As Ottawa’s largest school board undertakes a review of its elementary school programs and services, some parents are already raising concerns over what potential changes this could bring.
The school board is currently in the process of gathering feedback from parents, guardians, staff, trustees and other members of the school community on their experiences, including some of the challenges programs are facing.
“Ultimately what we’re trying to do here is to look at what research and lived experience has shown is the optimum learning trajectory for our students,” said Pino Buffone, Ottawa-Carleton District School Board’s (OCDSB) director of education.
While staffing shortages, transportation woes and budgetary concerns are issues that are on the board’s radar, Buffone said they “aren’t driving” the program review.
In light of the review, some parents and caregivers of children with special education needs are worried about sweeping changes — or even a potential elimination — of specialized program classes.
“It’s difficult to not be concerned that a decision hasn’t already been made here by the language that’s being used by the school board,” said Kate Dudley-Logue, a mother of two children with autism and executive member of the Ontario Autism Coalition, referring to an OCDSB document explaining the purpose of the review.
“Increasingly, school districts are understanding that specialized classes can also segregate students from their peers, limit student access to curriculum or growth opportunities, force students to be transported out of their communities, and reinforce stereotypes and stigma,” that document reads.
It continues to state these classes often “do not foster inclusive learning environments.”
Special education classes ‘a lifeline’
Dudley-Logue said she finds it “frustrating” to see how the term “inclusion” is being used to prompt a review of specialized education programs.
“For so many kids, putting them in mainstream classes will likely guarantee more exclusion than inclusion,” she said.
Her 10-year-old son is currently enrolled in a specialized class for students with autism.
That class has been “a lifeline for him,” Dudley-Logue said. He’s among some 2,000 students accommodated in specialized program classes in the OCDSB.
There needs to be more provincial support and funding provided to school boards, Dudley-Logue said, and school boards like OCDSB need to “start using stronger language and stand up for our kids,” especially those with special education needs.
No decisions made yet
When it comes to making any recommendations around programs like special education, Buffone said the school board will rely on feedback from parents and caregivers, those with lived experience and existing research.
“That might ultimately impact the kinds of specialized programs we offer. It may not, that’s yet to be determined. That’s what we’re undergoing this review for,” he said.
Buffone stressed that there’s been no decision made yet on whether any programs will be affected by the review, including French language learning.
In fact, he said there’s “no intentions” to eliminate the board’s early French immersion program, and it’s an example of a program that has been working well and could be augmented and enhanced.
Review welcomed for certain programs
For parent Geri Moss-Norbury, this elementary program review is “important.”
Two of the programs Moss-Norbury thinks could benefit from a review are the early French immersion program and the gifted program.
One of her children is gifted and dyslexic, and Moss-Norbury said her family received “heavy pressure” to move him out of the French immersion program because of his learning disability.
It’s a common trend reflected in the board’s own research, which outlines how “the majority of students with special needs are supported in the English program.”
Moss-Norbury said she wants to see improved access to early French immersion for families who have not have historically chosen that option, and for children like her son “not to be pushed out of the program against their wishes.”
The gifted program could also benefit from more equitable access, she said.
Still, Moss-Norbury is hopeful that a review won’t result in eliminating or downsizing the already shrinking gifted program within the OCDSB.
The school board will be collecting community feedback until June, and the aim is to provide a preliminary report for consideration to the board of trustees by the end of the calendar year.
The school board will be holding its public meeting Thursday at 7 p.m.