Field trip consent and waiver forms that local parents are being asked to sign prior to their children going on some field trips have some New Westminster parents concerned.
Martha Groenwold is the parent of a Grade 2 boy at Lord Kelvin Elementary. Prior to Christmas, she was asked to sign the district's draft consent and waiver form for a child participating in a highrisk activity, in this case, ice skating.
In a series of emails to The Record, Groenwold explained why she was uncomfortable with the form.
"Basically you sign all your legal rights away, and the school takes no responsibility for your child," writes Groenwold. "Both parents must sign it and witness it. - I was told by the teacher if I don't sign all clauses, he can not go.
"We refused to sign clause one, two and four. - We are concerned because we are the responsible ones for our children and do not want to sign our rights away since the form basically says that no matter what they do, they are not responsible, and we can't sue."
In the first clause that Groenwold refers to, the form asks parents to "waive any and all claims I may have against, and release from all liability and agree not to sue the board of education of School District No. 40 (New Westminster) and its officers, employees, agents, volunteers and representatives, and the Ministry of Education for any personal injury, death, property damage or loss sustained as a result of my child's participation in the field trip, arising out of any cause whatsoever, including negligence."
Assistant superintendent Al Balanuik told The Record on Wednesday morning that the form being sent to parents doesn't take away a child's right to sue the district.
"Certainly, while the form would indicate that parents cannot bring action against the district, we've seen several legal cases where it's been shown that parents can't sign away their child's right to sue," said Balanuik.
"The form does not attempt to waive, in any way, the child's right to sue."
Balanuik did say parents signing the form does mean they are waiving away certain rights resulting from loss or injury to their child, but he reiterated that the child retains the right to sue.
Balanuik said the district started working on draft copies of various permission forms in the autumn of 2011, and part of the process is consultation with local parents and other district stakeholders.
According to Balanuik, the district is continuing to receive feedback until Jan. 12, and he hopes to present the collected findings to school trustees by the end of the month.
In addition, the district was advised by the provincial schools protection branch on the language to use in the forms, and the district worked from template language.
School trustee Jonina Campbell is also a parent in the district and had similar concerns as Groenwold when she got the form.
"I didn't have a clear understanding of what I was signing away, so I did some due diligence and talked to various friends," said Campbell.
Campbell said she was also intimidated by the language in the form.
"It's legally heavyhanded," she said. "It's very legally written, and when you see it for the first time, it will seem quite intimidating."
Campbell said parents still have time to give feedback to the district.
"You have to remember that this is still in a draft form," she said. "We're strongly encouraging parents to provide feedback."
Campbell said the district also has to do a better job communicating to parents what the form means and that may also mean using more plain language, because there are many local parents whose first language is not English.
Groenwold has consulted a lawyer and in a subsequent email to The Record, she wrote: "We contacted a lawyer and others. They said the paper is worth nothing, so it doesn't matter if we sign because it will not hold up in court and is just designed to make parents think they can not sue.
"As the lawyer said, 'The benefit to the school board of such a release is that parents think the release works and never consult a lawyer following an accident.'
"We still object to the clauses and language of the forms. Being treated like we are stupid never works."
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