When Leah Cloutier enrolled her son in the All Boys Program, she was relieved to finally find somewhere her son could happily go to school. But now that the program is at risk of shutting down, she’s heartbroken.

“It has worked out wonderfully for him. He’s growing socially, but he’s also doing really well academically,” Cloutier said in an interview on CBC’s The Homestretch.

“But if you put him in a typical CBE school he would not test that way because his body would be so stressed and over-stimulated, and he would just disappear or we’d probably have to pull him.”

The alternative all boys K-6 program at Sir James Lougheed School in southwest Calgary originally launched in 2012 to offer single-gender education that’s more active and designed to increase boys’ self-confidence. It’s since evolved into a specialized space for neurodiverse learners.

But at a Calgary Board of Education (CBE) meeting in late September, school trustees voted to begin taking public input regarding a potential closure of the program because of its increasingly low enrolment and its high per-student cost, which the CBE reports is 60 per cent higher than other elementary school programs.

The board also believes the program’s shift to focus on complex learning and behavioural issues overlaps with other schools and services in its system that are already meeting such needs.

At its peak in 2016, there were 175 students enrolled in the program, but it’s been in decline ever since.

The school’s enrolment as of Aug. 29 was 30 students, a total that’s even lower than the board expected, it notes, because students have already begun relocating to other schools in anticipation of the program’s closure.

Throughout the spring, the CBE informed staff, students and families about its plans to submit a report to trustees recommending it begin to assess closing the school.

The board says it will create individualized transition plans to integrate students into other schools across the CBE.

Board spokesperson Joanne Anderson said the CBE believes students in the all boys program can be taught equally well in its other schools, and added that the feedback the board gathered will inform the individual transition plans for each student.

Given that students come from all over Calgary to attend the program, its closure wouldn’t have much impact on overall school enrolment in the CBE. However, the board says it expects to repurpose the Sir James Lougheed School for elementary programming.

But the fact that some parents drive more than an hour to take their kids to the school is a sign that there’s still demand for the all boys program, Cloutier said.

“One of the things the CBE keeps telling us is they are absolutely confident they can transition these kids into their neighbourhood schools, but a lot of these kids started out in those neighbourhood schools and it didn’t work,” said Cloutier, who drives her kid more than 10 hours per week to and from Sir James Lougheed School, where he’s enrolled in Grade Two.

“This was, for a lot of parents, the last-ditch option, and it worked out beautifully.”

Cloutier said if the CBE embraced the program and got the word out that it’s well suited for neurodiverse students, its enrolment would increase.

She added she often talks to parents with neurodiverse kids who feel isolated and don’t know where to go, showing there’s a need for the program.

The program’s enrolment has dropped partly because of the removal of before-and-after child care, Cloutier argued. That has left a “huge void” for parents who relied on it, she said.

Other parents, like Deborah Mathis, have drastically shifted their work schedules to accommodate their child’s enrolment in the program, feeling it’s the best option for them.

Her son attended the program for two years, before moving onto Grade 7 this fall. Mathis quit her job to raise her kids full-time, because it was impossible to balance her work with parenting, she said.

She praised the different environment the program offered, with small class sizes, sensory-dampened surroundings with tennis balls on the bottom of chairs and tables, low lighting, and extra space in classrooms for students to move around when they need. The program also recognizes some students’ need for time-outs, she said.

Mathis said hearing about the program closing was devastating, and it will be difficult for other schools to support these students as well.

“That whole understanding of what the issues are with those children, I really feel it’s impossible to have every teacher have that, especially with overcrowded classrooms,” Mathis said.

Mathis also noticed how once her son felt accepted and supported in the program, it improved other behavioural challenges outside of school as well.

“It’s a society issue. When you provide supports for these kids, you’re saving their lives,” Mathis said.

Mathis argued the program should expand to include both boys and girls, with a focus on helping neurodiverse learners of any gender, and that it run from Grade 1 to 8 to support more students.

Program is a ‘unicorn’

Autism Calgary family support lead Laura Lacavex said she’s extremely disappointed to see an option for neurodiverse students in the city disappear.

Lacavex said she often hears from parents who are struggling to find a place for their children in the school system, and that she’s recommended the all boys program to many of them.

Lacavex has personal experience with the program, as two of her kids went there while it was at its peak enrolment.

“It helped their mental health and their self-esteem not to feel singled out, not to be made to feel different, just to have that understanding and accommodation,” Lacavex said.

She added that it’s not so simple as to transition the program’s students to other CBE schools, because several of its students won’t be able to fit into a regular classroom. For families who need their children in school five days per week, and can’t afford private schools, it will be difficult to find another option as well suited to them as the all boys program.

“That is a unicorn,” Lacavex said, adding that teachers working with already large class sizes will need more resources to provide the supports that students need.

“They will need to inject a lot of resources to be able to hire educational assistants and make it a little more individualized.”