LAMBTON KENT DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

 

SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE

 

Thursday,

Wallaceburg District Secondary School

             7:00 p.m.

May 19, 2005

Room 141

 

 

 

M I N U T E S

 

 

PRESENT:

Norma Hills, Community Living Sarnia-Lambton

 

Susie Jones, Trustee

 

Al Kuhn, Community Living Chatham-Kent

 

Marion Lennan, Lambton County Developmental Services

 

Lisa Matthews, Learning Disabilities Association of Lambton County

 

Graham McIntyre, Trustee

 

Donna Scherer, Learning Disabilities Association of Chatham-Kent (Vice-Chair)

 

Charlene Taylor, Member "at large"

 

Jonathan Quaglia, Member "at large"

 

Mary Weerdenburg, Pathways Health Centre for Children

 

 

REGRETS:

Rose Gallaway, St. Clair Child and Youth Services

 

Duncan Longwell, Trustee (Chair)

 

Laurie Mawlam, Community Living Wallaceburg

 

Maggie Rochon, Easter Seal Society of Ontario, Sarnia-Lambton Branch

 

Wenda Vallee, Autism Society of Ontario

 

Janet Vanderwerf, Member "at large"

 

 

RESOURCE

Warren Kennedy, Superintendent of Education

STAFF:

Denise Emery, Chris Gordon, Geri Haskell and Debbie Seager, Special Education

  Co-ordinators

 

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1.0

CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA - 7:00 p.m.

 

W. Kennedy provided an update on the health status of SEAC Chair D. Longwell, who remains in the hospital, but continues to improve.  SEAC Vice-Chair, D. Scherer acknowledged the longstanding contributions made by D. Longwell, both in his work as a Trustee and as a SEAC Member.

 

Due to the fact that no further information was available regarding the 2005-2006 Budget, Item 6.0 of the Agenda was changed to “Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy for Students with Special Education Needs, K to Grade 6”.   A Budget Update will be provided at the June SEAC Meeting. 

 

 

2.0

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF 2005 04 28

 

 

The Minutes of 2005 04 28 were approved as written.

 

 

3.0

BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES - None.

 

 

4.0

APPROVAL OF 2005 SPECIAL EDUCATION PLAN

 

 

SEAC was provided the opportunity to comment on the DRAFT 2005 Special Education Plan that was distributed at the previous meeting.

                                                                    

A. Kuhn submitted a letter from the Executive Director of Community Living Chatham Kent which provided some feedback to the Plan.  One of the suggestions was to add a flowchart to the IPRC Parent Guide to provide a visual diagram of the IPRC process.  The suggestion was noted as a possible future revision to the IPRC Parent Guide.  The feedback letter will be added as an Appendix to Section 1 of the Plan.

 

Referring to Section 2.12 of the Plan, D. Scherer emphasized the need to make a special education in-service session mandatory for new administrators.  W. Kennedy explained that revisions are currently being considered to the staff development process for anyone who plans to apply for positions of responsibility.  Future plans include making several training sessions mandatory, one of which will be in special education.

 

Motion:     Moved by L. Matthews, seconded by A. Kuhn, that the Special Education Advisory Committee recommend that the Lambton Kent District School Board approve the Plan for the Provision of Special Education Programs and Services - June, 2005.

 

The Motion CARRIED.

 

The Special Education Plan will now go to the June 14, 2005 Board Meeting for final approval prior to submission to the Ministry of Education, by July 31, 2005.

 

 

5.0

DRAFT ANNUAL ACCESSIBILITY PLAN

 

 

SEAC reviewed a DRAFT copy of the Board’s Annual Accessibility Plan for 2005-2006.  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 third year of the Plan, which is a work in progress that falls under the mandate of the Human Resources Department.  Special Education Co-ordinators Chris Gordon and Debbie Seager, and SEAC Member Maggie Rochon are Accessibility Working Group Committee members.  The focus for 2005-2006 will be on the elimination of barriers in the following areas:

·         Attitudinal

·         Architectural

·         Information or Communication-based

·         Physical

·         Technological

·         Policies and Practices

 

SEAC provided the following feedback:

·         make printed material, including the Annual Accessibility Plan, available in PDF format for easy conversion for students using Kurzweil

·         Page 10, Under AttitudinalàUnderstanding AwarenessàStrategy, Remove: the word “physical” from the first sentence.

·         Accessibility Working Group should review Ontario Human Rights Commission documents:  “Guidelines on Accessible Education”, and “Opportunity to Succeed:  Achieving Barrier-free Education for Persons with Disabilities”, which may assist in incorporating strategies for students with “hidden” disabilities.

 

D. Scherer thanked the Accessibility Working Group for their efforts in identifying barriers for people with disabilities who work in, use, or attend school board facilities.

 

 

6.0

REPORT OF THE EXPERT PANEL ON LITERACY AND NUMERACY INSTRUCTION FOR STUDENTS WITH SPECIAL EDUCATION NEEDS, KINDERGARTEN TO GRADE 6

 

W. Kennedy summarized the recently released “Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students with Special Education Needs, Kindergarten to Grade 6”.  The document was prepared by a group of experts in the field of special education as a guideline for the Ministry of Education to reshape the future programming and services for students with special needs across the province.  It is not a policy document.  Some aspects of the document may be implemented in the near future.

 

The Belief Statements of the Expert Panel are:

·         All students can succeed.

·         Universal design and differentiated instruction are effective and interconnected means of meeting the learning or productivity needs of any group of students.

·         Successful instructional practices are founded on evidence-based research, tempered by experience.

·         Classroom teachers are the key educators for student’s literacy and numeracy and development.

·         Each child has his or her own unique patterns of learning.

·         The classroom teacher needs the support of the larger community to create a learning environment that supports students with special education needs.

·         Fairness in not sameness.

 

Recommendations from the Expert Panel include:

·         Classroom teachers should receive training on the instructional strategies and content in this report.

·         All teachers should be able to access professional development in the use of assistive technology.

·         Professional training should teach educators in the way they learn best:  by observing and doing.

·         Professional development opportunities must provide both ongoing sustained learning and just-in-time information and support.

·         School board staff, principals, teachers, and support staff should receive training in successful practices in supporting students with special needs.

·         School boards need to create institutional structures that support responsible use of assistive technology.

·         The Ministry of Education and school boards must make the development of additional assistive technology tools for francophone students a priority.

·         The Ministry of Education should ensure that students with special education needs are included in educational initiatives.

·         The Ministry of Education should provide criteria to school boards that can be used to assist with programming decisions.

·         Ontario university programs leading to a B.Ed. degree should contain mandatory course hours on special education.

 

L. Matthews was glad to see that teacher training and supports was a key component of the recommendations.

 

J. Quaglia observed that during a recent visit to the Literacy and Numeracy Secretariat website, there appeared to be a lack of the mention of parental involvement in any of their initiatives.  He also stressed that assurances are needed to make sure the Ministry continues to recognize the difference between special education programming and programming for students who are simply struggling with some aspect of literacy and numeracy.

 

 

 

 

 

W. Kennedy explained that the next step will be for the Ministry to absorb the document and put policies and practices into place.  A complete copy of the document will be distributed at the June SEAC meeting.

 

 

7.0

WEB-BASED IEP UPDATE

 

G. Haskell reported that training for school staff participating in the Web-based IEP Pilot will continue on June 2, 2005.  There have been a few technical problems.  Participants have found that the development of a new IEP is very labour intensive.  A meeting with the SEAC Sub-committee will be scheduled in the near future.

 

 

8.0

CORRESPONDENCE:  LETTER FROM OTTAWA-CARLETON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD TO MINISTER OF EDUCATION

 

SEAC reviewed a copy of a letter, dated 2005 04 11, sent to the Minister of Education from the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board.  The letter was in support of the elimination of the term “segregated” in future documents when describing special education placements.

 

 

9.0

ASSOCIATION REPORTS AND OTHER BUSINESS

 

N. Hills announced that planning continues for Summer programs sponsored by Community Living Sarnia-Lambton, although funding is undetermined at this point.

 

M. Weerdenburg reported that Pathways Health Centre for Children has recently become involved with initiatives that transition students from school to adulthood.

 

 

10.0

QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC - None.

 

 

11.0

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

 

·         2004-2005 Special Education Goals Update and Feedback on 2005-2006 Goals

·         2005-2006 Budget Update

·         DRAFT 2005-2006 Special Education Staffing Complement

·         DRAFT 2005-2006 SEAC Meeting Schedule

 

A. Kuhn suggested that SEAC receive a refresher on the SEAC Learning Website, perhaps at the September SEAC meeting.

 

W. Kennedy announced that he will be leaving the Special Education portion of his job portfolio and shifting his attention to Operations.  Newly appointed Superintendent of Education, Jim Costello, will take over Special Education related duties effective, July 1, 2005.

 

D. Scherer thanked Warren for his honesty and commitment to exceptional pupils.

 

 

11.0

NEXT MEETING

 

 

 

Thursday, June 9, 2005

 

Wallaceburg District Secondary School - Room 141

 

7:00 p.m.

 

In the absence of D. Scherer at the June SEAC Meeting, N. Hills volunteered to Chair the meeting.

 

 

12.0

ADJOURNMENT - 8:20 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joan Sparks,

 

Recording Secretary.