Committee of the Whole: May 21, 2024
The Committee of the Whole meeting for the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board took place on May 21, 2024, with me as chair. Staff brought forward two reports for discussion.
Staff brought forward Report 24-068 for discussion on the General Learning Program Process Evaluation. The General Learning Program is a Special Program Class available for students with a Mild Intellectual Disability. The General Learning Program is available from Grade 4 to Grade 12 with junior, intermediate, and secondary class configurations. Class size is capped at 16 students and is staffed with 1 teacher and 1 education assistant. For the 2022 to 2023, the District offered 13 elementary General Learning Program classes including 7 junior and 6 intermediate classes located at 12 elementary schools and 15 secondary classes located in 3 schools. Most students must travel outside of their home community to access the placements.
In spring of 2022, the Learning Support Services submitted a proposal for increased funding to the Ministry of Education to remove barriers for students with disabilities and to promote and support accessible, inclusive, and equitable education practices. The funding allowed for the augmentation of the Learning Support Services Program Evaluation Office and the addition of an elementary and secondary inclusion teacher for the 2022 to 2023 school year.
Program Evaluators conducted a participatory evaluation to understand how a student’s placement in the General Learning Program is influencing students’ academic and social outcomes. Over the course of the data collection phase, the inclusion teachers focused specifically on the transit of Grade 8 students in the General Learning Program to high school. The inclusion teachers helped to remove barriers for students with disabilities by promoting and supporting accessible, inclusive, and equitable education practices.
Through the evaluation, the Learning Support Services will continue to focus central resources with an aim to improve current structures that impact student experience within the General Learning Program. The actions are categorized into three groups, system level, school level, and future projects. Overall, the opportunity for change includes creating a support model that meets the disability-related needs of students with Mild Intellectual Disability across personal, social, and intellectual domains.
During the discussion, I asked the following questions (timestamp 2:07:38):
Question: What are the next steps for this report, this is presented as a matter of discussion tonight, what do staff envision as the next steps? Is this tied to the elementary program review? As Trustees where can we support the next steps?
Answer: We are part way through our communications plan, there are key groups that we must still meet with including our Educational Assistants who support the General Learning Program classes importantly. We are also setting up opportunities for parents and caregivers. Part of the power of this kind of report is that you can see the analysis of findings and our understanding grows as we discuss the findings with the key groups. That will help our understanding of how a re-envisioned program model could look.
Question: When we look at the public engagement conducted for this review, are there any groups standing out to you that you have not heard from or are particularly concerned about? The follow-up being, if there are, how are you planning on reaching them?
Answer: We do know that there is an increase in multi-lingual learners in our learning program classes and certainly we have heard from educators in our General Learning Program classes that language is a significant barrier when communicating complex special education processes. There are concerns that we did not reach all those families, we continue to evolve our methods of consultation. We continue to reach out through our Community Liaison Officers and our Special Education Advisory Committee, and they are key partners in this review.
Staff brought forward Report 24-078 for discussion on the Development Disabilities Program and the Review of Crystal Bay and Clifford Bowey. The purpose of the review is to ensure that special education programming, services, supports, and resources continue to meet the needs of students at Crystal Bay and Clifford Bowey. The findings of the report are intended to inform educational programming and practices at both schools and may serve as a reference for future policy and decision-making. The recommendations for consideration listed below are intended to inform educational programming and practices at Crystal Bay and Clifford Bowey with the goal of improving student learning and achievement. They may also serve as a reference for future policy and decision-making. The twelve recommendations are grouped into four categories, system-level, school-level, professional learning, and integration with other work, initiatives, and departments. As the next steps, staff will be working with key partners throughout the District and school community to review and implement the recommendations.
Please note, that the opinions expressed here are entirely my own and do not reflect an official position of the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board or the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board of Trustees. Please note answers from staff are paraphrased, the recording can be found here if you would like to watch the entire meeting. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me using my contact form here.
Key links
Video for the Committee of the Whole Budget on May 21, 2024
Agenda for the Committee of the Whole on May 21, 2024
Report 24-068, General Learning Program Process Evaluation.
Report 24-078, Development Disabilities Program and the Review of Crystal Bay and Clifford Bowey.
