SPECIAL EDUCATION FORUM

Ward 2

MINUTES

Thursday, November 24, 2011

HOLLYCREST MIDDLE SCHOOL

IN ATTENDANCE

Trustee Chris Glover, Maria Schinas (Constituency Assistant to Trustee Glover), Susan Winter (Superintendent, NW6),

Leila Girdhar-Hill (Superintendent, NW5), Boris Stoikos (Principal, Hollycrest MS), Matthew Reid (VP, Special Education, W),

Robert S. Brown (TDSB), Gillian Parekh (TDSB), Virginia Ludy (PIAC), Laurie Green (PIAC), Nora Green (John G. Althouse),

Phillip Sargent (SEAC), Judith Sargent (Richview), Rebecca Ramsay (Humber Valley Village), Carrie Betker-Forrest (Humber

Valley Village), Sarah Smart (Briarcrest), Carol Ann Mascherin (Silverthorn), Terri Quinton (Humber Valley Village), Greg Freeman

(Principal, Millwood), Jenny Lai (Hollycrest), Judy Palmer (Briarcrest), Tara Rowe (Terry Tan CC), Sharon Golench (Central

Etobicoke), Dina Pizolinas (Hilltop & Richview), Natalie Dance (Bloorlea & Wedgewood), Pamela Khan (Hilltop & Millwood)

AGENDA

1. Welcome and Introduction

2. Introduction to Hollycrest

3. Special Education Study

4. SEAC Report

5. PIAC Report

6. Business Arising

WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION

Trustee Chris Glover welcomed staff, parents and community members to the Special Education Forum Meeting and announced that the next Etobicoke Centre Ward 2 Council Meeting is on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at Wellesworth Junior School. Trustee Glover introduced resources available for distribution amongst the forum members: a book titled; SAFE AND SECURE: SIX STEPS TO CREATING A GOOD LIFE FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES by Al Etanski and a biopic titled; TEMPLE GRANDIN, with Claire Danes, directed by Mick Jackson. INTRODUCTION TO HOLLYCREST Boris Stoikos, Principal of Hollycrest Middle School provided information regarding the school. Hollycrest is a unique school and home to approximately 350 students. There are four special programs at Hollycrest School serving the diverse needs of the students; The High Performers Program and three Intensive Support Programs: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Mild Intellectual Disability (MID) and Developmental Disability (DD). The High Performers program helps to meet the educational needs of students who are competing at a Provincial or National level in their discipline. The program allows them to meet their educational and competitive goals by providing them a specialized flexible learning environment where they attend school for half a day and train for the other half. The three Intensive Support Programs, an ASD class, an MID class, and a DD class, help to meet the special needs of all students, including students with exceptionalities, such as behavioural, communication, intellectual, physical and multiple

learning disabilities. Two of the programs are deemed Demonstration Classrooms. One of the Intensive Support staff at Hollycrest was recognized by the Council for Exceptional Children for their work with Special needs students and two former Hollycrest students are past winners of the Council for Exceptional Children’s “Yes I Can Award”. Hollycrest School offers students a wide variety of extra- curricular opportunities, ranging from: Band, Strings, Keyboard, Vocal Music, Art, Drama, Math, and Science Clubs, Boys and Girls Sports Teams, Student Council and Social Justice Club (Club Umojo). SPECIAL EDUCATION STUDY TDSB researchers, Robert S. Brown and Gillian Parekh provided a summary of their Special Education Research Report: Structural Overview and Student Demographics. The TDSB hosts 478 Elementary Schools and 113 Secondary Schools and currently serves 259,280 students (TDSB, 2010). In the 2009-10 school year 16% (42, 276 of 259,280) of the total TDSB population were students with Special Needs. These students have unique strengths and needs (behavioural, communication, intellectual and physical) that may require more specialized or intensive programs and supports. The full report is available at:

http://www.tdsb.on.ca/wwwdocuments/about_us/external_research_application/docs/SpecEdStructuralOverviewStudentDemo.pdf SEAC REPORT Phillip Sargent provided a SEAC update:

1. PIAC has been working with SEAC chair to establish a better relationship between the two groups,

strengthening their communication. Currently PIAC has been asked to refer parents with questions about Special Education to the SEAC web page where the contact information for the various represented organizations can be found.

2. The Senior Superintendent gave an update on IEPs within the system. As of the end of October, 88% of

IEPs were complete, with another 6% in the status of Parent Consultation. Board staff are working with

schools to assist and support where needed. Staff have also been focussing on additional training for IPRC

members, mainly on members in their first and second years to help with understanding their roles and

how to better facilitate the process.

3. There are eight new alternate parent members of SEAC, bringing the total to 16 community members.

4. The debate around having student representation on SEAC has been resolved. The final decision was that

student trustees are welcome to observe meetings and present to SEAC through delegations, and that the

Student Super Council would be contacted regarding creating better awareness of SEAC and its role.

5. On advice of SEAC, Staff had recommended the establishment of a Parent/Guardian Facilitator, but the

position was not approved at this time. The position was intended to assist and support parents and

guardians when they are accessing services and supports for their children within the TDSB. The decision

not to go forward was in large part due to concerns regarding reporting structure – advocacy vs. internal

professional responsibility – and duplication of existing services creating conflicts within the system. SEAC

has referred the matter back to a subcommittee to review and create new recommendations for staff.

SEAC feels that the issue of helping parents navigate the system is important, and would appreciate

feedback on potential strategies which can be forwarded to our subcommittee for review.

6. Further to a motion by SEAC, the Board has been asked to put an icon to the Special Education

Department on the front page of the Board website, providing a clearer path to visitors accessing

information regarding special education programming and initiatives in the TDSB. The icon can be found

on the Parent Page of the website on the far right side.

Individual Education Plans (IEPs) Parents are concerned that a lot of teachers are not reading the IEPs. What is the parent’s role in an IEP?

Participate in the consultation process

Provide up-to-date information

Share knowledge and insights about child’s strengths, needs, talents and interests

Indicate proven strategies

Reinforce child’s learning by providing practice time at home

Maintain open communication with school staff THE DECISION TO DEVELOP AN IEP RESTS WITH THE SCHOOL, NOT THE PARENT

It was suggested that the Board develops a process that mandated teachers to read IEPs.

Phillip Sargent from SEAC will put forth a motion to the Board. More information about IEPs can be found at www.chrisglover.org go to Special Education and under ‘Tips for Parents of Students with Special Needs’ click on Information Session for Parents/Guardians

PIAC REPORT Virginia Ludy and Laurie Green provided a PIAC Special Education update:

1. PIAC has an advocacy group which has as part of their mandate communicating with other Parent Involvement Committee's across the province. One initiative here is to liaise with other PICs to make a case for increased special education funding to all boards as 90% of Boards' of Education across the province spend in excess of the money they are allotted and the TDSB spends $15 in excess of this.

2. PIAC held two special education workshops at their parent conference this year, Team up with Your Children, held November 12. The topics were IPRC/IEP process from a teacher/parent perspective and Special Education Basics, A Parent Perspective. The power point presentations from both workshops are posted on the PIAC website at www.torontopiac.ca.

3. PIAC has a special education working group and the lead of this group, Ricardo Francis, has spoken with Paul Cross, the chair of SEAC, in order to establish communication links between SEAC and PIAC to better express the concerns of special education parents that come to PIAC members' attention and to help advocate for positive change within the board.

4. PIAC is exploring partnering with SEAC to hold a dedicated special education conference for parents. 5. The PIAC special education working group is open to the input and/or involvement of parents. You do not

need to be a PIAC member to sit on this working group. If you are interested, please contact: info@torontopiac.ca.

BUSINESS ARISING Bussing Issue Trustee Glover invited a parent, whose child is currently enrolled at Hollycrest to join the forum. She is experiencing a bussing issue. Her daughter is in a wheelchair and has not been able to ride with her classmates on school trips because a wheelchair accessible bus is not available. She asked if it would be possible to include in the criteria when considering renewing bus contracts that each company have at least one wheelchair accessible school bus. It was agreed upon that a motion be put forth to the Board regarding this issue.

Future Meetings Trustee Glover will set future dates for the Special Education Forum Meetings and the Etobicoke Centre Ward 2 Council Meetings and when doing so, will consider upcoming SEAC and PIAC Meetings. It was suggested that a calendar be posted on Trustee Glover’s website with all meeting dates.

Thank you to all the parents, staff and community members for attending the Special Education Forum Meeting. Your participation and support is greatly appreciated. A special thanks to TDSB staff for providing an overview of their research report.