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LAMBTON |
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SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE |
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Thursday, |
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7:00 p.m. |
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November 25, 2004 |
Library |
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M I N
U T E S |
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PRESENT: |
Rose Gallaway, St. Clair
Child and Youth Services |
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Susie Jones, Trustee |
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Marion Lennan, |
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Duncan Longwell, Trustee
(Chair) |
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Lisa Matthews, Learning
Disabilities Association of |
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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 |
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Janet Vanderwerf, Member "at large" |
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Mary Weerdenburg, Pathways
Health Centre for Children |
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REGRETS: |
Al Kuhn, Community Living Chatham-Kent |
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Laurie Mawlam, Community
Living Wallaceburg |
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Maggie Rochon, Easter Seal
Society of |
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RESOURCE |
Warren Kennedy, Superintendent of Education |
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STAFF: |
Denise Emery, Geri Haskell and Debbie Seager, Special Education Co-ordinators |
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1.0 |
CALL TO ORDER, APPROVAL OF AGENDA AND INTRODUCTION OF
NEW MEMBER The meeting was called to
order at 7:00 p.m. Chair, D. Longwell introduced Mary Weerdenburg
who will be replacing Jenny Greensmith as the SEAC
representative from Pathways Health Centre for Children. D. Longwell
announced the following alternate SEAC representative
appointments: Ryan Lester for Norma
Hills, and Lisa Saul for Lisa Matthews. |
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2.0 |
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF
2004 11 25 |
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The Minutes of 2004 10 28 were approved as written. |
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3.0 |
BUSINESS ARISING FROM
MINUTES |
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3.1 |
PAAC on SEAC Annual
Calendar of SEAC Business SEAC
reviewed
a list of suggested monthly SEAC Agenda items developed by the Provincial
Parent Association Advisory Committee on SEAC (PAAC on SEAC). The list was submitted at the previous
meeting by D. Scherer. D. Scherer felt
that our SEAC currently followed the same topics and timelines, with minor
exceptions, which is a good reflection on this SEAC. C.
Taylor suggested that SEAC set attainable goals coupled with indicators of
success. |
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J.
Quaglia wondered if we should investigate what
other Boards/SEAC’s are doing (e.g., # of E.A.’s, budgets, etc.). W.
Kennedy suggested that perhaps a portion of the September, 2005 SEAC meeting
could be devoted to agenda planning for the school year using the PAAC list
as a guide. |
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4.0 |
2004 OCTOBER REPORT
STATISTICS RELATED TO EXCEPTIONAL PUPILS |
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4.1 |
Exceptional Pupils by
Exceptionality A chart summarizing the
total number of exceptional pupils was reviewed. The chart revealed a total of 3503
exceptional pupils as of October 31, 2004, which is a slight decrease from
last year. D. Scherer voiced concern
over the difference between Secondary and Elementary pupils identified as
having a Learning Disability and wondered if there was a reason for such a
noticeable gap (963 vs. 567). The
reduction at the elementary level may be due to declining enrolment and the
increase at the secondary level may be due to students taking five years or
more to complete their diploma requirements. Jim Costello, Principal of Wallaceburg
District Secondary School was introduced.
He outlined the programs available at W.D.S.S. and the recent facility
changes made to accommodate their special needs students. They have experienced great success with their
co-op and work placement programs for special needs students. |
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4.2 |
Suspensions A chart summarizing the
Number of Exceptional Pupil Suspensions for 2002-2003, and 2003-2004 was
reviewed. For 2003 -2004 there was a
substantial decrease in exceptional pupil suspensions at the elementary level
and a slight increase at the secondary level.
W. Kennedy explained that
the 2003-2004 statistics reveal that the exceptional pupil suspensions
account for approximately 20% of the total suspensions issued within the
Board. He is not pleased with the
numbers, but feels that if more funding was available additional staff could
be assigned to schools and programs could be developed to alleviate the
number of suspensions. Safe schools
and zero tolerance policies that were introduced over the last few years
mandate suspensions for certain offences.
Superintendents do monitor the number of suspensions at each
school. W. Kennedy will be reviewing
the exceptional pupil suspension data at the December Principals’ Council
meeting. J. Costello stated that the
suspension of an exceptional pupil is always a last resort. D. Scherer supported the
concept of adding additional staff, preferably Resource Teachers, to develop
programs. Students with learning
disabilities would benefit from access to social skills programming. |
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5.0 |
UPDATES TO 2002-2003
INTERNAL REVIEW OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND SERVICES |
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Revised versions of the
following sections were distributed by W. Kennedy: ·
Section
3a - Programs and Services for Students with Autism ·
Section
3f - Programs and Services for Enrichment and Giftedness Revisions included updated
statistics and recommendations from recent program reviews. Input from SEAC included: ·
Investigate
a special program for students with Asperger’s Syndrome offered by the Peel
District School Board (W. Vallee will gather additional information). ·
Investigate
best practices to improve home and school communications for Autistic pupils
(positive feedback rather than negative).
Begin communication with parents early in the school year. L. Matthews suggested that a
brochure be developed for teachers providing information on how to enrich the
curriculum for gifted students. G.
Haskell explained that there were plenty of resources available for teachers
to enrich their lessons including kits and itinerant teacher consultation
services. W. Kennedy and D. Emery provided
details on the new School Support Program for students with Autism Spectrum
Disorder (ASD). A contract has been signed
between the Lambton Kent District School Board and the local service provider,
Thames Valley Children’s Centre. The
School Support Program allows access to additional supports for educators to
meet the needs of students with ASD.
The School Support Program does not provide direct service to pupils. Support services may include: interaction with individual educators,
participation in school team meetings, in-school and in-class consultations, in-service
opportunities, planning, and linkages to other community supports. The program is funded by the Ministry of
Children and Youth Services in partnership with the Ministry of Education and
we have been very pleased with the supports received to date. M. Weerdenburg suggested
that Case Managers from the Community Care Access Centres and staff from the
Pathways Health Centre for Children be invited to participate in the ASD
in-service opportunities. |
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6.0 |
2004-2005 PROGRAM REVIEWS |
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6.1 |
Physical Disabilities
Program Review Update D. Seager reported that the
Physical Disabilities Program Review is progressing well with what has turned
out to be a very comprehensive review.
The Review Committee is a large group and co-ordinating schedules for
meetings has been problematic. An
all-day meeting was held on November 19, 2004 and the next meeting is
scheduled for January 11, 2005. Thanks
were extended to N. Hills for compiling survey results. |
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7.0 |
SPECIAL EDUCATION PLAN |
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7.1 |
Review of Section 2.9 –
Individual Education Plans G. Haskell
provided an update on the implementation of the new web-based IEP. A SEAC "IEP sub-committee” will be
formed to conduct a thorough review of the new IEP with plans for full
implementation tentatively scheduled for the Fall of 2005. Monthly updates from the sub-committee
would be provided at each SEAC meeting.
L. Matthews, J. Quaglia, C. Taylor, and J. Vanderwerf volunteered to
be on the sub-committee. D. Longwell
indicated he would participate as an “ex-officio” (informed of meeting dates,
etc.). Section 2.9 of the Plan was
reviewed. Suggested revisions based
our current IEP include: · Page 56, Change the sentence under “Transition Plan for Students 14 or over” to read: Exceptional students age 14 and older have a transition plan as part of their Individual Education Plan. · Bottom of Page 56 and Page 57 - Plan for Implementing the Ministry of Education Standards for IEPs will be updated (revised version was distributed). · Appendix 2.9.1: replace with updated IEP template (updated version was distributed). · Add IEP Quality Improvement Plan as Appendix 2.9.2 (copy distributed). J. Quaglia suggested that statements
be added, where necessary, to encourage the scheduling of IEP consultation
meetings with parents early in the school year. W. Kennedy felt that the flowchart on Page
54 could possibly be revised to fulfill this request. |
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7.2 |
Review of Section 2.10 – Provincial and
Section 2.10 of the Plan was reviewed. G. Haskell suggested the following revisions: · Page 60, 3rd Paragraph, Change last sentence to read: These are highly intensive, one and two year programs. · Page 60, 4th Paragraph, Change the 2nd line to read: (LEAD), a special one year program for students with severe learning disabilities… ·
Page 60, last Paragraph, Change the Number of
Students Currently Attending Provincial and o
o
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W. o
D. Scherer requested information concerning referrals to the |
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8.0 |
CORRESPONDENCE SEAC reviewed copies of the
following correspondence: ·
Letter
to the Minister of Education received October 19, 2004, from the
Ottawa-Carleton District School Board SEAC. ·
Letter
to the Minister of Education dated November 3, 2004, from the Thames Valley
District School Board SEAC. |
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9.0 |
ASSOCIATION REPORTS AND
OTHER BUSINESS J. Quaglia requested
information on the recent EQAO testing results and the number of, and reason
for, students exempted from the testing process. Information on the rules for exemptions and
accommodations would also be appreciated. W. Kennedy announced that
our Itinerant Resource Technology Teacher, Ann Pharazyn, is willing to
provide presentations on adaptive technology to associations represented on
SEAC. Ann Pharazyn may be contacted by
e-mail: pharazan@lkdsb.net. |
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10.0 |
QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC - None. |
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11.0 |
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ·
2003-2004
EQAO Testing Results and Exemption Rates ·
Updates
to 2002-2003 Internal Review (Sections 3b and 3i) ·
Special
Education Plan - Review of Section 2.11 and 2.12 ·
Augmentative
Communication Presentation |
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12.0 |
NEXT MEETING |
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Thursday, December 16, 2004 |
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7:00 p.m. |
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13.0 |
ADJOURNMENT - 9:00
p.m. |
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Joan Sparks, |
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Recording Secretary. |