|
LAMBTON |
||
|
|
||
|
SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE |
||
|
|
||
|
Thursday, |
|
7:00 p.m. |
|
September 22, 2005 |
Room 141 |
|
|
M I N
U T E S |
|
PRESENT: |
Rose Gallaway, St. Clair
Child and Youth Services |
|
|
|
|
|
Susie Jones, Trustee |
|
|
Al Kuhn, Community Living
Chatham-Kent |
|
|
Lisa Matthews, Learning
Disabilities Association of |
|
|
Charlene Taylor, Member
"at large" |
|
|
Jonathan Quaglia, Member
"at large" |
|
|
Janet Vanderwerf, Member "at large" |
|
|
|
|
REGRETS: |
Marion Lennan, |
|
|
Laurie Mawlam, Community
Living Wallaceburg |
|
|
Graham McIntyre, Trustee |
|
|
Maggie Rochon, Easter Seal
Society of |
|
|
Donna Scherer, Learning
Disabilities Association of Chatham-Kent (Vice-Chair) |
|
|
Wenda Vallee, Autism Society of |
|
|
|
|
RESOURCE |
Jim Costello, Superintendent of Education |
|
STAFF: |
Denise Emery, Chris Gordon, Geri Haskell and Debbie Seager, Special Education Co-ordinators |
|
********************************************************************************* |
|
1.0 |
CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA The meeting was called to order by “Acting Chair” |
|
2.0 |
INTRODUCTION OF
SUPERINTENDENT AND SEAC MEMBERSHIP UPDATE Jim Costello was welcomed as the new Superintendent of Education responsible for Special Education and Administrative Resource to SEAC. J. Costello informed SEAC that the Pathways Health Centre for Children representative, Mary Weerdenburg, is no longer able to participate on this SEAC due to eligibility rules as outlined in the Education Act. Pathways will hopefully name a replacement in the near future. J. Costello announced that SEAC Chair, Duncan Longwell has resigned
his position as Trustee with the Lambton Kent District School Board due to
his health, and regrettably can no longer participate as a SEAC Member. |
|
3.0 |
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF
2005 06 09 The Minutes of 2005 06 09 were approved as written. |
|
4.0 |
BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES - None. |
|
5.0 |
2005-2006 BUDGET UPDATE J. Costello provided information on the 2005-2006 Budget which was approved by the Board on August 30, 2005. · entire budget is $210.5 Million · special education portion of the budget is $23.7 Million · the special education staffing complement will remain the same as reported to SEAC in June, although some temporary Educational Assistants have been brought in to support emergency situations. · renovations occurred over the Summer months creating new DD Program classrooms at Blenheim District H.S. and Sarnia Collegiate I. & T.S. |
|
6.0 |
SPECIAL EDUCATION PLAN -
JUNE, 2005 G. Haskell announced that the Board approved the Special Education
Plan on June 14, 2005 and the Plan has been submitted to the Ministry of
Education. No feedback has been
received to date. SEAC Members were mailed revised
copies of the Special Education Plan for insertion in their Special Education
Plan binders. The Plan will be
accessible through the Board’s website in the very near future. |
|
7.0 |
FEEDBACK FROM ISA 1 EQUIPMENT AUDIT G. Haskell reported on the positive feedback received from the Ministry of Education following the ISA 1 Equipment Audit that took place in June, 2005. Thirteen claims were audited which involved classroom visits by Ministry staff along with a thorough review of each file. The Ministry noted our concerns regarding the lack of funding for our own staff to provide training related to ISA 1 equipment. G. Haskell provided preliminary details about the newly formed Assistive Technology Team who will hopefully be able to present at a future SEAC meeting. J. Quaglia wondered if there was any comparison data available
related to the number of ISA 1 Claims submitted by each Board in C. Taylor asked if any further progress had been made with publishers and their obligation to provide textbooks in an electronic format for students using Kurzweil. |
|
8.0 |
WEB-BASED IEP REVIEW UPDATE G. Haskell provided an update on the web-based IEP pilot. A training session for pilot school staff was held on September 8, 2005. Upgrades to the program occurred over the Summer, although it is not web-enabled yet. Two of the pilot elementary schools have sent out their DRAFT IEP’s using the new program. Initial comments from parents have been positive. The next meeting of the SEAC IEP Sub-committee will take place a half-hour before the next SEAC meeting and G. Haskell will forward copies of sample IEP’s prior to the meeting to those involved (L. Matthews, J. Quaglia, C. Taylor). J. Quaglia would like to see a set policy to direct staff to plan ahead so that IEP’s can be implemented at the beginning of September. A. Kuhn reported on the need to adapt IEP’s so that students are not experiencing the same modifications and routines year after year. |
|
9.0 |
REVIEW OF 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 a previous
meeting by D. Scherer. It was noted
that this SEAC currently covers the same topics although the suggested
timelines may vary slightly. Following a suggestion from C. Taylor, SEAC agreed to participate in a priority-setting exercise at their next meeting. Each SEAC Member will be asked to report on two or three topics that they would like to focus on over the 2005-2006 school year. |
|
10.0 |
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES D. Emery distributed copies of the Fall, 2005 edition of the “Staff Development for All Employees” booklet noting the special education-related workshops available to staff. She also provided details on a wide-variety of recently-held and upcoming PD opportunities. Highlights included: · New Resource Teacher In-service Sessions (September 16 and 30) · Hearing Impairment Awareness Workshops (September 22 and 29) · Workshops for E.A.’s and other Support Staff (PD Day - October 28) · Learning Disabilities Workshop with Co-terminous Board featuring Richard Lavoie (November 15) · Coaching to Inclusion Conference (November 16). D. Emery encouraged SEAC Members to contact her if they were interested in attending the presentation by Richard Lavoie on November 15, 2005 at the Victoria Playhouse in Petrolia, entitled “A Dozen Strategies that Don’t Work with Learning Disabled Kids, and a Dozen that Do”. The Learning Disabilities Association of Lambton County are also hosting an evening with Richard Lavoie on November 15, 2005, beginning at 7:00 p.m., in the Auditorium at Sarnia Collegiate Institute and Technical School: “On the Waterbed--The Impact of Learning Disabilities on the Family”. D. Seager reported on the recent presentation made to Principals by the Physical Disabilities Program Review Committee and plans for future professional development for the “Inclusion Facilitators”. She also provided details of a recent partnership formed with the Active Living Alliance of Canada resulting in a donation to this Board of close to $4,000 worth of materials and resources. |
|
11.0 |
CORRESPONDENCE - None. |
|
12.0 |
ASSOCIATION REPORTS AND
OTHER BUSINESS J. Costello reported on a
request for proposals from the Council of Ontario Directors of education
(CODE) for funding available for special education projects related to
“Improving Literacy and Numeracy for Students with Special Needs”. This Board hopes to be involved with three
proposal submissions, all due on October 7, 2005: ·
LDAO
Teaching Tool and DRA Results (Special Education and Program Departments) ·
Assistive
Technology (Joint Proposal with Co-terminous Board) ·
Special
Education Best Practices Forum (Large Proposal involving several Boards in
South Western Ontario). Referring to a recent
article in the “Chatham Daily News”, A. Kuhn requested additional information
on whether or not special needs students are included in dropout rates
because they do not receive an Ontario Secondary School Diploma at the
completion of their program. J.
Costello will gather additional information. N. Hills distributed a flyer
outlining details of a tri-county sponsored workshop for individuals between
the ages of 18 and 28 on October 13, 2005 at the Countryview Golf Course in C. Gordon distributed copies
of the Fall, 2005 newsletter from Sarnia-Lambton Family Network. |
|
13.0 |
QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC
- None. |
|
14.0 |
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ·
Replacement
of SEAC Chair ·
Web-based
IEP Update ·
Assistive
Technology Team ·
Priority-setting
Exercise ·
Drop-out
Rate Information ·
Review
of SEAC Learning Web-site |
|
15.0 |
NEXT MEETING |
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, October 27, 2005 |
|
|
|
|
|
7:00 p.m. |
|
16.0 |
ADJOURNMENT - 8:40
p.m. |
|
|
Joan Sparks, |
|
|
Recording Secretary. |