Making Exclusion Visable – National Exclusion Tracker

In 2018, a grassroots initiative led by two determined mothers from Surrey sparked a powerful tool: the Exclusion Tracker, designed to document when students with disabilities are unjustly excluded from K–12 education in British Columbia. This heartfelt endeavour has since evolved from its roots in BCEd Access into the National Exclusion Tracker (NET™), a collaborative platform administered by the Family Support Institute of BC (FSI) alongside Inclusive Education Canada (IEC). 

What is the NET™?  

The NET™ is an online survey that enables parents, guardians, and even school staff to report incidents in which children or youth with disabilities or complex learning needs are excluded from educational experiences.  

Exclusion includes being sent home, left out of class activities, field trips, extracurricular programs, or denied access to child or after-school care. 

The tool captures exclusionary experiences and guides users through steps toward reinclusion and advocacy. It also offers a dedicated section for student feedback. 

Why it Matters 

Data from the Exclusion Tracker reveals troubling trends: over four years, BC students with disabilities missed thousands of school days, often excluded from instruction, social events, or confined, yet slight improvement has been seen over time. 

June, in particular, emerges as a concerning high point. As school activities ramp up with field trips, camps, outdoor learning, the rate of exclusion spikes, often resulting in last-minute directives that families must scramble to respond to. 

Such documentation has helped catalyze broader systemic change. Data collected through the tracker now supports advocacy efforts, including the BC Ombudsperson’s first-ever systemic investigation into student exclusions, announced in January 2025.  

The Power of Community-Driven Data

The Tracker was born from parents speaking their truth and continues to be a voice for families who too often feel unheard. Within its first few years, it amassed over 12,000 incident reports, becoming a key resource referenced by Amnesty International and used to inform Canada’s submission under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. 

The NET™ is a testament to the impact of lived experience, collective documentation, and rights-driven advocacy, ensuring that exclusion is not hidden but transformed into change. 

Make your voice heard – Visit the Exclusion Tracker 

– Sara Jane R. Walker, Senior Manager, Communications

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