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Ombudsperson
Office of the Ombudsperson (British Columbia) is an independent office that investigates complaints about administrative fairness in public bodies, including school districts. The Ombudsperson reviews whether decisions were made fairly, reasonably, and according to proper procedures. While the office cannot overturn decisions or award compensation, it can investigate concerns and recommend changes to improve fairness and accountability.
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Solving problems at school: institutional harm patterns
This page addresses the patterns of institutional behaviour that compound the original harm — gaslighting, information withheld, goalpost shifting, advocacy punished as aggression, and tone policing — and the complaint pathways available when the system’s response to your concern becomes a…
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Solving problems at school: crisis, restraint, and safety
This page addresses physical restraint, isolation, crisis intervention, and unsafe school conditions in BC schools, and specifically their impact on disabled and neurodivergent children, who are disproportionately subjected to these practices. A child in crisis is a child whose nervous system…
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Solving problems at school: punitive discipline and behaviour systems
This page addresses punitive discipline and behaviour management practices in BC schools, and specifically their impact on disabled and neurodivergent children, who bear a disproportionate share of their harm. When a school applies a behaviour system to a disabled child without…
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Solving problems at school: accommodation and IEP failures
When a school fails to accommodate a disabled child, it rarely announces the failure plainly. The accommodation does not arrive; the IEP goal sits unimplemented through term after term; the education assistant’s hours are quietly reduced without consultation; the psychoeducational assessment…
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Solving problems at school: exclusion and removal
Exclusion takes many forms in BC schools, and most of them have been given names designed to obscure what they are. A “gradual entry plan” is a partial schedule. A “room clear” is the isolation of a disabled child in an…
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How to complain to the Ombudsperson about a school, school district, university or college in BC
If you’re considering raising a concern about a public school, school district, university or college in British Columbia, you may be entitled to ask the BC Ombudsperson to review how your situation was handled. The Ombudsperson is an independent officer of the BC…