Nearly year-long waits for student psychological assessments leave London families behind

LONDON - London families are being forced to wait months, in some cases nearly a full school year, for children to receive the psychological assessments they need to succeed in class, according to new figures from the Thames Valley District School Board.

Wait times have skyrocketed from 135 days last winter to roughly 360 days today, leaving students without diagnoses, accommodations, or the supports they depend on.

“This isn’t just a backlog, it’s sheer failure,” said Kernaghan. “Kids don’t get to pause their learning for a year while the system plays catch up. By the time help arrives, too much damage has already been done.”

MPP Teresa Armstrong said families are being pushed into impossible situations.

“Parents are watching their children struggle every day and being told to wait… or quietly pay thousands of dollars for private assessments if they can even manage that,” said Armstrong. “That’s not choice. That’s desperation created by chronic underfunding and leadership that refuses to push back.”

MPP Peggy Sattler said the cause of the crisis is loud and clear.

“When boards don’t have enough psychologists, students wait. When positions go unfilled, kids lose. It’s simple,” said Sattler. “That is a direct result of inadequate funding and a decision being made at a local level by a supervisor choosing to manage scarcity rather than demanding better from the Minister of Education.”

The MPPs warned that tighter eligibility rules and restricted wait lists risk leaving many students without any assessment at all. When access is limited, the most vulnerable students are the first to fall through the cracks. Early assessments can change the trajectory of a child’s life. Schools should be places of support, not waiting rooms, and families deserve action, not excuses.