouver Island Health Authority and five focused on the B.C. Education Ministry.
Among other things, he recommends the ministry ensure that prior to final decisions by local school boards on student expulsions or withdrawals, parents be contacted for input.
Freya’s parents, Milne and Peter Ronald, say they are satisfied with the report, though both still have questions for the Education Ministry about policies for gifted students, and for the College of Physicians and Surgeons about psychiatrists’ prescribing practices.
Milne has sent the Education Ministry six additional recommendations, including one that access to a “knowledgeable, capable and respected advocate be available to students and families that find themselves in conflict with the school system, and that during a crisis, this can be immediate.”
Milne maintains if the Esquimalt High School administrators involved with overseeing the Challenge program for gifted students had better addressed and accommodated her daughter’s needs, she would not have ended up in a psychiatrist’s office getting a prescription to treat panic disorders.
— Cindy E. Harnett
