Whitehorse dad wants education assistant for autistic daughter

A Whitehorse area father says the government is losing sight of what's important in Yukon.

Russ Hobbis' nine-year-old daughter Molly is in Grade 4 at Jack Hulland Elementary School.

She has autism and Hobbis says she had a full-time education assistant in Kindergarten, but now she has no support at all.

"My daughter has to regress to get help,” Hobbis says. “How is that helping children?

"I fully expect my daughter to complete high school, go on to university and get a degree and be a contributing member to society and she's being held back by our education system."

Hobbis echoes concerns raised by Tara Goodwin-Chief last month, when she told CBC that her son Milo was going to school without a dedicated educational assistant for the first time in six years.

An education assistant made all the difference for Molly.

When she had one, Hobbis says she had few meltdowns at school, but now they are frequent.

One of the most recent was at the school's Remembrance Day commemoration.

"The thought of all these people dying… it was just overwhelming for my daughter, she just couldn't deal with her emotions. She ended up going to a quiet room at the school by herself and crying for well over an hour.”

Hobbis isn’t blaming Jack Hulland School. He says it's the education department that's refusing to acknowledge there's a problem.

Hobbis says when he first contacted the department about his concerns, his call was not returned.

Since calling the office of Education Minister Elaine Taylor, he's had two meetings with education officials.

But Hobbis says after his first meeting to ask for more education assistants at Jack Hulland School, the department actually eliminated one of the existing positions.

A second meeting with Taylor and deputy minister Val Royle didn’t help.

Hobbis says the department insists the school has enough resources.

"It's hard when my daughter asks me why she isn't getting help,” he says. “I've told her, if you need help ask an adult, and I feel like I'm letting her down, ‘cause I can't get her the help she needs.”

Hobbis, a former Yukon Party candidate, says he's no longer a supporter.

"The Yukon is being promoted as a great place to live, well yeah, the scenery is great, we've got lots of nice buildings, but what about our future? Our future is those kids in the classroom and they're not being served by the present government.”