Minutes of the Special Education Advisory Committee Meeting (SEAC) Board Room, 570 West Hunt Club Road September 26, 2016, 7:00 p.m.

ATTENDANCE Chairperson:

Hélène Lapointe-Jérome, Chair, Ont. Assoc. for Families of Children with Communication Disorders

Trustees:

Sandra Moore Spencer Warren

Committee:

Cathy Miedema, ABC – Assoc. For Bright Children of Ontario Helen McRobbie, VIEWS Blind/Low Vision Natasha Ell Saunders, (Alternate) Autism Ontario John Johnson, Brain Injury Association, Ottawa Valley

Administration:

Mary Donaghy, Supt., Special Education & Student Services Lynne Coletti, Principal, Special Education & Student Services Pamela McCulloch, Coordinator, Special Education

Members Absent:

Chantal Demers, Down Syndrome Association Scott Campbell, (Alternate) VIEWS Blind/Low Vision Mick Kitor, Autism Ontario Mira Yasiri (Alternate) ABC Joanne Mayne (Alternate) Down Syndrome Association

Guests:

Cindy Thompson (parent)

Recording: Betty Poaps, Executive Assistant, Special Education ___________________________________________________________________________ 1.

CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m.

2. PRAYER/REFLECTION: Supt. Mary Donaghy 3. ROLL CALL 4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Several enquiries were noted and are included under Item 13 in Minutes. MOTION: Moved by Cathy Miedema, seconded by John Johnson THAT the Agenda, be approved as amended. CARRIED

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5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MOTION: Moved by Cathy Miedema, seconded by Trustee Moore THAT the Minutes be approved. CARRIED 6. PRESENTATION • No formal presentation this evening • The Chair opened discussion on what the goals of SEAC are for this year and what presentations members would like to hear/see on Agenda o Budget o EQAO scores review (Dr. Lauren Figueredo) o ABA Update (Becky Carter, Psychologist) o Update in May/June on how department managed following the loss of five positions this year o Implementation of IEPs – request by Cathy Miedema regarding the quality of goals in the IEP and their implementation; the Chair suggested each member should bring back comments from their association members for review and a fruitful discussion by SEAC. Cathy gave an example of the OCDSB doing an in-depth study of children in the integrated classroom vs the congregated classroom – it showed that, in general, parents were not satisfied (this study could apply to all exceptionalities). o Evidence-based strategies on interventions; the Chair has contacted Sick Kids regarding the Empower Reading Program. Developed by Sick Kids for students, without any intellectual disabilities, who are struggling to learn how to read (especially good for students with learning disabilities); it is being used by various school boards across the province with great success; she was approached by parents who would like to have the Board consider it. Trustee Moore suggested it might be a good presentation to have in connection with CSPA so that it will reach a broader base, teachers included. o Program review – this year will be Gifted Program; the Chair outlined several topics that should be included in a review. o (Helen McRobbie) Update presentation on Social Emotional Learning (SEL) o (Helen McRobbie) Transitions – life after school for students with IEPs; is there any information on what happens to these students when school ends for them? Supt. Donaghy will look into and have a conversation with Helen for specifics. Trustee Moore suggested that parents of students with IEPs don’t always receive the transitioning information they need (as opposed to parents of students in the academic mainstream). The Chair thought this should tie into My BluePrint in helping guide students toward possible work in the community in future. o Update on Special Needs Strategy (Integration services)

7. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES Helen McRobbie asked if the ABA Survey by the Ministry in relation to PPM 140 is public – can the report be shared with SEAC? Supt. Donaghy will check. The Chair wondered if this is new as she hadn’t heard of it previously. Supt. Donaghy indicated that schools have been surveyed for a number of years – this was not a parent survey.

3 8. CHAIRPERSON’S REPORT • On behalf of SEAC, the Chair presented to Board of Trustees on June 28th. She thanked members for their ongoing support and shared with them on-going concerns of SEAC. She shared a copy of her remarks with SEAC members. • The same evening, she participated in a PIC (Parent Involvement Committee) engagement video (CSPA/PIC/SEAC). The short video was being made to help provide parents with advice on better supporting their children in our schools. When released, she will send a link to SEAC members. • She has contacted Cathy Philpott with regard to the PRO Grant (Parents Reaching Out). We will be moving forward with workshops on Advocacy (Louise McGooey) and Sensory Processing Disorders and Behaviour; dates are being looked at. These are presentations where speakers will be receiving fees. • A presentation evening, similar to the department presentation last November 4th, is being considered. Break-out sessions will be included for discussion groups. Main topic for presentation and topics for break-out sessions are being considered. Could SEAC members think about and make suggestions, i.e. SEL. Timeframe is likely Spring. o Helen wondered if IEP goals and implementation might be of wide-spread interest. o Natasha asked if data is available regarding tracking of implementation, i.e. ensure implementation is being done and are goals and accommodations being implemented. o Empower Reading Program is another possibility • Transition Document is still a work in progress as is Best Practices for Communicating with Parents of students with special needs • The Chair reminded members that circulars from the Learning Disabilities Association contain a wealth of information offering a lot of guidance for all exceptionalities and SEACs. She highly recommended various sites for review by members. Toronto DSB reform motions by that SEAC is very interesting (15 pages) and contains four motions. It was shared with all SEACs for comparison, concerns, or topics that it highlighted to raise at our individual SEAC meetings. She encouraged members to read and, in particular, an informative section on making recommendations through motions. MOTION: Moved by Natasha Ell-Saunders, seconded Trustee Warren THAT the Chairperson Update be received. CARRIED 9. BOARD UPDATE: Superintendent Mary Donaghy • Overall enrolment increase; 4,564 staff, 2,094 teachers, 173 new teachers – 41,575 students • Reported on Renewed Math Strategy – all documents now include special education. There is a provincial emphasis on improving math scores. • Formal review of Gifted Program, Elementary and Secondary. • CSPA/SEAC jointly sponsored evening with department presentation, as outlined by Chair; members encouraged to feed suggestions for break-out sessions • EA staffing – increase in EAs. EAs move in Fall due to student movement over the summer, i.e. new students arrive, students change schools, etc. • New Spiritual Theme for Board – Sent to be the Good News

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Q&A: (Natasha) How is an equitable distribution of EAs done? Supt. Donaghy replied there are three pillars with very specific questions to schools in order to determine need – ratios of EA to student is differentiated between elementary and secondary for an equitable process. (Trustee Moore) Director of Education, Denise Andre, rounded numbers regarding JK classes, 26-28. Has this been achieved? Supt. Donaghy replied that following a meeting today, numbers have not yet been finalized. There are certain compliancy rules by the Ministry which say you must have an average class size across your Board, both elementary and secondary. The Human Resources Department is in the process of going through numbers; if we are over compliancy, another teacher or partial teacher would be added to a school and classes would be rearranged. Some of this has been done and will be completed shortly. MOTION: Moved by Helen McRobbie, seconded by John Johnson THAT the Board Update be received. CARRIED

10. DEPARTMENT UPDATE: Lynne Coletti, Principal, Special Education and Student Services, Pamela McCulloch, Coordinator, Special Education • Lynne reviewed the staffing changes and re-assignments within the department; the Ministry has allocated temporary monies (over 2 years) to all Boards to support changes to autism in Ontario – some of the funding being used in staff support, ASD multi-discipline team o One Behaviour Consultant retired end of June; Executive Committee decided to not fill this position; 5.5 consultants left, responsibilities redistributed. The .5 position (Angela Davidson) is attached to ASD team; department was able to re-hire Lisa Gagliano, at .5. She will support Speech & Language enabling .5 release of full-time position (Kelly Mason) to provide support to ASD team (from temporary monies through MOE ASD funding) • November 3-4, Stuart Shanker Symposium, “Learn Self-Regulation”; CSPA will be sponsoring an evening with Stuart Shanker for parents (www.ottawacspa.ca) • The Professional Learning Catalogue of workshops prepared by department staff has been very well received throughout the system (catalogue mainly contains special education workshops for teaching staff – some, such as CPI, are open to staff board-wide; a separate selection of workshops is available for EAs). Many courses have wait lists. Continuing efforts are ongoing to ensure that department work is not just at Tier 3 but supports Tier 1 – universal understanding of key strategies and concepts. • The Board focus this year is to look at Deep Learning: looking at the 4 elements of a successful classroom - the impact of the environment and making the changes that affect student learning, flexible learning environments and proactive environments in terms of the emotional atmosphere, the effect of purposeful pedagogies, looking at the importance of partnerships, and a focus on digital accessibility and environment • SEA tech coaches in second year of providing digital accessibility and support to students with special needs, providing a seamless environment • There are continued efforts to work in an aligned, cohesive way with other departments. A recent department-sharing opportunity illustrated that the work in special education runs through the work of every other department.

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Q&A: (Natasha) How do you use SEL partners? Through the use of Referral Forms, a SEL partner will be brought in for both student and staff support in the schools. (Helene) Regarding Gifted Program Review – could SEAC have a seat on the Committee? Mary – absolutely; she has already mentioned SEAC to the Chair of the review. Helene suggested our ABC member, Cathy Miedema. (Helene) With the loss of one Behaviour Consultant position – is department down in total number of positions now? Mary: we are down 1 Behaviour Consultant position and down 5 Itinerant Resource Teacher positions (June). Through temporary funding to support ASD, we are able to hire .5 SPL pathologist and 1.0 teacher position. (Natasha) How temporary is this funding (re autism support, Ministry)? Mary: applies to this school year and next. Supt. Donaghy suggested bringing this back as a presentation – Ministry funding re ASD, a few months from now when Ministry direction is clearer. MOTION: Moved by Cathy Miedema, seconded by Trustee Warren THAT the Department Update be received. CARRIED 11. NEW BUSINESS The Chair reminded SEAC of the many Board Committees requiring representation from SEAC. Members encouraged to help represent SEAC (even part-time) on these committees. Contact Chair if able. 12 ASSOCIATION REPORTS None 13. ENQUIRIES • (Chair) Students with special needs are being sent home without formal suspension; could SEAC have a report on numbers and reasons; is there something that needs to be addressed or is it because the child is just not having a good day? o Supt. Donaghy answered that formal tracking is not done at this time; the need for this information is being addressed by a number of stakeholders, including education, through the Inclusion Project which is in the preliminary stages of gathering that data. She will update SEAC when and as data becomes available o Trustee Moore asked where progressive discipline fits in • (Chair) request for an ABA Implementation Plan per PPM 140, which parents can access • (Chair) OSTA is planning to conduct a survey for parents re special transportation – requesting that SEAC be notified when this survey occurs o Supt. Donaghy replied that she is not aware of this being done for our Board but will enquire into it (Cathy Miedema suggested that perhaps this pertains to Public Board only). Trustee Moore suggested that if a specific enquiry is made by a Board to OSTA, they will look directly at that query only (as pertains to that Board). The Chair thought if only Public Board, should be applied to OCSB parents as well. • (Chair) Update re link on Agenda to memo dated September 8th regarding changes to IEP process – will this eventually affect how the Board implements IEPs?

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(Natasha) EQAO results (special education data) and in particular, Province-wide, reasons for the math scores being lower than, perhaps, expected. The Chair responded plans are to have an EQAO presentation.

14. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS • (Fall) SEAC Handbook Review • (Natasha) Helping students understand their classmates with exceptionalities • (Supt. Donaghy) Additional Ministry funding to support ASD (over next 2 years) • Budget • EQAO scores / review (Dr. Lauren Figueredo) • Gifted Program Review • Implementation of IEPs • SEL (Social Emotional Learning) Update • Transitions (for students with IEPs) • Special Needs Strategy Update 15. INFORMATION • Review of the items linked on Agenda (specific question re IEPs noted under Item 13 in Minutes) • Special Education Grant funding – Chair would like clarification of numbers 16. NEXT MEETING DATES • •

2016: November 16, December 21 2017: January 18, February 15, March 22, April 19, May 17, June 21

17. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Moved by Cathy Miedema, seconded by John Johnson THAT the meeting be adjourned at 8:45 p.m. CARRIED