Parents fear that special needs classes will be disbanded with OCDSB overhaul

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On Monday night, Cathy Varrette brought her nine-year-old son Nicholas to the first in a series of public consultations as Ottawa’s largest school board contemplates substantial changes to its elementary programs.

Nicholas has autism, developmental delay and ADHD. Large groups of people, like the 50 or so gathered in the gym of Kanata Highlands Public School that evening, make him agitated. He was in constant motion, racing from one end of the gym to the other, sometimes screaming. If he’s not watched constantly, he will make a break out the door and head for the street — and he has no sense of danger, said Varrette.

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When Nicholas was in Grade 2 and felt overwhelmed, he would pick up a desk and throw it. “When he gets dysregulated, he has super-human strength.”

So when the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board announced it was looking at overhauling all of its elementary school programs, from French immersion to classes for gifted and special needs students, Varrette had concerns.

As the review begins, some parents are fearful that special needs classes will be disbanded to make way for full-scale integration. That would be disastrous for both special needs students who will be getting less support and for students in the mainstream classrooms, who will have to contend with constant disruptions, they argue.

“Children who can be integrated have already been integrated,” said Varrette. “The rest of us don’t want that or need that. My son will never graduate from high school. We just want him to be happy.”

No decisions have been made yet, but the goal is to keep as many students as possible in their neighbourhood schools. The question regarding special needs classes is how to spread the thin resources over greater distances.

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Most OCDSB students with special needs get programming in the regular classroom. Approximately 1,250 students — about 17 per cent of students in special education — attend elementary Specialized Program Classes, also known as SPCs.

Most SPCs are self-contained classes with little or no opportunity for integration. And this is the problem, said a report that framed the need to review elementary programs. SPCs can segregate students from their peers, limit access to learning opportunities, and reinforce stereotypes and stigma.

Alicia Vrieswyk’s daughter Lexi, 7, has Smith Lemil Opitz Syndrome, a rare genetic condition. Lexi is in a primary special needs (PSN) class with 10 students, a teacher and two education assistants. A blanket approach to closing these classes in the name of inclusion doesn’t make sense, Vrieswyk told trustees and school board officials on Monday night.

“I don’t want her learning French because I need her to be able to focus on English. I don’t need her to learn how to multiply and divide, but I need her to learn how to emotionally regulate and socially interact with her peers. I have no qualms about Lexi being transported out of her community to access the best possible educational program from her,” said Vrieswyk.

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“Change is hard enough for her. I can’t imagine having her get used to multiple new teachers, a new desk, a new classroom, with new classmates each year.”

Integration and inclusion aren’t for everyone, said Kate Dudley Logue, the mother of two children with autism and the vice-president of community outreach with the Ontario Autism Coalition. Integration works for her daughter, but would not work for her son, she said.

“Our children are living in a world that really wasn’t designed for them. There are so many triggers in this world. Why aren’t we creating opportunities to bring other people into their world?”

Children with autism often feel overwhelmed in large groups or where there are loud or sudden noises. They often need “body breaks” to get away from over-stimulating situations. There may be medical needs or behaviour that needs to be managed, say parents. That requires staff support and it’s distracting for other students.

Rhonda Allaby-Glass’ son, Quinn, is in a Grade 9 class with six students, one teacher and two education assistants. He has learned new skills like riding public transit with supervision and sending a simple email. But putting him in a mainstream classroom would be “like putting a kindergarten student in a university class,” she said.

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“I feel my son needs more support, not less.”

Monday night was just the start of the fight for the parents of children with autism, said Allaby-Glass.

“We can’t do this to children. We’re playing with their futures.”

School board administrators have maintained that the purpose of the review is not to save money — although it could save money on transportation. This year, the board spent about $18.785 million on transportation, about $2 million more than it gets in provincial funding.

There are five more public consultation nights planned before the end of the month. Other parts of the review will likely also attract controversy, including hashing out changes to French immersion.

As part of the review, the OCDSB will be probing ways to offer the same level of French to all students. Educators argue that by forcing families to choose between immersion and core French, it is cutting some students off from opportunities and “streaming” students at a young age. At the same time, schools that don’t offer French tend to have lower enrolments.

School board officials will review the public’s feedback over the summer. Proposals for change to elementary programs will start to take shape over the fall, with recommendations on the new program delivery model released in November. Implementing the changes is scheduled to start in the fall of 2025, although program changes may be phased in. 

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Two more public consultation meetings will be held on the night of May 22, one at D. Roy Kennedy Public School from  7 to 8:30 p.m. and another at Glashan Public School from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

On May 29, there will be three public meetings, one at Longfields-Davidson Heights Secondary School from  7 to 8:30 p.m., the second at Sawmill Creek Elementary School from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and the third at Avalon Public School from 6:30 to 8 p.m. 

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