For issues that you feel are serious, by all means, contact the Ministry of Education. The more stories they hear from parents the better. And…psst…the district is not going to want you telling the Ministry anything…feel free to use this strategy as you like.
I contacted the Ministry and 2 months later they did respond with a very thoughtful, encouraging and informative email. They referred me to the external organizations I could file complaints with, which I did. After my first email was sent, before I received one from them, I did followed up with a second email and 2 phone calls. I was beginning to think I wasn’t going to get anything, until I did. I have since had many email communications with the Ministry and even had 2 very informative phone calls from the Legislation office. You can also ask to make an appointment and have a phone conversation with someone, which I have done.
If the Ministry doesn’t hear from parents they have no way of knowing the realities of the classroom and as I have heard from many external organizations, if they don’t hear from parents they assume that everything is fine and there are no issues. If you child isn’t getting enough support in the classroom and the school is blaming lack of funding or resources, email the Ministry. Can you imagine if every parents started emailing them when their kids were excluded from the classroom or were lacking in enough support hours??
If your process with the Ministry was unsatisfactory, feel free to file an Ombudsperson complaint.
If you have any concerns connected to the Ministry of Education, how they handle privacy, you can file a complaint with the Privacy Compliance and Training Branch of the Ministry of Citizens’ Services. The Privacy Compliance and Training Branch (PCTB) is responsible for responding to privacy complaints regarding all government ministries.
Please contact PCTB at privacy.helpline@gov.bc.ca or call 250-356-1851. If you are not satisfied with their response or do not receive a response after 30 business days, you may submit a complaint to the OIPC.