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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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March 23, 2006 |
Room 141 |
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M I N
U T E S |
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PRESENT: |
Norma Hills, Community
Living Sarnia-Lambton |
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Elizabeth Hudie, Trustee |
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Susie Jones, Trustee
(Vice-Chair) |
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Al Kuhn, Community Living
Chatham-Kent |
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Marion Lennan, Lambton
County Developmental Services |
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Lisa Saul (for Lisa
Matthews), Learning Disabilities Association of |
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Donna Scherer, Learning
Disabilities Association of Chatham-Kent |
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Charlene Taylor, Member
"at large" (Chair) |
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Jonathan Quaglia, Member
"at large" |
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Wenda Vallee, Autism Society of Ontario |
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Janet Vanderwerf, Member "at large" |
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REGRETS: |
Rose Gallaway, St. Clair Child and Youth Services |
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Laurie Mawlam, Community
Living Wallaceburg |
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Maggie Rochon, Easter Seal
Society of Ontario, Sarnia-Lambton Branch |
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RESOURCE |
Jim Costello, 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 AND APPROVAL
OF AGENDA - 7:00 p.m. |
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2.0 |
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF 2006
02 23 |
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The Minutes of 2006 02 23 were approved as written. |
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3.0 |
BUSINESS ARISING FROM
MINUTES D. Scherer thanked the SEAC IEP Sub-committee members for their valuable input during the initial development stages of the new web-based IEP. Sub-committee members included: D. Emery, G. Haskell, L. Matthews, J. Quaglia, C. Taylor, and J. Vanderwerf. |
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4.0 |
PRIORITY #2 - PARENTAL
EDUCATION AND SEAC AWARENESS |
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J. Costello led a discussion of possible ways that SEAC could promote Special Education and an increased awareness of the Special Education Advisory Committee to parents and educators. Items suggested: · provide items to Principals that can be included in monthly newsletters to parents and/or communications to staff (i.e., Steps to Success). · design a pamphlet on special education programs and services that could be distributed at school information nights/open houses/school entry meetings. · make e-mail addresses available on publicized SEAC membership lists. · make School Councils aware that SEAC members are willing to attend their meetings. · provide information leaflets to parents during the annual IPRC process of any changes that may be forthcoming (i.e., changes to IEP’s). · host open house information sessions during the Fall of 2006 (off-site location, formal information portion of program with association carousels, LKDSB staff demos, success stories). · promote representation on SEAC during the nomination process every three years. Special Education and SEAC Awareness Planning will become a standing item on future SEAC Agendas until the Open Houses occur in the Fall. |
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5.0 |
SUGGESTED SPECIAL
EDUCATION PLAN AMENDMENTS |
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G. Haskell explained that
Regulation 306 of the Education Act requires that all school boards
establish and maintain a Special Education Plan. The Board must maintain the Plan and ensure
that it is amended from time to time to meet the current needs of the
exceptional pupils of the Board according to the following schedule: -
every
two years, prepare and approve a report on the special education programs and
services it provides (complete report submitted in June, 2005) -
review
the plan once a year and send any amendments of the Plan to the Ministry of
Education. -
reports
or amendments must be submitted by July 31 of every year. A complete review took place
last year with an entire revised copy of the Plan submitted to the Ministry
of Education in June, 2005. To date, no
feedback has been received from the Ministry based on our June, 2005
submission. G. Haskell outlined some
possible minor amendments to the Special Education Plan for 2006. SEAC also provided suggestions. Amendments to the 1st half of
the Plan include: GLOSSARY OF TERMS ·
Add an explanation of Net New
Needs under the “Procedures” section: Net New Needs A process
developed by the Ministry of Education to determine newly enrolled students
with high needs net of any funding requirements resulting from previously
identified ISA 2 and 3 students who have left a Board. ·
Change the last bullet of the
IEP or Individual Education Plan explanation under the “Procedures” section
to read: ·
Refer to Ministry of Education
documents Individual Education
Plans: Standards for Development,
Program Planning and Implementation and Individual Education Plan (IEP): A Resource Guide for more information ·
Change the first bullet of the
ISA or Intensive Support Amount explanation under the “Procedures” section to
read: ·
A former process developed by
the Ministry of Education whereby data was gathered to show that an
individual student required intensive support from a variety of programs and
services offered by the Board ACRONYMS ·
Add CDA (Communication
Disorder Assistant) ·
Add CODE (Council of ·
Add NNN (Net New Needs) ·
Add SIP (Special Incidence
Portion) SECTION 1 - THE BOARD’S CONSULTATION PROCESS ·
Appendix 1.1
- Process for Revision of Special Education Plan - 2003 to 2006 ·
Chart will be updated. SECTION 2.3 - EARLY IDENTIFICATION PROCEDURES AND INTERVENTION
STRATEGIES ·
Appendix
2.3.11 - Administrative Procedures - Speech and Language Services ·
Speech and Language Services Administrative
Procedures have been amended. Appendix
2.3.11 will be replaced with revised Administrative Procedure. SECTION 2.4 - IDENTIFICATION, PLACEMENT, AND REVIEW COMMITTEE PROCESS ·
Page 28 - Number of IPRC’s during the Previous
School Year will be revised based on October 31, 2005 statistics: Referrals = 572, Reviews = 3492, Appeals =
0. ·
Appendix
2.4.3 - Understanding the IPRC Process:
A Parent Guide ·
SEAC Insert in Parent Guide will be revised to
reflect current SEAC membership. SECTION 2.9 -
INDIVIDUAL EDUCATION PLANS
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Page 55 - Change the last sentence of the 2nd
Paragraph to read: Appendix 2.9.1
includes two exemplars of the most recent version of the IEP for the
District. ·
Appendix
2.9.1 - Individual Education Plan ·
New web-based IEP has been introduced. Appendix 2.9.1 will be revised to include two
exemplar IEP’s, including the IEP Parent/Student Consultation Form. SECTION 2.10 - PROVINCIAL AND ·
Page 60 - Number of Students Currently Attending
Provincial Schools will be updated based on 2005-2006 statistics: Amethyst = 13, Robarts = 4, W. Ross Macdonald
= 9, E.C. Drury = 1. SECTION 2.11 -
SPECIAL EDUCATION STAFF
· Page 64, Item 2.8 - Remove Itinerant Resource Teacher for Technology section (position no longer exists). · Page 64, Item 4.0 - After the 1st sentence add: One Speech-Language Pathologist is responsible for student assessment re: assistive technology and augmentative communication. · Page 64 - Add a descriptor for the Itinerant Resource Support Technologist (new position): The Itinerant Resource Support Technologist is a qualified university or college graduate with expertise in the area of assistive technology. This technologist provides training, analysis, technical and administrative support to staff and students in the area of assistive technology. ·
Appendix
2.11.1 - Special Education Staff ·
Chart will be updated based on 2005-2006
statistics. Revised Appendix 2.11 was
reviewed. J. Quaglia suggested that
the SEAC requested additional
information on personnel providing special supports to pupils within the
school setting including Child and Youth Workers, Tutor Escorts (Ministry of
Indian Affairs) and OT’s or R.N.’s (Ministry of Health). |
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6.0 |
SUSPENSION RATE UPDATE J. Costello thanked SEAC for their comments following the review of exceptional pupil suspension statistics in January. J. Costello reported that the same statistics were recently presented to Principals, prompting a lengthy discussion on the examination of mitigating circumstances prior to issuing a suspension. The current Ministry of Education Code of Conduct under the Safe Schools Act dictates mandatory suspensions for certain offences. Principals are also pressured to suspend due to time constraints, Ministry of Labour complaints (safe environments for employees), and pleas from parents of victims. Principals have been encouraged to reflect, investigate, and gather more information before issuing a suspension. The provincial government is conducting a review of the Safe Schools Act and consultations are currently taking place throughout the province. More information will be provided once the report on the review of the Safe Schools Act is released. D. Scherer wondered if there were any statistics on the number of secondary school students that end up leaving school following a suspension because they cannot get caught up with their school work. J. Costello informed SEAC that some elementary schools are taking a pro-active approach to the possible prevention of suspensions. In some schools Child and Youth Workers are logging behaviours witnessed on the playground and may counsel students that are showing patterns of escalating poor behaviours. The Ministry of Education just announced some funding for the purchase of anti-bullying resource materials. Boards must purchase their materials by March 31, 2006. |
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7.0 |
CORRESPONDENCE SEAC was provided with information on the rescheduled Dr. Steve Timmers presentations on Thursday, April 20, 2006. |
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8.0 |
ASSOCIATION REPORTS AND
OTHER BUSINESS D. Seager provided an update
on the “Moving to Inclusion” initiatives which resulted from the Physical
Disabilities Program Review Committee recommendations last year. One staff member from each school will be
trained to become an Inclusion Facilitator.
The training will be conducted in the near future by ten internal
“train the trainers” who have already received in-servicing. A partnership has been formed with the
Active Living Alliance of Ontario who will be providing some resources to
support inclusionary activities for all students. G. Haskell thanked SEAC for
their input by completing the IEP Surveys that were distributed during the
last meeting. Survey results were
favourable. C. Gordon reported on the N. Hills provided an update
on Community Living Sarnia-Lambton’s 50th Anniversary celebration plans. A. Kuhn distributed copies
of “The I.E.P. Blueprint”. J. Costello announced that
he, along with C. Gordon and D. Seager, will be attending the Mayor’s
Breakfast on April 28, 2006, hosted by Community Living Sarnia-Lambton. |
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9.0 |
QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC
- None. |
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10.0 |
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS D. Scherer requested that
SEAC be provided with an update on the CODE Special Education Projects. She also requested that SEAC be kept
apprised of any new developments related to the implementation of the
web-based IEP. |
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11.0 |
NEXT MEETING |
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Thursday, April 27, 2006 |
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7:00 p.m. |
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12.0 |
ADJOURNMENT - 8:55
p.m. |
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Joan Sparks, |
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Recording Secretary. |