|
LAMBTON KENT DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD |
||
|
|
||
|
SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE |
||
|
|
||
|
Thursday, |
Wallaceburg District Secondary School |
7:00 p.m. |
|
June 15, 2006 |
Library |
|
|
M I N
U T E S |
|
PRESENT: |
Rose Gallaway, St. Clair
Child and Youth Services |
|
|
Norma Hills, Community
Living Sarnia-Lambton |
|
|
Elizabeth Hudie, Trustee |
|
|
Susie Jones, Trustee
(Vice-Chair) |
|
|
Al Kuhn, Community Living
Chatham-Kent |
|
|
Maggie Rochon, Easter Seal
Society of Ontario, Sarnia-Lambton Branch |
|
|
Donna Scherer, Learning
Disabilities Association of Chatham-Kent |
|
|
Lisa Saul (for Lisa
Matthews), Learning Disabilities Association of |
|
|
Margaret Smith and Wenda
Vallee, Autism Society of |
|
|
Charlene Taylor, Member
"at large" (Chair) |
|
|
Jonathan Quaglia, Member
"at large" |
|
|
Janet Vanderwerf, Member "at large" |
|
|
|
|
REGRETS: |
Marion Lennan, |
|
|
Laurie Mawlam, Community
Living Wallaceburg |
|
|
|
|
RESOURCE |
Jim Costello, Superintendent of Education |
|
STAFF: |
Denise Emery, Chris Gordon, and Debbie Seager, Special Education Co-ordinators |
|
********************************************************************************* |
|
1.0 |
CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA - 7:05 p.m. Chair, C. Taylor welcomed all to the last meeting of the academic year
and thanked everyone for their dedication and participation throughout the
2005-2006 school year. |
|
2.0 |
INTRODUCTION OF PRINCIPAL
OF SPECIAL EDUCATION J. Costello introduced Pam Graham, current Principal of High Park School, as the new Principal of Special Education, effective September 1, 2006. |
|
3.0 |
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF
2006 05 30 The Minutes of 2006 05 30 were approved as written. |
|
4.0 |
BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES J. Costello announced that the Board approved the 2006 Amendments to the Special Education Plan, as recommended by SEAC. The Special Education Plan Amendments will now be forwarded to the Ministry of Education. J. Costello distributed copies of a recent Ministry of Education press release announcing special education initiatives and reforms. No further details have been provided. Highlights included: ·
$20 Million to enable Ontario Psychological
Association to work with Boards to reduce waiting times for student
assessments. ·
$25 Million to enable the Council of Ontario
Directors of Education (CODE) to deliver increased professional development
to improve outcomes for students with special education needs. ·
$5 Million for training through the Geneva
Centre for Educational Assistants who work with ASD students. ·
Development of new parent engagement and
dispute resolution guidelines. ·
Streamlining of the IPRC process. ·
Establishment of an ASD Reference Group. ·
Special Education Plans will be transformed so
they focus on target setting and improvement planning related to student
achievement and program effectiveness. ·
The final report from the Working Table on
Special Education has been released identifying eight critical issues for
special education reform. J. Costello informed SEAC that it appears that the new funding formula for special education will be based on student enrolment. This may result in a decrease in local funding for special education programs and services due to our declining enrolment. E. Hudie stated that the recent announcements in the media concerning increased funding for the Lambton Kent District School Board for 2006-2007 sound great, but in reality the extra funding has already been spent on negotiated teacher contract salary increases, etc. W. Vallee has learned that each Board will be permitted to send 5 SEAC
representatives to an Assistive Technology Symposium in September in · Staff involved in planning professional development with regard to assistive technology, · Staff involved in the areas of accountability, needs assessment and implementation regarding the use of assistive technology, · Assessment providers, · Program leadership in areas that use assistive technology extensively; and · SEAC representatives. J. Costello circulated copies of the 2005 Annual Report from the
Chatham-Kent Lambton Administrators Group (CKLAG). CKLAG is a group of publicly-funded
organizations in the |
|
5.0 |
DRAFT 2006-2007 SEAC
MEETING SCHEDULE |
|
|
A DRAFT SEAC meeting
schedule for 2006-2007 was reviewed.
All meetings will be held in the Library at ·
September
21, 2006 ·
October
26, 2006 ·
November
23, 2006 ·
December
14, 2006 ·
January
25, 2007 ·
February
22, 2007 ·
March
22, 2007 ·
April
26, 2007 ·
May
17, 2007 ·
June
14, 2007 |
|
6.0 |
2005-2006 SPECIAL
EDUCATION EQUIPMENT AMOUNT |
|
|
A Memo detailing costs
related to the 2005-2006 ISA 1 Equipment Claims process was received by
SEAC. During the 2005-2006 school year
ISA 1 Equipment was purchased for 127 students at the actual cost of
$757,908. Total cost to the Board will
be $101,600 ($800 per student). |
|
7.0 |
SPECIAL EDUCATION AND SEAC
AWARENESS PLANNING Discussion continued on the planning for the two Awareness Open Houses to be held in October, 2006. Items determined include: · Sub-committee (C. Taylor, J. Quaglia, M. Rochon, N. Hills, D. Emery, and J. Costello) met prior to tonight’s SEAC meeting. ·
Dates, times, and locations: October 11, 2006 - · Title: Education for All · DRAFT Open House announcement flyer and brochure has been prepared and will be distributed to Media, Schools, Agencies, and Doctor’s Offices. · Agenda: o opening remarks (SEAC Chair - C. Taylor) o greetings (Director - G. Stucke) o parental/SEAC member remarks (SEAC Member - J. Quaglia) o Steps to Success and IPRC Process Presentation (Special Education Co-ordinators) o closing remarks (Superintendent - J. Costello) o movement to carousels (booths for Itinerant Teams; Psychological Services; Gr. 8 to 9 Transition; Specialized Programs--E-ABLE, DD/MF, Transition LD, Adaptive Physical Activities; IEP; E.A.’s and their Role; SEAC with info. pamphlets from various associations/agencies represented on SEAC, Students and success stories). · Provide notepaper and pens/pencils and refreshments. · Set-up a mechanism for the exchange of e-mail addresses and business cards. |
|
8.0 |
CORRESPONDENCE Margaret Smith was welcomed as the new SEAC representative of the Autism Society of Ontario - Chatham-Kent Chapter. |
|
9.0 |
ASSOCIATION REPORTS AND
OTHER BUSINESS D. Emery distributed copies the
Summer, 2006 edition of the “Staff Development for All Employees” booklet. Several special education-related workshops
will be offered over the Summer including courses on Differentiated Instruction
and Autism Spectrum Disorder. C. Taylor mentioned that
CPRI staff will conduct on-site Mood Disorder workshops and suggested that
these be investigated as an option for future professional development
opportunities. D. Seager announced that a
board-wide license for Premier Accessibility Suite software has been purchased
with some training to begin next week.
Moving to Inclusion training will continue in September. C. Taylor, E. Hudie, S.
Jones, A. Kuhn and J. Costello all thanked SEAC and staff for their
dedication and participation throughout the 2005-2006 school year. |
|
10.0 |
QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC - None. |
|
11.0 |
FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS A discussion took place
concerning SEAC priority setting in the Fall.
It was determined that SEAC would proceed with setting a set of
priorities for 2006-2007 with flexibility to adapt to changing initiatives
and the fact that a new SEAC will be appointed by the Board in January, 2007. A. Kuhn questioned how SEAC
can be assured that policies and procedures related to special education are
followed. A parent reported recently
that they had not received any literature on the IPRC process from their
child’s school. D. Emery will
investigate. |
|
12.0 |
NEXT MEETING |
|
|
|
|
|
Thursday, September 21, 2006 |
|
|
|
|
|
7:00 p.m. |
|
13.0 |
ADJOURNMENT - 8:10
p.m. |
|
|
Joan Sparks, |
|
|
Recording Secretary. |