James Cook High School principal Grant McMillan at the spot where a disabled student was injured when his wheelchair fell on top of him. Photo / Alex Burton
James Cook High School principal Grant McMillan at the spot where a disabled student was injured when his wheelchair fell on top of him. Photo / Alex Burton
A visually impaired student was badly injured on his first day at high school after tipping out a doorway face-first on to concrete with his motorised wheelchair on top of him.
He suffered numerous injuries including a broken jaw and was mentally traumatised by the accident, which happened at James Cook High School in Manurewa.
And his injuries could have been "far worse, if not fatal", according to a report by the school's principal.
Principal Grant McMillan has blamed the Ministry of Education - saying the school has hosted satellite classes for around 20 years but the Ministry has never made it safe for the students.
A 19-year-old BLENNZ satellite student was seriously injured on his first day at James Cook High School in Manurewa, 14 October 2019. Photo / Supplied
The Ministry would never dare treat students in the "leafy suburbs" the way it treated students at his decile 1 school in south Auckland, McMillan wrote to one official.
Details of that correspondence are included in documents released by the school under the Official Information Act.
They outline failings in how the school dealt with hazards - but ultimately lay blame with the Ministry of Education for allowing state school property to end up in such a parlous state.
The documents show the Ministry knew for at least 11 months that the student, who was enrolled at the Blind and Low Vision Education Network New Zealand (BLENNZ) Homai campus, would be attending James Cook in October 2019.
In November 2018, a Ministry of Education occupational therapist noted some modifications were needed, such as ramps and yellow paint to help the student get around. These were signed off by Ministry officials, but nothing was ever completed.
And the report did not recommend a ramp outside the door where the accident happened - despite it being an emergency exit for a satellite school classroom.
The principal says he was not told that the student was joining the school until he turned up on October 14.
The 19-year-old arrived "full of excitement and energy", according to a statement from his father.
Two hours into his first day, after a chat with a teacher in a satellite classroom, he headed out an open doorway.
He didn't know the door was normally kept closed because it had no ramp. Outside there were two steps dropping about 20cm on to concrete.
The student, strapped into his motorised chair, tipped forward. It's thought the teacher attempted to grab his clothing to slow his fall, but he landed on his chin with the chair's weight on top of him.
He broke his jaw and one tooth, cracked another, and suffered deep cuts and injuries to his face and shoulder. For the first week he could only eat soup through a syringe - adding to difficulty with gaining weight.
The student's father said his son suffered a "very traumatic mental injury".
"He came to the school full of excitement and energy. His day after being at school for two hours turned out to be a tragic experience."
Principal Grant McMillan highlighted the issues with the Ministry of Education numerous times. Photo / Alex Burton
James Cook takes satellite students from Rosehill Special School and BLENNZ. In 2019 the satellite school had five classes, as well as students on the main roll with mobility needs.
A report from McMillan to the school board four months before the incident said when he took the job in 2016 he quickly became concerned the school was dangerous to those students.
Hazards included deep channel drains, kerbs and a lack of wheelchair ramps, and blind students often bumping into poles.
Some things were "inexplicably below basic human rights" standards, McMillan said, such as a portable toilet for special needs students by the main walkway so everyone knew when a child was using it, "removing all dignity".
McMillan highlighted the issues with the Ministry numerous times. In 2018 he gave them one year to fix the major hazards - warning if they failed he would ban all mobility-affected students from the site and complain to the Health and Disability Commission.
After the deadline passed, McMillan took his frustrations to the Ministry's Auckland director of education Isabel Evans.
The Ministry was practising "maindumping" instead of mainstreaming students, he wrote to Evans.
"Were JCHS a decile 10 school or located in another part of the region, these issues would not exist ... I am more than confident that the special needs students attending [Auckland Grammar] or [Auckland Girls' Grammar School] would not have their entitlements so poorly responded to."
Students at James Cook High were treated differently to those in the "leafy green suburbs closer to the MoE offices", McMillan said.
As principal, he was "legally ... professionally and morally responsible" for the students and he was failing to keep special education students safe and respected, he wrote.
Evans promised to fix the problems, and there was a $150,000 "flurry" of minor upgrades. McMillan backed down, believing further work was forthcoming. Then the work slowed, according to the documents.
That October, the satellite student was badly injured. An initial statement from the student's father blamed James Cook and BLENNZ for allowing students into an unsafe site.
Following the incident, McMillan banned all students with mobility needs until the school could be made safe. The Ministry has since made some upgrades and more are in the works but some BLENNZ students are still not back two years later.
Five satellite classes that have been promised for several years have also still not been built.
The Ministry's head of infrastructure Kim Shannon said $1.1 million had been spent on property modifications for specific students who needed them at James Cook.
"Sometimes the property modifications required to support students to attend school take longer than planned and we recognise it is frustrating.
"We haven't met our own expectations in delivering the five satellite units." These have now been signed off by BLENNZ and Rosehill and are waiting for McMillan's approval.
McMillan told the Weekend Herald he deeply regretted not following through on the threat to send all students with mobility needs away earlier though it would have been "extraordinary" and invited backlash from the Ministry.
"I still look back and wish I had done more," he said.
"This should never have happened, and those responsible should never have dragged their feet so slowly which allowed it to happen."
He had told the family he was "appalled and saddened" by the accident.
"Even though their child is legally enrolled in another school, and the Ministry holds all the purse-strings and control in special education funding, their child was in our school on his very first day here and he should have been absolutely safe.
"I have huge respect and admiration for the dignified and caring way in which the family responded to and have managed this matter, even though some of the people who should have visited and should have apologised have never had the decency to do so."
