UPPER GRAND DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES The Special Education Advisory Committee of the Upper Grand District School Board met on Wednesday, September 11, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in the Boardroom at 500 Victoria Road North, Guelph. The following Association Members were present: Kim Brenner and Carole Craig, Parents for Children’s Mental Health-Wellington County, Jason Offer, Association for Bright Children-ABC (by conference call), Sue Shaw and Carrie Proudfoot, Autism Ontario-Wellington County, Stacey Stevens, VOICE for Hearing Impaired Children, and Laurie Whyte, FASworld Canada. Present from Staff were: Trudy Counter, Coordinator-Communication, Language and Speech Services, Jacqueline Foster, Special Education Coordinator, Christine Kay, Principal, Tracey Lindsay, Superintendent of Program, Brenda Sherry, Itinerant Technology Teacher, Sandra Szpular, Special Education Coordinator / Collaborative Projects Lead, Cheryl Van Ooteghem, Principal of Program, Special Education Consultants – Carla Anderson, Barb Tomkins, Mark Howe, Leta Vos, Naomi Theordor. Trustees Present: Marty Fairbairn and Jennifer Waterston Regrets: Pauline Busby, Community Living Guelph-Wellington, Sharon Dills, Learning Disabilities Association of Wellington County, and Don Richardson, Integration Action for Inclusion in Education and Community (Ontario) Absent: Beth Haworth, Community Member-at-Large and Sandra Roberts, VicePrincipal. Marty Fairbairn called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Jennifer Waterston moved that the agenda of the September 11, 2013, meeting be approved. The motion carried. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Jennifer Waterston moved that the Minutes of the meeting held on June 12, 2013 be approved. The motion carried. REVIEW OF ACTION ITEMS: Tracey Lindsay, Superintendent of Program referred to the process which began last year around action items and recommendations made by SEAC at meetings each month and provided updates regarding ongoing items. These include the Home Use of Special Education Advisory Committee Minutes … Page 2 September 11, 2013 Assistive Technology Protocol which will be spoken about this evening, having information about mental health added to the board website which we will be kept updated about, the pathways for students with modified IEPs information will be presented in October or November, and the Diagnostic Assessment in Support of Student Learning – PPM 155 noting if further information is received, it will be shared with SEAC. A BIG GIFTED PROJECT CALLED DIGIFEST Carla Anderson, Special Education Consultant and Brenda Sherry, Itinerant Technology Teacher presented A Big Gifted Project called Digifest, a yearly event, currently in its sixth year. Carla Anderson explained the Digital Media Festival provides an opportunity for students in our grades 4 to 8 gifted programs in Orangeville and Guelph to share their digital stories. Some may be stories about themselves, while others may involve trying to persuade the audience or share a message. These can be motion videos and most include some type of sound. Brenda Sherry spoke about the event location and the involvement of secondary school drama students setting the scene for the students participating in Digifest (i.e. red carpet entrance). Digifest was created as a means to involve gifted classroom students in a creative endeavour that is also tied into curriculum expectations (i.e. understanding variety of media texts, reflecting on yourself as media creator). The yearly event is a celebration of everyone’s efforts and does not involve awards or prizes. A variety of digital stories created by the students were shown using text, clips to persuade, and literacy and music whereby a musician worked with students to create the lyrics and music for the song used in a clip. SPECIAL EDUCATION PLAN 2013-2014 Sandra Szpular, Special Education Coordinator/Collaborative Projects Lead drew attention to the Special Education Report 2012-2013 and the Special Education Plan 2013-2014 distributed this evening. She spoke about the changes made to the Special Education Report following recommendations made at the June meeting. The Special Education Plan which is very similar to the Report, includes information about our five Targeted Goals for Students with Special Needs which we will be working and reporting on this year. These goals are based on Ministry of Education direction and System Foci in the Board Improvement Plan for Student Achievement. Information around the Board’s Consultation Process has been added to the Plan and is an area to be further developed this year through discussions to broaden consultation methods. We will also be updating some information in the Plan as the information becomes available (i.e. Special Education Staff). Special Education Advisory Committee Minutes … Page 3 September 11, 2013 DEVELOPMENT OF THE CONSULTATION PROCESS Tracey Lindsay, Superintendent of Program spoke about our commitment around the Board’s Consultation process to establish methods to gain feedback, and investigate the input collected. We will be looking to SEAC members for input into this as well i.e. what associations may like to see and how they would like to be consulted on matters relating to Special Education which will then be discussed at the October SEAC meeting. Tracey Lindsay has started making connections with other boards. This will also be an item discussed at an upcoming Regional Special Education Council meeting she will be attending and then shared with SEAC. Attention was drawn to the change of the agenda set up which was made for clarity purposes around the intent of each topic (i.e. information, consultation, discussion etc.). Sue Shaw inquired about what the consultation process looks like from the board level as this has been spoken about in the past. Tracey Lindsay responded that although this is similar to what we have been doing, we are looking for feedback around how parents want us to consult with them and how they would like us to bring information to them. We would like to get this process in place as quickly as possible while making sure we receive as much feedback as possible. This will be an item on the October SEAC meeting agenda. OPEN FORUM Laurie Whyte reported September 9th is International Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) Awareness Day with lots of things happening internationally. She also referred to a 12-day webinar that began on September 9th involving speakers talking about a wide range of topics relating to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder at “LivingwithFASD.com”. Laurie Whyte also spoke about positive feedback she received from a teacher around the Provincial Outreach Program for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder information. Carrie Proudfoot reported the fall training is being held on October 4 & 5, 2013 and noted the DSM-5 will be deconstructed at this session. The social events are up and running. Kim Brenner reported the Parents for Children’s Mental Health Leadership Retreat is taking place this weekend. She will share information about the retreat next month. Stacey Stevens reported that VOICE has announced their new Executive Director – Lori Nikkel. Also reported was the upcoming presentation taking place on September 16, 2013 at KidsAbility Waterloo where Anita Bernstein will be speaking about strategies to develop language and assist with a successful school year. Special Education Advisory Committee Minutes … Page 4 September 11, 2013 UPDATES FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PROGRAM Tracey Lindsay introduced Mark Howe, our new Special Education Consultant and Cheryl Van Ooteghem, our new Principal of Program. The Special Education Fall inservices will be taking place on September 16th and 17th with various topics being covered for Elementary and Secondary Special Education Resource Teachers (SERTs) as well as sessions designed for SERTs who are new to the position this year. The Special Education Report 2012-2013, the Special Education Plan 2013-2014, the Minority Report and the Checklist were submitted to the Ministry of Education by email and paper copies submitted by courier. Tracey Lindsay further clarified the development of the consultation process noting we are asking for feedback from associations as there was concern expressed about SEAC not being provided with enough time to provide feedback with certain items presented in the past. A suggestion was made to forward information to members ahead of time to assist them to provide meaningful feedback. Sandra Szpular spoke about the letter to Parents/Guardians of children with Special Equipment Amount (SEA) Equipment distributed to everyone this evening. This letter was created to provide information to parents around the four different ways their child could use technology outside of school. Some consultation was through members of SEAC that sit on committees around home use of technology. The idea was to have this letter go home with students with SEA equipment. The letter could go home with the first Individual Education Plans. Discussion followed the review of the letter with suggestions made including: making sure it is clear that all four options are to be available for students; questions be directed to the school Principal; a description be added to each of the four ways to use technology outside of school and perhaps re-ordering the bullets; include or communicate the login information for students to access UG2GO; a similar letter be sent home to all parents - not only parents of students with SEA equipment. Following discussion, Sandra Szpular explained the rationale behind the order of the information shared. Tracey Lindsay also explained that the letter was going home with students who have SEA equipment as a result of a suggestion made by members of the Home Use of Technology committee. It was noted that the comments about the UG2GO passwords would be shared with Principals at an upcoming meeting. TRUSTEE REPORT Jennifer Waterston reported on the two Boundary Reviews currently taking place Ponsonby Public School due to growth in the attendance area and the new Rockwood Elementary School which will also have a French Immersion program. Jennifer Waterston asked members if they would consider moving the October SEAC Special Education Advisory Committee Minutes … Page 5 September 11, 2013 meeting date to accommodate the King George P.S. Official Opening. The suggested dates were October 2nd or October 16th. Members were asked what date was most suitable for them and it was decided the SEAC meeting date would be changed to October 2, 2013. MEETING SUMMARY, RECOMMENDATION(S), MOTION (S) AND ACTION(S) Action Items include: 1. Members were asked to provide any suggestions regarding the letter to “Parents/Guardians of children with Special Equipment Amount (SEA) Equipment” to Sandra Szpular and/or Donna Glodziak. This letter will also be shared with other groups by Sandra Szpular to obtain feedback. 2. Suggest creating a general letter to go to parents/guardians about the ways to use technology outside of the board. 3. Communicate passwords for UG2GO (i.e. with letter going home). ADJOURNMENT Laurie Whyte moved that this Committee adjourn at 9:07 p.m. to report to the Board. The motion carried.