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, December 11, 2013, at 7:00 p.m. in the Boardroom at 500 Victoria Road
North, Guelph.
The following Association Members were present: Carole Craig, Parents for
Children’s Mental Health-Wellington County, Sharon Dills, Learning Disabilities
Association of Wellington County, Beth Haworth, Community Member-at-Large, Jason
Offer, Association for Bright Children-ABC, Laurie Whyte, FASworld Canada, Sue Shaw
and Carrie Proudfoot, Autism Ontario-Wellington County and Stacey Stevens, VOICE
for Hearing Impaired Children.
Present from Staff were: Trudy Counter, Coordinator of Communication, Language
and Speech Services, Tracey Lindsay, Superintendent of Program, Sandra Szpular,
Special Education Coordinator / Collaborative Projects Lead, Cheryl Van Ooteghem,
Principal of Program, Special Education Consultants: Mark Howe and Barb Tomkins.
Trustees Present: Marty Fairbairn and Jennifer Waterston
Regrets: Pauline Busby, Community Living Guelph-Wellington, Kim Brenner, Parents
for Children’s Mental Health-Wellington County, Christine Kay, Principal, Don
Richardson, Integration Action for Inclusion in Education and Community (Ontario),
Sandra Roberts, Vice-Principal.
Superintendent of Program, Tracey Lindsay, presided and called the meeting to order.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Laurie Whyte moved that the agenda of the December 11, 2013, meeting be
approved.
The motion carried.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Sharon Dills moved that the Minutes of the meeting held on November 13, 2013
be approved as printed.
The motion carried.
ELECTION OF CHAIR OF SEAC
Tracey Lindsay proceeded to the election of the Chair of SEAC for the period of
December 1, 2013 to November 30, 2014, in accordance with Clause 6 of the Board’s
By-law No. 1.
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December 11, 2013
Cheryl Van Ooteghem and Sandra Szpular were named as scrutineers.
Tracey Lindsay called for nominations for the position of Chair of SEAC for the period of
December 1, 2013 to November 30, 2014.
Laurie Whyte nominated Marty Fairbairn as Chair of SEAC.
Jennifer Waterston moved that nominations for Chair be closed.
The motion carried.
Marty Fairbairn was declared Chair of SEAC for the period of December 1, 2013 to
November 30, 2014.
Marty Fairbairn took the Chair of SEAC and presided for the remainder of the meeting.
ELECTION OF VICE-CHAIR OF SEAC
Marty Fairbairn assumed the Chair position for the period of December 1, 2013 to
November 30, 2014, in accordance with Clause 6 of the Board’s By-Law No. 1.
Tracey Lindsay called for nominations for the position of Vice-Chair of SEAC for the
period of December 1, 2013 to November 30, 2014.
Jennifer Waterston nominated Laurie Whyte as Vice-Chair of SEAC.
Sharon Dills moved that nominations for Vice-Chair be closed.
The motion carried.
Laurie Whyte was declared Vice-Chair of SEAC for the period of December 1, 2013 to
November 30, 2014.
REVIEW OF ACTION ITEMS
Tracey Lindsay, Superintendent of Program reviewed the action items which included:
•
A reminder to forward any suggested resources pertaining to accessibility to us for
Bonnie Talbot.
•
The information gathered from SEAC members at the November meeting for the
Ministry of Education’s “Building the Next Phase in Ontario’s Education Strategy Great to Excellent” was entered through the on-line survey on November 27, 2013.
Print copies of the submission are available for members wishing to have a copy.
•
Marty Fairbairn then spoke about the motion approved at the November SEAC
meeting “That the Board dispense of the limit of 10 accommodations per category in
Special Education Advisory Committee Minutes … Page 3
December 11, 2013
the IEP Engine software” he presented at the November 26, 2013 Board Meeting.
This motion was received by Trustees. He commented he feels staff has heard the
concern and these can be handled on a case-by-case basis. Following an inquiry as
to the reasoning for only receiving the motion, Jennifer Waterston explained the role
of the Trustees is to set policies. This is not policy however staff have heard the
concern raised by members.
Regarding the next steps, if parents are concerned about the number of
accommodations in their child’s IEP they could speak with their Principal or
Superintendent of Education.
Tracey Lindsay reminded members that the
accommodations listed are to be personalized for the student and can be reviewed
on a case-by-case basis as well as revisited if they are not working. She will
continue to communicate this message to staff. Suggestion was made to have this
information in writing for parents in order to be transparent. Tracey Lindsay will take
this suggestion to staff for discussion on how to best communicate this message to
ensure everyone has a clear understanding.
SPECIALIZED SUPPORT TEAM (SST)
Jenny Marino, Psychological Services Consultant presented a powerpoint “Specialized
Support Team (SST) Collaborative, structured and individualized support for students
with complex mental health and behavior needs”.
She introduced Barb Tomkins, Special Education Consultant and member of the SST
as well as Katharine Creery, a Principal who has worked with the SST. She provided
an overview of the work the SST does to provide behavior and mental health support
including the development of a collaborative plan to target identified areas. The model
is collaborative, involving teachers, administrators, support staff, program staff, families,
the student and community agencies in various ways. A plan everyone agrees to is
created and then launched. Jenny Marino spoke about the data collection and analysis
tools for behavioural and social/emotional data gathering as a means to target and
assist in creating success for the child.
Video clips of a teacher, an elementary and secondary school principal, parent and a
community agency member speaking about their involvement in working collaboratively
together and the positive experiences in working as part of the SST were shown. Slides
outlining the process of how the SST works from developing, implementing and
supporting the plan as well as the follow-up to review the challenges and successes
were explained. Data highlighting students served was shared as well as the evaluation
results which included the intake process, plan launch, follow-up, resource development
support and support in the classroom. The final voice-clip was of a student speaking
about how the SST helped.
Following an inquiry from Carrie Proudfoot about the wait list for the SST, it was
explained that there are other staff and different avenues available to assist supporting
students with explanation about the Consultant Supported Team (CST), Psychologists
and the Behaviour Interventionists provided.
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December 11, 2013
Carole Craig asked for clarification around whether the case needed to be behavioural
or mental health and how parents are made aware of this. Jenny Marino spoke about
the focus being on school success and therefore mental health would be part of this.
Tracey Lindsay commented on our board’s mental health lead and the work that has
been taking place to roll-out the Mental Health Strategy noting this will be presented at
the January SEAC meeting with information also posted on the board website. She
further spoke about the mandatory course on mental wellness for teachers preservice at
Teacher's College. Sharon Dills commented on “GLOWW” which is a youth led
advisory group at CMHA-WWD. Tracey Lindsay also referred to the Ministry of
Education document “Supporting Minds, An Educator’s Guide to Promoting Students’
Mental Health and Well-being”. The link to this document is
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/reports/SupportingMinds.pdf
OnSIS AND SPECIAL EDUCATION PLACEMENTS
Sandra Szpular distributed the “Changes to Special Education Practices for Ontario
School Information System (OnSIS) Requirements” and letter to parent/guardians
entitled “Changes to IPRC Placements”. She explained this was a result of some of our
current practices not lining up with the OnSIS information required by all school boards
in the province in order to collect data from our schools. The changes are needed in
order for us to respond to this issue for the March 31, 2014 reporting timeline.
Information was provided around the changes required in the area of definitions of
placement when using fully self-contained and partially integrated noting the corrections
should be done at the next IPRC Review. The timing of Central IPRCs for students new
to our board will need to be completed in a timely fashion if a special education class
placement is required. Lastly, placement changes will need to be completed in a timely
fashion when any changes occur.
Sandra Szpular reported this information has been provided to principals and each
Special Education Consultant will be working will schools to make the necessary
changes. The letter will be provided to the parents/guardians of any student who has
already had their yearly IPRC review providing an option to either waive or attend an
additional IPRC in the 2013-2014 school year to change their child’s placement.
Following an inquiry about OnSIS being based on a policy, Tracey Lindsay responded
that this is a data collection tool used by the Ministry for various items (i.e. IPRC
process, report card). Explanation was also provided about the percentage of time
differentiating partial or fully integrated for student placement. Further explanation was
then provided about students in developmental disability programs and integrated into
other courses and non-credit bearing courses and how these courses are coded at the
secondary level. Tracey Lindsay and Mark Howe spoke about accommodated versus
modified programs and receiving course credits as this is different in elementary and
secondary.
Special Education Advisory Committee Minutes … Page 5
December 11, 2013
BOARD IMPROVEMENT PLAN FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT (BIPSA)
Tracey Lindsay spoke about the Board Improvement Plan for Student Achievement
(BIPSA) distributed to everyone. The updates made include some of the feedback
received from various groups and have been highlighted in red for members. The
BIPSA is also posted on the website.
In the System Foci section, the changes made were a result of data collected.
Information was added around bullying prevention and intervention as well as First
Nations, Metis and Inuit students in the Community, Culture and Caring section. The
Pathways section includes information about transitions as a result of new Ministry
guidelines about student transitions. The Needs Assessment, Smart Goals – If/Then
Statements as well as Targeted Evidence Based Strategies/Action changes were
reviewed. Highlighted was the system and school level changes made in Monitoring
section in terms of how we are monitoring various things (i.e. Superintendent items
reviewed during school visits).
Tracey Lindsay concluded noting the updated BIPSA was submitted to the Ministry of
Education at the end of October and reviewed during the Ministry’s visit in November.
The BIPSA will be brought back to SEAC this spring to provide members an opportunity
to give input.
Sue Shaw expressed her appreciation as the BIPSA contained comment suggested by
SEAC and inquired about the feedback the board receives from the Ministry. Tracey
Lindsay will share comments provided by the Ministry once received. She will also be
bringing EQAO and the Math Action Plan to SEAC in January.
OPEN FORUM
Sharon Dills reported on the recent Learning Disabilities Association of Wellington
County’s Annual General Meeting and that the newsletter has been sent.
UPDATES FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT OF PROGRAM
Tracey Lindsay reported the Kiwanis Christmas Luncheon for students in our
developmental disability programs is taking place on December 12th.
The Program Services Meeting took place on December 10th for all staff in Program
Services.
We are in the process of completing the hiring for Educational Assistants.
TRUSTEE REPORT
Jennifer Waterston spoke about the Annual Organizational Meeting of the Board held
on December 3rd. Mark Bailey was elected Chair of the Board and Marty Fairbairn was
acclaimed Vice-Chair. Kathryn Cooper is Chair of Business Operations and Lynn
Topping is Chair of Program Committee.
Special Education Advisory Committee Minutes … Page 6
December 11, 2013
Jennifer Waterston also spoke about the boundary reviews taking place in preparation
of the last year of Full Day Kindergarten. Two boundary reviews in the Centre
Wellington area are Ponsonby PS and James McQueen PS.
ADJOURNMENT
Jennifer Waterston moved that this Committee adjourn at 8:52 p.m. to report to
the Board.
The motion carried.