Family accuses high school of unfairly expelling their son in midst of COVID-19 pandemic

Student trying to find way to study A West Island family is trying to find a way to have their son safely complete high school alleging he was unfairly expelled from his school

MONTREAL — A West Island family is accusing their son's former school of unfairly expelling him during the COVID-19 pandemic.

For four years, Michael Kiriy attended College Bourget. Due to the pandemic, he began taking classes online due to his mother's medical condition making her high-risk for COVID-19. But Kiriy, who suffers from ADHD, began having trouble concentrating. The family said he was told at the end of October that he was not completing work and should find another school.

“From my perspective, they just threw me away,” he said. “I feel lost right now.”

“Basically, they said to me they can't maintain Michael at school because they don't have enough resources,” said his mother, Galina Charitonov.

College Bourget's director general confirmed the school had advised the family to find another option but said Kiriy had prior academic difficulties and disciplinary issues. They added the school had made it clear he would need to keep up with his work but father Evgeni Kiriy refuted that, saying they were not aware of Michael's precarious position.

“We did not receive any documents saying he's on probation or something like that,” he said. “From our perspective, it was completely unwarranted.”

Human rights lawyer Julius Grey said the right to an education does not extend to private schools.

“You don't have a right to go there. For instance, children are frequently expelled for use of drugs, alcohol, being unsuitable for the school,” he said. “You have a right, however, to be educated by Quebec.”

The family said they were hoping to get an exemption from a doctor for Michael to continue studying online in the public system, but are unable to. They say that leaves homeschooling as the only option.

Michael said the situation is leaving him falling further behind and missing his friends.

“I have friends there and I would like to see them at school, but I can't anymore,” he said.