Our schools are for everyone. We’ve completed an Accessibility Plan as part of our work toward making the District’s learning and working environments inclusive and accessible places for all. To help us make improvements, we’re seeking feedback on both the plan, itself, and information about barriers people may be experiencing in our District.
Living Our Values
In addition to meeting the legal requirements under the Accessible BC Act, the Burnaby School District’s Accessibility Plan reflects our commitment to equity, access, and inclusion, which is a value in the Burnaby Board of Education’s Strategic Plan. This long-standing value is part of the foundation of everything we do.
Equity, Access, Inclusion
Our schools are for everyone. We recognize that barriers exist and seek to identify and remove them. We encourage our learners to speak honestly, and we uphold the rights of individuals, families and organizations within our schools and our community. We value and respect everyone’s contributions.
– One of the Core Values in the Board’s Strategic Plan
The Accessibility Plan
The new plan outlines the priorities and actions to remove and prevent barriers. Additionally, it expands on our ongoing work to promote inclusion in the District’s school communities and workplaces for individuals with disabilities, diverse and special needs.
Burnaby Board of Education Chair Bill Brassington:
“As this plan moves off the page and into action, feedback from the District’s school communities and employees is essential. If the District is to truly be a place that is inclusive and accessible for all, we must learn from the lived experiences of people with disabilities as we work together to remove barriers that impact day-to-day lives.”
The District’s Accessibility Plan is designed to be a living document that will be updated as we further engage with and learn from people facing barriers and those with disabilities.
The plan incorporates consultation and input received by the District’s Accessibility Advisory Committee and the Accessibility Working Group. Of note is that more than half of the members on the Committee have lived experience with disabilities and accessibility.
Providing Your Feedback
We’re asking people who interact with the Burnaby School District to provide feedback on:
- the Accessibility Plan, and/or
- their accessibility experiences in the District.
To learn more and provide your thoughts, click here.
This journey is ongoing, as we seek feedback through engagement in order to continuously improve accessibility in the Burnaby School District.
Posted December 2023