LAMBTON KENT DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD

 

SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE

 

Thursday,

Wallaceburg District Secondary School

             7:00 p.m.

September 20, 2007

Library

 

 

 

M I N U T E S

 

 

PRESENT:

Jackie Dorssers, Ontario Association for Families of Children with Communication Disorders

 

Rose Gallaway, St. Clair Child and Youth Services

 

Norma Hills, Community Living Sarnia-Lambton

 

Marion Lennan, Lambton County Developmental Services

 

Jonathan Quaglia, Member "at large"

 

Lisa Saul, Learning Disabilities Association of Lambton County

 

Donna Scherer, Learning Disabilities Association of Chatham-Kent

 

Margaret Smith, Autism Ontario - Chatham-Kent

 

Malcolm Tyrrell, Community Living Chatham-Kent

 

Janet Vanderwerf, Member "at large"

 

 

REGRETS:

Melissa Hewitt, VOICE for Hearing Impaired Children

 

Elizabeth Hudie, Trustee (Vice-Chair)

 

David Katzman, Community Living Wallaceburg

 

Bruce Stonefish, Trustee

 

Charlene Taylor, Member "at large" (Chair)

 

 

RESOURCE

Jim Costello, Superintendent of Education

STAFF:

Pam Graham, Principal of Special Education

Denise Emery, Patti Palmer, and Liz Zantingh, Special Education Co-ordinators

 

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1.0

CALL TO ORDER AND APPROVAL OF AGENDA - 7:05 p.m.

 

D. Scherer chaired the meeting in the absence of C. Taylor and E. Hudie.

 

 

2.0

INTRODUCTION OF NEW SPECIAL EDUCATION CO-ORDINATORS

 

J. Costello distributed copies of a recent Media Release announcing that the Lambton Kent District School Board and the St. Clair Catholic District School Board have been jointly chosen to participate in a collaborative service delivery model research project to support students with Autism Spectrum Disorders.  As a result, Denise Emery has been seconded to the Ministry-funded position of “Ministry Autism Project Co-ordinator” for a two-year term.  J. Costello introduced Acting Special Education Co-ordinator, Liz Zantingh, who will be replacing D. Emery.  Patti Palmer was also introduced and welcomed.  P. Palmer replaces Geri Haskell in the position of Special Education Co-ordinator.  CODE has provided funding to support a third year of Special Education initiatives, resulting in G. Haskell being seconded to the CODE Differentiated Instruction Coach position for the 2007-2008 school year.

 

 

3.0

APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF 2007 06 14

 

The Minutes of 2007 06 14 were approved as written.

 

 

4.0

BUSINESS ARISING FROM MINUTES

 

 

4.1

June, 2007 Submission of Special Education Plan Amendments and Updated Replacement Pages for SEAC Members

 

SEAC learned that on June 26, 2007, the Board approved the recommendation from SEAC to accept the 2007 Amendments to the Special Education Plan.  The Amendments were submitted to the Ministry of Education on June 27, 2007.  SEAC received a set of replacement pages for their Special Education Plan based on the board-approved 2007 Amendments.  J. Costello reminded SEAC that the 2007-2008 Special Education Plan will be incorporated into a larger report submitted by the Board, although no details have been received to date.

 

 

4.2

2007-2008 School Staff Complement Chart

 

As requested by J. Quaglia at the previous SEAC meeting, a chart summarizing the number of employees, beyond special education, within our schools was distributed.

 

J. Costello reported that due to a recent announcement made by the Ministry of Education the Lambton Kent District School Board will be receiving enough money to fund an additional 6.5 Educational Assistants.   The additional support should be deployed within the next week and may involve relocating some of the current E.A.’s

 

J. Costello announced that under the Ontario Psychological Association (OPA) only 1.5 temporary CDA’s have been hired, instead of 2.0, due to lack of qualified applicants.

 

D. Scherer asked for an update on the SEA Audit conducted by the Ministry of Education last June and progress made by the E.A. hired to scan textbooks over the Summer months.  D. Emery reported that the SEA Audit went very well.  Ministry staff visited with students and positive feedback was received along with a few recommendations.  An E.A. worked over the Summer, resulting in a substantial expansion of the E-Text Library (currently 50 titles).   Some publishers have indicated they will begin releasing some of their textbooks in electronic format.

 

 

5.0

RESULTS OF 2007 IEP COLLABORATIVE REVIEW

 

 

SEAC received a report from the Ministry of Education providing feedback on the 2006-2007 IEP Collaborative Review.  The report outlined specific board feedback, along with provincial trends.  P. Palmer reported on the implementation plan to address the suggestions made during the collaborative review:

·        Exemplars have been re-written.

·        A collaborative review will be conducted with all Vice-Principals and Principals.

·        Principals will lead their staffs through an IEP collaborative review during the November PD Day which is devoted entirely to special education.

·        Changes have been made to the web-based IEP template used by schools resulting in clearer goals and expectations that are measurable.  The Parental Consultation section has also been revamped.

 

D. Scherer requested that SEAC be provided with copies of some of the new IEP exemplars.

 

J. Quaglia wondered if a gentle reminder could be extended to teachers to read the IEP’s and previous report cards of all of their students.  J. Costello outlined a few methods used by schools to implement IEP’s in the regular classroom.

 

 

6.0

CODE SPECIAL EDUCATION PROJECT UPDATE AND MINISTRY ASD INITIATIVES

 

 

J. Costello reported that the year-three CODE Special Education Project proposal submitted by the Lambton Kent District School Board has been approved.  CODE will provide funding for a “Differentiated Instruction Coach” who will work collaboratively to support teachers in the implementation of differentiated programs through modeling, mentoring and co-teaching in order to improve literacy and numeracy achievement for students with special education needs.  Geri Haskell has been seconded to the Differentiated Instruction Coach position for the 2007-2008 school year.

 

J. Costello provided an update on last year’s CODE Special Education Project (2006-2007).  The Project resulted in the use of a new assessment instrument being introduced that will assist with the early identification of students who may have learning difficulties.  All Kindergarten teachers were currently being in-serviced on the revised Kindergarten Support Document and will also receive a latex-free kit of materials that will assist in the early identification process.

 

D. Scherer requested to see a copy of the final 2006-2007 report that was submitted to CODE.

 

D. Emery provided additional details on the joint “Ministry ASD Project”.  She also highlighted recent Ministry-funded ASD training initiatives:

·        50 of our E.A.’s will participate in extensive Geneva Centre training.

·        Part 2 of a local Autism Intervenor Course will begin this Fall.

·        Last June a Board team attended an information session on Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA).

·        Twelve Principals attended an ABA Training session in August.

·        A Board team attended 4 days of ABA Training in August in order to begin the two-year implementation of ABA within our schools.

·        All Principals will be in-serviced in October on ABA.

 

 

7.0

2007-2008 PRIORITY-SETTING

 

A revised PAAC on SEAC Calendar was distributed for information.  PAAC is a provincial organization of parents and have developed a guideline of possible topics for SEAC meetings on a month-by-month basis.  SEAC participated in a Priority-Setting Exercise with the goal of determining two or three topics to focus on over the 2007-2008 school year.  The following three items were identified as the major topics for possible future discussion:

·         Safe Schools, Bullying

·         Exploration of Local Agencies Supporting Students with Mental Health Difficulties

·         Inclusion/Differentiated Instruction (including the Grade 8 to 9 Transition process)

 

Other suggestions included:

·         SEAC’s role in the lives of gifted students.

·         Enrolment decline vs. increase in the number of special needs students.

·         IEP’s as a functional tool in the classroom.  How to get teachers, parents, and students to take ownership.

·         Early intervention and parental participation throughout school life.

·         Dispute resolution initiatives.

 

J. Costello suggested that SEAC contemplate the top three identified topics over the next month and further discussion will take place at the November meeting to determine how SEAC wishes to proceed.

 

 

8.0

BEHAVIOUR PROGRAM REVIEW COMMITTEE UPDATE

 

P. Graham reported on the progress of the Behaviour Program Review Committee.  The Committee will attempt to formulate their recommendations and a plan of action at their next meeting in October.  D. Scherer suggested that SEAC be provided with the list of recommendations in advance of any presentation.

 

 

9.0

SEAC OPEN HOUSE PLANNING

 

SEAC finalized the plans for the October 10 and 17, 2007 Open Houses.  It was determined that J. Quaglia would speak at the October 10th Open House in Chatham, and C. Taylor would speak at the October 17th session in Sarnia.  N. Hills will contact a graduate to see if he/she could speak at the Sarnia Open House, and D. Emery will contact a student to enquire about speaking at the Chatham event.

 

 

10.0

CORRESPONDENCE

 

SEAC received a thank you card from G. Haskell.

 

 

11.0

ASSOCIATION REPORTS AND OTHER BUSINESS

 

J. Dorssers reported on a recent SEAC Training webcast.  An archived version of the webcast can be viewed at http://oafccd.canadacast.ca (Username = September, Password = 5198429506).

 

D. Scherer provided details of several programs and events related to the Learning Disabilities Association of Chatham-Kent, including:  Tutoring and Social Skills Program information, Homework Club information, Kurzweil and Dragon Naturally Speaking Workshops, Annual Information Evening.  She also circulated information on a workshop hosted by the Learning Disabilities Association of Windsor-Essex on September 26 and 27, 2007.

 

 

12.0

QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC - None.

 

 

13.0

FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

 

·        2007-2008 Priorities

·        SEAC Open House Feedback

·        2006-2007 Exceptional Pupil Suspension Statistics

·        October 31, 2007 Exceptional Pupil Statistics

 

 

14.0

FUTURE EVENTS

 

 

·         SEAC OPEN HOUSE - Wednesday, October 10, 2007, 7:00 p.m., John McGregor Secondary School, Chatham

·         SEAC OPEN HOUSE - Wednesday, October 17, 2007, 7:00 p.m., Alexander Mackenzie Secondary School, Sarnia

·         SEAC MEETING - Thursday, November 22, 2007, 7:00 p.m., Wallaceburg District Secondary School - Library

 

 

15.0

ADJOURNMENT - 9:20 p.m.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Joan Sparks,

 

Recording Secretary.