Against mother’s wishes, court orders her two children back to school
A Quebec Superior Court judge has ordered two children to return to school, as requested by their father, but against the wishes of their mother, who feared they could become infected with COVID-19.
The judgment was delivered on May 7 in Bedford, a town close to the U.S. border, as Quebec prepared to open elementary schools outside Montreal. School attendance was not mandatory, government officials emphasized, because some parents were anxious about sending their children while the province continues to wrestle with the coronavirus.
A mother, whose name is redacted, had requested that the couple’s two children, eight and seven years old, not attend school on May 11, when classes were set to resume. She wanted to avoid any potential infection and told the court that her health is precarious. She doesn’t work and was prepared to home-school the children.
She shares custody of the kids with their father. As businesses opened and economic activity began to resume in Quebec, he had to go back to work. The kids were doing poorly in their education, the ruling reads. He wanted to send them to class.
Judge Claude Villeneuve sided with the father. The Gazette was not able to confirm the children’s attendance in school since May 11.
“When the government decides to partially lift the containment measures linked to COVID-19 in order to allow, among other things, the resumption of academic activities at the primary level, there is no reason for the court to question this decision,” he wrote, “unless either party demonstrates, with evidence, that it would be contrary to the special interests of their children to return to school, for example, because of their state of health.”
Children have the right, and the obligation, to attend school, Villeneuve continued. Because their schoolteachers are best qualified to instruct them, given their learning difficulties, the judge concluded they should attend class.
Family lawyer Anne-france Goldwater, who was not involved with the case, disagrees with some of the judge’s reasoning. It is the second case of its kind she has seen. In the other, a judge allowed children to stay at home instead of going to school because one parent had serious health problems that would make them more susceptible to COVID-19.
These types of decisions often lack nuance, she said, and fail to take into account what is unknown about the virus, including its possible health effects on children.
But it’s uncharted territory. “If I were a judge, I would find it a very difficult decision to make,” she said.
Villeneuve’s decision comes as divorced couples flood the courts with custody requests. Social distancing measures have precipitated disagreements between separated parents.
But even during the pandemic, children should spend time with both parents, in line with custody agreements, the ministry of justice says, unless a parent, child or close relative tests positive for the virus.
With few exceptions, the courts have upheld the ministry’s recommendation. As the government shut down businesses and told Quebecers to stay home, numerous parents requested sole custody or tried to temporarily limit the visitation rights of their former partners. Judges have denied their requests.
Often, parents accuse the other of endangering their children, of going out of the house more than they should or leaving the kids more vulnerable to infection. Some parents have resorted to drastic action.
One man, for example, said his child’s mother was working as an escort, which he said left the child — and by extension him — vulnerable to infection. A judge ruled in April that the evidence was not sufficient to support the escort theory and the parents were ordered to continue sharing custody.
Children need parental stability and support during the pandemic, Goldwater said. “If there was ever a time on this God’s green Earth when parents have to learn to swallow their pride and do what they have to do to keep their children safe, it’s now. If parents can’t get along during the pandemic, God help us all.”