A transgender teenager in Prince George will be returning to school for the first time since early March this Monday after fleeing high school due to bullying.
Milan Halikowski was attending Grade 8 at DP Todd Secondary, but may end up losing the year. He transitioned when he was 11 and has always dealt with bullying, but the problem has reached new heights.
In a release Milan’s mother, Lynnell says she eventually reached out to their lawyer “because it got to the point that people were not even answering my emails. No one even sent homework for Milan or asked how he was doing.”
The lawyer Barbara Findlay says the School District has dropped the ball when it comes to protecting Milan from his bullies.
“The idea that he should lose a year of his schooling because of bullies in his class, it’s just completely unacceptable”
Findlay says the ‘safety plan’ developed by the school puts the burden on Milan to report the bullying after it occurs.
“Milan is actually afraid for his life, that’s not an adequate plan”
Findlay is asking SD57 to transfer the two principal bullies to different schools and provide Milan with a cell phone so he can record events as they are happening and call for help.
She acknowledges that the bullying is far more widespread than just two students, but said “if the kids understand that the main bullies are getting away with it with nothing more than a slap on the wrist, than what’s to stop them?”
Milan will be returning to DP Todd on Monday in an attempt to salvage his school year.
“He’s going back to school with an expectation that he will be able to get some support.” Findlay said, noting that transgendered youth take an incredible amount of abuse across Canada.
She pointed to a recent study that found 75% of trans youth under 18 had self‐harmed in the previous year, 66% had thought seriously about suicide, and 33% had attempted suicide.
SD57 surprised by accusations
But the school district’s acting Superintendent Sharon Cairns says they’ve been in constant communication with both Findlay and Milan’s mother, working on ways to get Milan safely back to school.
“There has been ongoing communication via email and face to face on an absolutely regular basis up to and including today. Any delay was not caused by the school district.”
Cairns was taken aback by Findlay’s public appeal, saying the district thought the situation had been addressed.
“Supports that have been agreed upon are in place including a safety plan that was dated in March and a return to school plan that was agreed upon prior to Monday’s return date”
Cairns says the District’s anti-bullying policy is designed to protect the rights and safety of its students and that students who violate the policy, including those who have bullied Milan, do face consequences. Findlay says she has heard a one day suspension is the only punishment so far for Milan’s bullies.
Cairns says Findlay, who wrote that the school board doesn’t “care if the kid dies,” is mischaracterizing the situation.
“I’m particularly offended by the statement that ‘They don’t care if a kid dies.’ We have done so much work around bullying. All of our school based staff have been trained in Violent Threat Risk Assessment. The District has an LGBTQ committee that is composed of parents and youth within the LGBT community. We have a code of student conduct that covers bullying so to say that we don’t care if a student dies is so inflammatory.”
Cairns adds that the District promptly implemented the Ministry of Education’s Erase bullying program and is doing all it can to ensure that Milan is safe in school.
w/ files from Colin Dacre & Shannon Waters
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