Epileptic student needs help, mother says

The reorganized school system has led to a Doaktown student being refused access to an educational assistant to help him deal with a medical condition.

Zachary Fowler has epilepsy and takes eight pills a day to deal with his seizures.

When Zachary was in kindergarten at Doaktown Elementary School, he had an educational assistant, who would take him to the washroom and be on the alert for signs that a seizure could be coming.

Becky Fowler, his mother, said this year he doesn't have a classroom assistant.

She said the school is trying to help her son, but she said she worries that a seizure might go unnoticed on the playground or someone might not be there fast enough to administer the drug he needs if the seizure goes on too long.

"It can happen at any time and I would just like to feel secure knowing that he is safe," Fowler said.

Fowler said her son has about six serious attacks a year and they are unpredictable.

The New Brunswick government slashed the number of school districts to seven from 14 earlier this year.

Doaktown is now located in the Anglophone West district, which is the largest of the anglophone districts, including Fredericton, Woodstock and Edmundston.

Meeting planned

When Fowler called the new school district office in August, she said she was told her concerns over receiving an assistant for Zachary would be sorted out before school started in September.

But with the recent school district amalgamation, the elementary school is now part of a much larger district. The superintendant is still examining the needs of all schools in the larger district to decide where its limited resources will go.

After speaking to CBC News, Fowler said she has been given an appointment to meet a district official on Monday to discuss extra help for her son.

She said its important for her to find a way to get Zachary the extra help while he is in school just in case he has a seizure.

"He just starts shaking all over violently and a lot of times when they happen he just stops breathing, so it does make you feel insecure when your son's at school and he doesn't have extra help," she said.