WARNING: This story contains disturbing details.
Nine new affidavits filed with the Yukon Supreme Court contain allegations that paint an even darker picture of handle use and seclusion at Jack Hulland Elementary School in Whitehorse.
None of the claims have been proven or tested in court.
The motion seeks permission to file a class action lawsuit on behalf of students at the school who experienced arrest, confinement and seclusion from 2002 to 2022. The Yukon Department of Education and the Jack Hulland School Council are named as defendants. Both have yet to file a statement of defense.
The class action lawsuit was filed in October 2022 by two representative plaintiffs, who are children, and their legal guardians. At that time, a complaint was filed. It alleged the two plaintiffs had been “frequently and repeatedly subjected to arrests and involuntary seclusion” at the school since 2015.
In November 2021, the RCMP launched an investigation after allegations were brought to its attention. The RCMP has never specified the origin of these allegations. That same month, Annette King, the Yukon child and youth advocate, announced she would launch a review of the issue. The Yukon Department of Education also ordered an internal review that confirmed detention and isolation were used at the school prior to 2020.
The child plaintiffs and their legal guardians are covered by a partial publication ban and a sealing order.
The motion, filed on February 14, will be filed in June in the Yukon Supreme Court. If a judge certifies this, plaintiffs will be allowed to pursue a class action.
In the filing, the parent of one of the plaintiffs says their child took anti-anxiety medication until the 1st grade. She claims this is the result of the child’s experience at school.
The motion also included an assessment of one of the plaintiffs, a child, by BC psychologist Mel Kaushansky.
Kaushansky’s report found that the child suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and depression as a result of chronic exposure to handles, restraints, and isolation.
Kaushansky said he didn’t think the child would have his current mental health problems if he hadn’t had his experiences with Jack Hulland.
Another affidavit was submitted by a parent who says she personally knew of seven students who had been held and isolated. That included being locked in a room for hours during lunch and break, the affidavit said, while cameras kept tabs on them.
A former student, now an adult, claims staff are “retained [her] in the air like a flying squirrel” as they put her in isolation more than once. She claims her shoulder was injured at one point. The CBC does not name incidents of the former student, who was a child at the time of the allegation.
Another time, the student says she tried to climb over the partitions separating the isolation rooms. She claims school staff buttered the partitions to keep them in check. She says in the affidavit that she had suicidal thoughts in 5th grade and was unable to pursue an education past 9th grade because she can only see schools as prisons.
The parents of another former Jack Hulland student submitted their own affidavit, saying they knew staff had complained about their child’s behavior while her child was a student. CBC does not name the parent to protect the child’s identity.
Parents said she frequently attended meetings to find solutions. According to her affidavit, after it was revealed in 2021 that the RCMP was investigating the use of grab bars at the school, she attempted to access her child’s file, including any incident reports that might have listed grab bars or restraints.
She claims that over the course of a year she was pushed back and forth between contacts at Jack Hulland, the Department of Education, student support services and her child’s new school. In the fall of 2022, she says, she received a file that contained no incident reports.
The parents’ affidavit includes printed emails between her and various officials, including a note from the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Education, which said the records were kept by court order and could not be released.
James Tucker, the attorney representing the plaintiffs in the case, says he directed several parents to inquire about their children’s records. He says none have been successful.
Additional affidavits from students, parents and former teachers claim to have seen children strip naked in isolation or smash windows of isolation rooms by throwing themselves against the windows. One of the parents of the two plaintiffs claims she was unaware that “study room” meant their child was frequently isolated.
She says her child attempted suicide at school. She felt the staff’s suggestion was that she was not doing enough as a parent.
