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, June 11, 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, Beth Haworth, Community
Member-at-Large, Jason Offer, Association for Bright Children-ABC, Don Richardson, and
Integration Action for Inclusion in Education and Community (Ontario), Sue Shaw, Autism
Ontario-Wellington County, Carrie Proudfoot, Autism Ontario-Wellington County, Marty
Fairbairn, Trustee.
Present from Staff were: Trudy Counter, Coordinator of Communication, Language and
Speech Services, Special Education Coordinator/Special Education Consultant, Tracey
Lindsay, Superintendent of Program, Sandra Szpular, Special Education Coordinator /
Collaborative Projects Lead, Cheryl Van Ooteghem, Principal of Program
Regrets: Pauline Busby, Community Living Guelph-Wellington, Sharon Dills, Learning
Disabilities Association of Wellington County, Stacey Stevens, VOICE for Hearing
Impaired Children, Carla Anderson, Lesley Anne Jordan, Special Education Consultants,
Christine Kay, Principal. Absent: Paula Busby, Community Living Guelph-Wellington,
Jennifer Waterston, Trustee, Sandra Roberts, Vice-Principal, Laurie Whyte, FASworld
Canada
Marty Fairbairn welcomed everyone and called the meeting to order.
Approval of Agenda
Carole Craig moved that the Agenda of the June 11, 2014, meeting be approved.
The motion carried.
Approval of Minutes
Kim Brenner moved that the Minutes of the meeting held on May 14, 2014 be approved as
printed.
The motion carried.
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Special Education Advisory Committee Minutes
June 11, 2014
Review of Action Items
Tracey Lindsay, Superintendent of Program reported that there were no specific action
items to report.
Special Education Report 2013-2014
Sandra Szpular, Special Education Coordinator/Collaborative Projects Lead presented the
additions that were gathered from the previous meeting. The SEAC representative on the
IEP review team was Sharon Dills, Learning Disabilities Association of Wellington County
in May. Sue Shaw questioned if the rubric was in the Plan. Sandra Szpular responded that
this would be added to the report as the appendix.
Marty Fairbairn noted that he had spent time reviewing the document for grammatical
errors and sent his changes to Sandra Szpular. No changes to document wording are
required as this will be presented at Board.
The complete Special Education Report is available on the Upper Grand District School
Board website.
Carrie Proudfoot asked if there was a guideline for integrated transition plans. Sandra
Szpular responded that there is one and more information would be shared.
Don Richardson commented that he thought this included all students in the schools.
Sandra Szpular clarified that this also includes all students in the fully inclusive
environment with Developmental Disabilities.
Special Education Plan 2014-2015
Sandra presented the revised Special Education Plan with revisions from the May SEAC
meeting.
Don Richardson asked that the introduction be placed before the Board Improvement Plan
for Student Achievement (BIPSA). All agreed.
The Special Education Plan is available on the Board Website with specific goals
beginning on page 2.
Kim Brenner asked if the Reaching … Reaching Out training was mandatory for the
teachers in each grade. Sandra Szpular shared the challenges involved in training all
teachers such as the cost of release time.
Marty Fairbairn asked if there was a plan to mitigate the problem that technology may not
be available to some families at home. Sandra Szpular responded that other committees
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Special Education Advisory Committee Minutes
June 11, 2014
are also concerned about this issue and are looking at options. Carrie Proudfoot asked if
we could pilot a school to have the sticks for internet access at home. Tracey Lindsay
responded that she would take this suggestion to the IT department.
Jason Offer suggested a link to a glossary for the acronyms be included at the end of each
document. This recommendation will be taken forward in the next school year.
Carole Craig would like to see discussion of next year’s Plan earlier.
Don Richardson recommended that SEAC provide feedback to the Ministry to make the
Special Education Report and Plan more meaningful for parents.
Open Forum
Integration Action for Inclusion in Education and Community – Outreach session and the
AGM went really well and is growing rapidly.
Updates from the Superintendent of Program
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Election tomorrow – June 12, 2014 – things on hold at the Ministry
Updates not specific to Special Education
H2 Awesome
Social Justice – Lakeside – Grade 7 and 8 interactive day
Student trustee presented at the Mental Health Conference
Centre Dufferin District High School students went to Vimy for the Juno Beach
Celebration. They presented Prime Minister Stephen Harper with a hockey jersey
and sat on the podium with dignitaries.
Special Olympics – Successful day!
Discussions around equity and inclusivity for students with special needs for field trips;
Discussions will continue next year with clarifications and possible solutions.
Trustee Report
No report from Trustees.
June 10 was the last night for delegation to the Board. There was no response so it was
cancelled.
Martha Rogers and Janice Wright presented the budget to the Board and there were no
changes.
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Special Education Advisory Committee Minutes
June 11, 2014
Meeting Summary, Recommendation(s), Motion(s) and Action(s)
Adjournment
Don Richardson moved that this Committee adjourn at 8:23 p.m. to report to the Board.
The motion carried.
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