School Districts Accessibility Committees

This September marks two years since the Accessible BC Act required school districts to establish an accessibility committee, develop an accessibility plan and create a feedback mechanism. The purpose of these Committees is to identify, prevent, and remove barriers for people with disabilities. They must have diverse representation, include Indigenous representation, and at least half of their members must be people with disabilities, family members of people with disabilities, or members of organizations that support people with disabilities. According to the Accessible BC Act, a barrier can be physical, sensory, cognitive, mental health, or other barriers that people with disabilities face within school districts. The Committees provide guidance on the development, implementation, and review of a school district’s Accessibility Plan.

The BC Council of Administrators of Inclusive Support in Education (BC CAISE), Disability Alliance BC, and Untapped Accessibility provided support to school districts in implementing the Accessible BC Act requirements. Each of the 60 school districts in BC took a slightly different approach to responding to these obligations to advance accessibility.

Surrey Schools video series

As we continue to advocate for equitable access to education for students with disabilities across BC, we welcome learning about the efforts that school districts are making to enhance inclusion in all schools. In May 2025, the Surrey School District launched its four-part animated video series on accessibility, created by the Surrey Schools Accessibility Working Group and Advisory Committee. “Surrey Schools is proud of the progress our Accessibility Working Group has made during the last two years. We are very appreciative of the guidance and support provided by our Accessibility Advisory Committee members” – Colin Reid with Surrey Schools.

The videos aim to create a common understanding of four key terms: disability, barriers, accessibility, and inclusion in school communities. The video series gets to the question of what kind of community you want to live in. These four terms come together in the series to illustrate their importance in creating inclusive environments. The video series invites us to reflect on and take action to make school communities and other places inclusive, so that everyone feels like they belong.

Surrey Schools is happy to have other school districts, municipalities, and organizations that support accessibility and inclusion link to and use these videos to promote these critical messages. If organizations are interested in having these videos adapted to include their logo and an acknowledgement of the territory on which they are located, please contact Colin Reid from Surrey Schools to be connected with the company that has permission to do this work.

 

At Inclusion BC, we hope that a deeper understanding of disability, barriers, accessibility, and inclusion will transform into more actions to ensure that all students feel they belong in their schools.

 

 

 

 

 

Further information:

• • Watch the videos on Surrey Schools’ Website
  • For more information about the Accessible Organizations Project, you can go to http://www.bcaccessibilityhub.ca
  • To learn about the accessibility plan for your school district, visit your district’s website.

Share with us:

• • If you would like to share the positive outcomes of the Accessibility Plans, Committee, or Feedback Mechanism from your school district, please send an email to advocacy@inclusionbc.org. We love to hear from all regions about how students with disabilities are being supported to belong in their schools fully.