Parents call for more EAs and supports in schools
By Lethbridge Herald on September 27, 2025.
Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald
A parent in the Lethbridge School Division is sounding the alarm on behalf of herself and others, about the lack of resources and Educational Assistants (EAs) to help children with neurodivergent needs.
Sital Parekh, a parent with a child on the autism spectrum that has been within the school division from Grade 1-7, spoke with the Herald just hours before speaking at the board meeting earlier this week, alongside Sina van de Pol, a parent whose child recently graduated from the division and had challenges from his own neurodivergent needs.
“My son who has various diagnoses, when going through the school system it was very challenging to receive any kinds of supports for him,” said van de Pol. “We were unable to get an aid for him, he needed more support in terms of writing and help with putting his thoughts on paper,” said van de Pol.
She said her son was unable to get help with writing in both English and French, and with visuals, or extra time for tests, until he was in high school. He was also bullied in elementary school.
While he did well in math and even progressed into doing calculus, he was unable to complete the required English to get into university.
“So now he will need some upgrades, but currently he is in a vocational training program,” said van de Pol.
According to the Lethbridge School Division’s policies, supports can come in many different ways, depending on the needs of the students. A student could receive targeted teacher support, targeted learning support teacher time, literacy intervention, numeracy intervention, counselling support, student support worker allocations, occupational therapy, deaf and hard of hearing support, speech language pathology support and school psychology support.
Parekh said most stories from parents she has talked to echo each other when it comes to challenges faced getting help for their neurodivergent children.
One of those challenges is not being heard by administration when asking for different methods or resources.
“We would always be turned down, and they would also say things that basically ask us to lower our expectations of what our children will be able to achieve,” said Parekh.
When her daughter was in Grade 1, Parekh was told multiple times not to worry about her reading level as some kids in Grade 5 were reading at a Grade 2 level.
“What that means is that you haven’t taken the time to observe my child and find out their potential because you don’t have the resources to do that,” said Parekh.
In her child’s case, Parekh said a reward system will help her tremendously, but the school division denied that request.
According to the Lethbridge School Division policies, student supports are allocated based on level of need. The Division has hierarchies for student support (levels 1, 2 and 3) that are determined at the beginning of the year and allocated to schools based on the numbers of students the school teams identify for support in their buildings. The School Division’s ultimate goal is always fostering independence, and so EA support is thoughtfully distributed, giving students opportunity to practice Independence so that it can be developed in a thoughtful way.
“We appreciate hearing from parents and community members at public forum and trustees represent the interest of parents, students and community members in the education system,” said Christine Light, board chair. “Connecting with constituents is key to our advocacy work and we appreciate partnership in this advocacy.”
Another issue Parekh brought up is the lack of communication between the school and parents. She said her daughter no longer uses her agenda. She only used it up to Grade 5. And that was one tool of communication that they no longer have.
“We can’t even talk to the EAs. But the thing is that the EAs are the ones taking care of our children all day long, they know when they had to be taken out of the classroom, they know if they had a meltdown, they know what type of regulation techniques they used.”
According to the School Division’s policies, the Division is mindful of the importance of maintaining teacher/parent communication, as teachers are responsible for student development and progression, and teachers are responsible for assessing their students. Educational Assistants are an integral part of a dynamic and collaborative team, who work supporting students requiring behavioural supports and/or complex physical disabilities/developmental delays.
In terms of what resources are available to accommodate neurodivergent students, Parekh said that not all schools have sensory rooms, and EAs are not present at their individualized educational plan (IEP) meetings.
“Parents are supposed to have three IEP meetings per year, but that is inconsistent across the division, some parents have a paper sent home with the child that never makes it home, some people would have a five-minute meeting to advocate for their children’s needs.”
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The UCP won’t do that. Private schools are what they support more.