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LAMBTON KENT DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD |
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SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE |
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Thursday, |
Wallaceburg District Secondary School |
7:00 p.m. |
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June 10, 2004 |
Library |
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M I N
U T E S |
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PRESENT: |
Jenny Greensmith, Pathways Health Centre for Children |
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Norma Hills, Community Living Sarnia-Lambton |
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Al Kuhn, Community Living Chatham-Kent |
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Marion Lennan, Lambton County Developmental Services |
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Duncan Longwell, Trustee (Chair) |
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Donna Scherer, Learning Disabilities Association of
Chatham-Kent (Vice-Chair) |
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Charlene Taylor, Member "at large" |
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Jonathan Quaglia, Member "at large" |
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Wenda Vallee, Autism Society of Ontario |
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REGRETS: |
Rose Gallaway, St. Clair Child and Youth Services |
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Susie Jones, Trustee |
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Laurie Mawlam, Community Living Wallaceburg |
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Sharon Nickerson, Member "at large" |
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RESOURCE |
Warren Kennedy, Superintendent of Education |
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STAFF: |
Chris Gordon, Geri Haskell and Debbie Seager, Special Education Co-ordinators |
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1.0 |
CALL TO ORDER - 7:00 p.m. D. Longwell announced a change to the Agenda: Item 5.1, “Visually Impaired Program
Review Committee Recommendations” will be replaced with “IEP Quality
Improvement Plan”. The Visually
Impaired Program Review Committee will present their recommendations in
September. |
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2.0 |
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF
2004 05 20 |
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The Minutes of 2004 05 20 were approved as written. |
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3.0 |
BUSINESS ARISING FROM
MINUTES |
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3.1 |
Question Re: 2004-2005 Secondary Special Education Staffing Complement |
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W. Kennedy clarified the
DRAFT 2004-2005 special education staffing complement and the question
surrounding the reduction of 1.0 Resource Teacher at the Secondary
level. Each of the three Transition
Learning Disabilities (TLD) Program Teachers had 2 lines of Resource in
addition to their 4 lines of TLD (6 lines = a full-time teacher). Now that the TLD program is up and running
the monitoring/Resource portion of the program will be delivered by the
regular Resource Teachers at each of the three schools that offer the TLD
program. |
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3.2 |
Questions Re: ISA 1 Equipment Claims SEAC was informed that, although we are seeking further clarification from the Ministry of Education, it appears that Board-contracted Speech Pathologists may write ISA Equipment recommendation letters. Tuition Agreement First Nations pupils are not eligible for ISA 1 equipment claims. If a Tuition Agreement student requires equipment a request is made to their Band Office. |
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4.0 |
PRESENTATION – 2004-2005
BUDGET OVERVIEW Superintendent of Business, Ron Andruchow, provided an overview of the 2004-2005 Budget. Highlights included: · Summary of New Funding Announcements o Stabilization Funding for Operating Costs - $450 Million Province-wide o Cap on JK to Grade 3 Class Sizes - $250 Million Province-wide o Numeracy and Literacy Programs - $133 Million Province-wide · Enrolment Projections: Elementary down 375 students, and Secondary down 61 students · Board's total budget is estimated to be $200.7 Million · ISA 2 and 3 claims will be funded based on June 2003 Budget estimates. · $1.085 Million will be taken from Special Education Reserves for a total Special Education Budget of $23.4 Million, pending Board approval. SEAC members were provided with the opportunity to ask questions and provide their comments concerning the 2004-2005 Budget. SEAC was also informed that Board meetings scheduled to review the 2004-2005 Budget will be held on June 22 and 29, 2004. W. Kennedy acknowledged the efforts of R. Andruchow for preparing an
informative presentation. Funding
information was just received from the Provincial government a short time
ago. |
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5.0 |
2003-2004 PROGRAM REVIEWS |
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5.1 |
IEP Quality Improvement
Plan G. Haskell distributed DRAFT copies and outlined the Individual Education Plan (IEP) Quality Improvement Plan which must be submitted to the Ministry of Education along with the 2004 Special Education Plan Amendments, by July 31, 2004. The IEP Quality Improvement Plan incorporates suggestions made by SEAC at a previous meeting. Plans are underway to pilot a new web-based IEP program at 6 to 10 schools in September. SEAC Members were asked to review the IEP Quality Improvement Plan in detail and report any concerns to G. Haskell or J. Sparks, by June 28, 2004. |
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5.2 |
Physical Disabilities Program Review Committee Update D. Seager informed SEAC that the Physical Disabilities Program Review continues, and the Committee will reconvene in September. Preliminary results from a parental survey have been compiled. In the Fall outside agencies and staff will be surveyed. |
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6.0 |
SPECIAL EDUCATION PLAN |
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6.1 |
Review of Section 2.4 –
IPRC Process Section 2.4 of the Plan was
reviewed. G. Haskell suggested the
following revisions: ·
Update
Appendix 2.4.2: The IPRC Referral
Form has been revised to include Speech Impairment as an
Exceptionality on Page 2 of the Form. ·
Page 28 -
Number of IPRC’s during the Previous School Year will be revised based on
October 31, 2004 statistics. A. Kuhn mentioned that some
parents are having difficulty having their children referred for
psychological testing or to an IPRC.
G. Haskell offered that if a parent is experiencing difficulty SEAC
Members should direct them to contact a Special Education Co-ordinator for
assistance or clarification of the process.
W. Kennedy stressed the “Steps to Success” process. C. Taylor suggested that
Resource Teachers and Principals be reminded of the “Steps to Success”
process so that they can inform parents of the action taken when a student is
experiencing difficulty. J. Quaglia suggested that a
sentence be included on Page 26 under the heading of “Procedures”, 4th
Paragraph, encouraging parents to bring their child to the IPRC meeting if
they feel it is appropriate. He also
suggested that the IPRC Parent Guide be revised to encourage parents to
present reports and paperwork from outside agencies prior to the IPRC. C. Taylor suggested that
Page 1 of Appendix 2.4.1, Item 3.0 be revised to read: “Upon the written request of a
parent…” |
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7.0 |
DRAFT ANNUAL ACCESSIBILITY
PLAN SEAC reviewed a DRAFT copy
of the Board’s Annual Accessibility Plan for 2004-2005. Under the Ontarians with Disabilities Act
(ODA), all public institutions must develop an Annual Accessibility
Plan. The Plan must provide general
guidelines on how public buildings and programs will be made more accessible
to people with disabilities. This is
the second year of the Plan and falls under the mandate of the Human
Resources Department. Special
Education Co-ordinators Chris Gordon and Denise Emery are Accessibility
Working Group Committee members. SEAC suggested the following
revisions: ·
involve
School Councils and students in the consultation process or have School
Council and student representation on the Working Group Committee. ·
include
details on how the Accessibility Plan is communicated to parents. ·
under the
heading of “Attitude”, include a statement that Working Group Committee
members form a “partnership”. ·
students that
are non-verbal are not always provided with access to picture symbol
programs. ·
for students
or parents with learning disabilities, note taking at school meetings would
be helpful. Provide tape-recorded
information to parents or students who may need assistance. ·
access to
timely assessments is sometimes a barrier for a student with learning
disabilities. SEAC Members were encouraged
to provide feedback to any of the Committee members listed on Page 6 of the
Accessibility Plan. |
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8.0 |
DRAFT 2004-2005 SEAC MEETING
SCHEDULE A DRAFT SEAC meeting
schedule for 2004-2005 was proposed.
The following dates were agreed upon: ·
September 23,
2004 ·
October 28,
2004 ·
November 25,
2004 ·
December 16,
2004 ·
January 27,
2005 ·
February 24,
2005 ·
March 31,
2005 ·
April 28,
2005 ·
May 19, 2005 ·
June 9, 2005 All meetings will be held in
the Library at Wallaceburg District Secondary School, beginning at 7:00 p.m.
(unless announced otherwise). |
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9.0 |
CORRESPONDENCE |
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9.1 |
Letter from the
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board SEAC, dated May 17, 2004 A copy of a letter sent to
the Minister of Education from the co-chairs of SEAC of the Ottawa-Carleton
District School Board was received.
The letter expressed concern regarding class sizes for students
carrying a dual diagnosis of Autism and a Developmental Disability. |
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10.0 |
ASSOCIATION REPORTS AND
OTHER BUSINESS W. Vallee submitted a video
called “Meet My Brother”, re: a
family with an Autistic child. The
video was made with funds raised through the “Toonies for Autism” project. W. Vallee encouraged schools to become
more involved with the annual “Toonies for Autism” fundraising activity. D. Scherer requested an
up-to-date listing of Trustees as well as a list of Superintendents with
their school assignments. |
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11.0 |
QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC - None |
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12.0 |
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS · Exceptionality Presentations ·
Safe Schools
Act and Its Effect on Exceptional Pupils ·
Link between
IPRC, IEP, and Transition Plans, etc. ·
New Criteria
for Identifying Students as "Communication (Learning
Disability)" ·
Section-by-Section
Special Education Plan Review ·
IEP Update ·
Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing Parent Pamphlet and Central
Auditory Processing Booklet |
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13.0 |
NEXT MEETING |
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Thursday, September 23, 2004 |
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Wallaceburg District Secondary School - Library |
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7:00 p.m. |
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14.0 |
ADJOURNMENT - 9:35
p.m. |
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Joan Sparks, |
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Recording Secretary. |