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, April 9, 2014, 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, Sharon Dills, Learning Disabilities
Association of Wellington County, Jason Offer, Association for Bright Children-ABC (by
teleconference), Don Richardson, Integration Action for Inclusion in Education and
Community (Ontario), Carrie Proudfoot, Autism Ontario-Wellington County (Alternate),
Stacey Stevens, VOICE for Hearing Impaired Children.
Present from Staff were: Carla Anderson, Special Education Consultant, Jacqueline
Foster, Special Education Coordinator/Special Education Consultant, Christine Kay,
Principal, Tracey Lindsay, Superintendent of Program, Sandra Roberts, Vice-Principal,
Sandra Szpular, Special Education Coordinator / Collaborative Projects Lead, Cheryl Van
Ooteghem, Principal of Program.
Trustees Present: Marty Fairbairn and Jennifer Waterston
Absent: Pauline Busby, Community Living Guelph-Wellington
Regrets: Trudy Counter, Coordinator of Communication, Language and Speech Services,
Beth Haworth, Community Member-at-Large, Sue Shaw, Autism Ontario-Wellington
County, Laurie Whyte, FASworld Canada.
Marty Fairbairn welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order.
Approval of Agenda
Jennifer Waterston moved that the agenda of the April 9, 2014, meeting be approved.
The motion carried.
Approval of Minutes
Stacey Stevens moved that the Minutes of the meeting held on March 19, 2014 be
approved as printed.
The motion carried.
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Special Education Advisory Committee Minutes
April 9, 2014
Review of Action Items
Tracey Lindsay, Superintendent of Program provided updates on the action items:
1. The “Minority Report: 2013-2014 Special Education Plan – Upper Grand District
School Board” will be posted on the board website under the Special
Education/SEAC page and linked to the wording “This Minority Report”.
2. As a follow-up to the comment about posting attachments provided at meetings with
the Meeting Minutes, it is our practice to post only the Meeting Agendas and
Meeting Minutes on the Board website. If presentation material cannot be sent with
the agenda, it can be provided upon request.
3. A request was sent to Principals/Vice-Principals asking that they include the a
message in their April Newsletter regarding the Special Education Survey that will
be posted on the Board website.
Marty Fairbairn introduced the letter drafted to support the efforts the Upper Grand DSB is
making with regard to special education funding and to support concerns raised by other
SEACs about the possible dilution of special education resources as a result of Full Day
Kindergarten and asked for feedback. Jennifer Waterston suggested the timing of the letter
may not be appropriate given the Grants for Student Needs (GSN) information had now
been received and is being analyzed. Discussion took place around monitoring the full day
kindergarten classroom supports in place and what is needed. Explanation was provided
around children transitioning, allocation of Educational Assistants, involvement of
Principals and our Special Education Consultants. It was also noted that some data
recently gathered for another purpose could possibly be used for this. Following further
discussion, it was decided once the draft budget information is presented, members will
decide whether to proceed with a letter.
BringITin
Mike Albano, Manager of Information Technology and Bill MacKenzie, Information
Technology and Communications Consultant provided the Information Technology 2014
Updates.
Bill MacKenzie began by providing background around wireless technology in the Upper
Grand DSB that is in all academic work spaces in the board. The intent is to have
everyone feel comfortable bringing technology to school – Bring Your Own Device
(BYOD). The process to accommodate this through infrastructure, training provided and
the Acceptable Use Policy which has been reviewed and updated was presented. The
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April 9, 2014
goal for September 2014 will be to welcome technology when it is appropriate to use and
under supervision. He also spoke about the “Digital Open House” event recently held and
the plan to host this event again in the fall.
Mike Albano spoke about the UGDSB Data Centre, the technology and staff in place, the
environment, the network and traffic and the ways we deliver technology. He displayed a
slide showing what the data centre in the board office looks like explaining the advantages
of the system. He referred to the multi-year objectives and initiatives in the Information
Technology department and spoke about the Wide Area Network (WAN) and Fibre
connections. This year, there are a total of 10,500 devices supported (i.e. Chromebooks,
iPads, laptops) in the Upper Grand DSB. The Information Technology department
continues to work with the Special Education department to investigate technology to
support student learning.
Bill MacKenzie displayed a graph showing the move from desktops to mobile devices
highlighting the fact that our board is one of the leaders in technology due to the work we
are doing. He spoke about the equity piece around BYOD and the devices available for
students to use. Information was shared about how we are using Chromebooks as well as
UGCloud.
Mike Albano provided further explanation about the connections to most schools through
the WAN following an inquiry from Jason Offer.
Carole Craig inquired if there was a process in place for children that do not have their own
device and would not feel comfortable advocating for themselves. Bill MacKenzie
responded by speaking about the Chromebooks available for students to use (i.e. school
library). Sandra Szpular reminded that the Individual Education Plan is also a means for
advocating. Tracey Lindsay added that the classroom teacher would also be able to
advocate for children.
Tracey Lindsay spoke about equity in terms of internet access following an inquiry from
Carrie Proudfoot and noted this is a frequent discussion item amongst staff and Trustees.
Don Richardson asked about the types of resources we are using around special
education. Bill MacKenzie shared we are working with google and vendors on programs to
be used anywhere and anytime. He demonstrated some of the features, software and
tools students can access through Google Chrome commenting that these features are
necessary for some and benefit all.
Mike Albano and Bill MacKenzie concluded by commenting on the logins and passwords
and explained that the password changes made each September are necessary for
security purposes.
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Revised Parent Consultation Survey for the Special Education Plan
2014-2015
Sandra Szpular, Special Education Coordinator/Collaborative Projects Lead began by
thanking Carole Craig for her input around the Parent Consultation Survey. The link to the
test survey was emailed to members to provide an opportunity for members to try it prior to
the meeting and share any feedback they may have at the meeting.
As there were no suggestions for change, the link to the survey will be posted on the
Board website and will be open from April 14th to April 30th. It was also mentioned that any
data gathered from the test survey entries would be cleared.
Goal Setting for the Special Education Plan 2014-2015
Sandra Szpular, Special Education Coordinator/Collaborative Projects Lead talked about
the goal setting for the Special Education Plan and that the information gathered from the
Parent Consultation Survey will be used to assist in informing the goals for our 2014-2015
Special Education Plan.
Review of the Special Education Report for 2013-2014
Sandra Szpular, Special Education Coordinator/Collaborative Projects Lead referred to the
changes that have been made to the report so far. These were emailed with the agenda
and are contained in the print copies distributed.
The timelines for review and revisions to the other areas were outlined. The goal is to
have the Draft Special Education Report prepared for the May SEAC Meeting. At the June
meeting, the completed Special Education Report 2013-2014 and Special Education Plan
2014-2015 will be shared and changes can be made before going to Board and then the
Ministry by the required deadline. These documents will be sent with the meeting package
to allow members time to review these prior to the meeting.
Discussion took place around the goals contained in the Special Education Plan and it was
decided the goals for our 2014-2015 Special Education Plan be created by staff with the
information gathered from the survey and reviewed at the May meeting. A summary of
the survey data gathered will be sent the SEAC members between May 7th and May 14th.
Consultation for the Board Improvement Plan for Student Achievement
(BIPSA) 2014-2015
Cheryl Van Ooteghem, Principal of Program distributed the Board Improvement Plan for
Student Achievement that will be reviewed this spring and summer in preparation for next
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year. In an effort to consult with various stakeholders, she asked members to take this to
their organizations as a means of gathering any feedback in the area of special education.
Feedback from the associations will be collected at the May meeting.
Don Richardson inquired whether the special education information contained in the
current BIPSA could also be included in the Special Education Plan so it can be tracked
through one document. Sandra Szpular responded that yes, it could.
Open Forum
Carrie Proudfoot reported April 2nd was Autism Awareness Day. A Parent Autism Parent
Resource Kit is being developed by the Ministry of Children and Youth Services.
Don Richardson reported the Integration Action for Inclusion in Education and Community
(Ontario) is having their Annual General Meeting and Conference in Waterloo on May 24th.
Further information will be provided.
Kim Brenner reported that the Parents for Children’s Mental Health website has been
updated and is now more user friendly.
Sharon Dills reported the presentation held around Learning Disabilities and Depression
last night was very well attended.
Updates from the Superintendent of Program
Tracey Lindsay provided the following updates:
1. The 2014-2015 Special Education Plan Checklist was received from the Ministry of
Education outlining the requirements for this year. Copies of this were distributed to
everyone.
2. An information webinar on “Special Needs Strategy” was held regarding steps the
various ministries are taking to improve services for children and youth with special
needs and their families.
3. Our Special Education Resource Teacher (SERT) spring workshop was held this
morning for elementary and secondary SERTS.
4. The second round of IEP Workshops on Transition Plans and Annual Goals for all
Elementary SERTs and MID/LD Special Class teachers will be held in various
locations on April 14th, 25th and 29th.
5. The SEAC Brochure will be going to the printer.
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Trustee Report
Jennifer Waterston reported the Grants for Students Needs (GSN) was released and is
being analyzed. The draft budget information will be presented to SEAC.
Marty Fairbairn reported that he along with Chair Mark Bailey and Trustee Lynn Topping
attended the two-day Summit on Children and Youth Mental Health. This was attended by
education professionals and focussed on ways to improve mental health for students.
Meeting Summary, Recommendation(s), Motion(s) and Action(s)
Jason Offer requested that presenters provide electronic copies of information they are
presenting at the meeting.
Adjournment
Jennifer Waterston moved that this Committee adjourn at 8:55 p.m. to report to the Board.
The motion carried.
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