Let's get serious about making Winnipeg public schools more accessible

When my twins were infants, a neighbourhood grade school invited us to visit a class that waslearning about early childhood development.I readily agreed.

Then, I realized the challengesinvolved.

The second floor classroom was inaccessible to me.I could easily push the double stroller a fewblocks from home, but once I got thereI would be stuck.

Would I leave one baby (A) alone atthe bottom of the stairs while I raced the second one (B) to the classroom, left baby B with well-meaning strangers, including a lot of grade school kids, and then race back downstairs to whereI'd left baby A unattended?

It seemed entirely impossible to manage the visit on my own.

My husband wasn't available to help. In the end, I paid a mother's helper to help get my twins upto the classroom and down again.What should have been a fun outing becamestressful because there's no elevator there.

Later, I reflected on this. My nephew, an amazing, vibrant, bright kid, happens to have cerebralpalsy.Due to his disability, he cannot walk more than a few feet, with help, on crutches.

Whilehe is determined to manage more in the future, he spends more of his time in an electricwheelchair.Many family members remark at his skill and dexterity in the wheelchair; he's alittle speed demon!

Defiance or compliance?

What if a kid who is differently-abledwants to attend his/her neighbourhood school, but theschool doesn't comply with the Accessibility for Manitobans Act?

According to a recent reportby chief superintendent Pauline Clarke, there are 17 schools in Winnipeg that lack elevators. How could aperson with disabilities reach the second floor?

According to a recent Winnipeg Free Press article,"Clarke's report said the work must be done in 17 schools in which elevator access to the secondfloor may be required and her report underlines the word 'may.'Clarke said the accessibility legislation refers to students, staff, parents and members of thepublic who may have reason to be in a school."

The article covers the cost of renovations and elevator installations to improve the Winnipeg SchoolDivision's compliance with the act. Yet, the implications floored me.

Essentially,many Winnipeg school buildings aren't accessible to those with physical differences. While thepublic pays for these institutions, the legislation refers to only those who may need to be in thebuildings.

Level the field

Creating a fair playing ground for those with disabilities has taken a long time.It's changingvery slowly.Yet, in this case, it feels like Canada is way behind the times.

In the U.S., the Americans with Disabilities Act means that, starting in 1990, every publicbuilding has had to be accessible.In fact, many were accessible beforehand, which I learned injunior high.

I broke my leg over winter vacation. I was playing a pick-up hockey game whilevisiting friends in Ottawa. When I returned home to Virginia, a school secretary handed me aloaner key to the school's elevator, with strict instructions about how to use it.

Navigating a bigschool building with a toe-to-thigh cast and a set of crutches was bad enough. I was extremelylucky that I didn't have to use the stairs every single time I changed class.

Before it passed, the Americans with Disabilities Act faced opposition. Effective protest helpedit pass. During the "Capitol Crawl," disability rights activists with physical disabilities arrived,unannounced, at the U.S. Capitol building stairs.They got out of their wheelchairs, droppedcrutchesand crawled up a long staircase to gain access, chanting "ADA Now" and "Vote."

Facing difficult truths

Several senators, inconvenienced by the crawlers, changed their votes in favour of the bill. Theirbuilding's lack of accessibility forced senators to face difficult truths. The U.S. activists whoforced them to confront this issue helped improve life for all Americans with physicaldisabilities.

When I shovel snow off the handicapped-access ramp at my twins' preschool, I think aboutaccessibility.When it snows and the janitor isn't there, there's less access to the building.

Although my nephew lives in Virginia, I grab a shovel every time I see a problem with the ramp.

Worse, this relatively new building lacks any elevator. If my kids weren't able to navigate stairs,they couldn't go to preschool and daycare there.

Manitoba desperately needs new childcare spaces; roughly 12,000 of them.We also continue tobuild and renovate school buildings.Creating accessible learning opportunities for allManitobans shouldn't be an afterthought. Meeting the needs of all kids isn't something that maycome up, some day.

Our family works hard to teach our preschoolers understanding when it comes to people who aredifferently-abled. It's important to think about it ahead of time, so that when a child breaks a leg,or has a catastrophic accident, they won't have to change schools just because they cannot getupstairs to their classrooms.

What if you have a child or parent with accessibility needs? Doyour children then have to attend different schools simply due to the lack of an elevator?

As Daniel Tiger, the PBS show, puts it:"In some ways we are different, but in so many ways, weare the same." It's embarrassing for everyone that the Winnipeg School Division hasn'tprioritized accessibility for our city's kids, their parents and the wider community.

Yes, it costsa lot of money but let's get beyond the numbers. Elevators might cost $1.5 to $2 million each.

Accessibility for everyone? Priceless.

Joanne Seiff is the author of two books. She writes, designs and teaches in Winnipeg.