Still here! Still hoping for the best for our kids!

We are parents, relatives, friends, and community members who wish to support our children with intellectual disabilities and have them grow into independent individuals with full and rewarding lives. We feel that this can best be accomplished by them participating in a co-op class during their highschool years and that NLSS has the ability to provide this course. They provide co-op to the rest of the student body so why discriminate against our children and deny them who need it the most? 

It certainly does not seem that the employees of the school board realize that they have a job because of my children, which includes my son with intellectual disabilities. That their pay cheques are funded by my tax dollars. To be ignored or worse be patronized is discouraging but not enough to make us go away on this important issue for all disabled children in Ontario, and all citizens in the bigger picture.

Learning the Intricacy of Effective Advocacy!

Away on strategy! Will return this Sunday - please make sure to check back.

Our school board has thirteen schools; ten have DD (developmental delay) rooms. The teacher and EA’s are amazing in the NLSS DD room.  They have created an incredible program, where the ten students in the class are engaged in a great in-school coop program.  The DD students are learning life skills, work in a Goodwill store within the school, are welcomed by their “typical” peers, and are gaining skills to get them employment upon graduation.  It’s a great place to start.    Five of our schools in our board used funding through Community Living (who were given a one time grant), where the money was spent to get these kids coop placements in their communities.  Our school had a 100% employment rate!  The program ran for three or four years.  Two years ago was the last year this program ran.  When the funding dried up, the board said they did not have the funds to keep this program running.  They said it was not sustainable. 

I was appalled that the board could let this happen.  I was assured by our spec ed coordinator that getting the community-based coop program up and running was a “top priority”.  Yet, here it is, a year and a half later since the program was canceled, the board is finally putting together a committee.  The spec ed superintendent has not been out to any of the schools to see how the DD rooms run.  Only some of the trustees knew that lack of coop was an issue.  SEAC hadn’t heard anything about it.  There is still no time line.

The board’s position is that community-based coop is not mandatory, not a compulsory subject, and as such, they would run it if they could, but cannot afford it.  My argument is that this is a need, no different than math or English for a typical student.  Also, our school (and some others in our board) offer coop to the typical students, but not the DD population.  I feel this is discrimination!  Also, I have asked how coop for the DD students can be seen as anything but essential.  It’s a need.  And our Education Act specifically states that “every school board shall provide for the needs of its exceptional pupils”.  Our board says it is not a need.  They are obligated to provide work experiences, but not necessarily in the community.  They are obligated to provide a transition plan upon graduation, but not provide community-based coop throughout their high school years. 

I think that the coop program is essential to provide community connections, job skills and to build on social capital.  These students need to build community connections and attain job skills.  We know these kids take longer to gain skills than their typical counterparts.

Yet our arguments fall on deaf ears.  The board keeps saying they would love to provide coop, but they just cannot afford it.  It is not mandatory.  They have to provide for safety first.

The board points to lack of funding from the ministry; the ministry says they have increased their spending and provided more dollars to school boards.  It’s a circular argument.  The trustees, for the most part, just want to tout the party line and hope we will go away.

We are gaining support, however.  Our community is rallying behind us.  We have our MPP on board, a mayor of one of the cities, a strong parent group that is advocating, even a blog...

I think, given enough pressure, the board will find a way to support this necessary program, eventually.  But in the meantime, the clock is ticking and we cannot stand by and watch our children do without the one program they desperately need, while the board is in “think” mode.  We need to get this coop program up and running. Also, there are several students in the class who were doing great in their community coop placements, only to have the program canceled.  Some of these kids will graduate in two years.

These are great kids who work hard and deserve better than the excuses our board is making.  I cannot believe I have to ask something of our board that should already be in place!!  And the answer is “no”.  Unbelievable.  They keep saying the teachers and the schools themselves need to be “more creative”.  What they are saying is, build an in-community coop, that we don’t have to pay for!!!

If you would like to support the request that the Board offer coop to the DD students at NLSS in the form that it was previously offered, please let our Director of Education, Jim Costello, know by contacting him at costelji@lkdsb.net, 519-336-1500 ext. 31297, and our Superintendent of Education - Special Education, Dave Doey, know by contacting him at doeyda@lkdsb.net, 519-354-3770 ext. 31303. Tell them you have read this blog and you are fully in support of the students in the DD class at NLSS participating in coop education in their community. As everyone knows, the squeaky wheel gets the grease!

Full DD Clas at NLSS

The NLSS DD Class now has 10 students enrolled and has reached its cap. New students are now being sent to other schools that are not at capacity in their DD class. I just wanted to know if this is the way it is done always or only for these students. If one more student is accepted, NLSS would have to hire another teacher - which would solve the co-op problem as well. When do they hire another teacher, if they keep turning students away soon the class will be empty and the Board will be able to shut it down. Perhaps this is the real goal? I do not want to send my son to another city when all of his normal friends and his siblings will be going to the school in his community. It would be very had to explain this to him. How many children would like this to happen to them?

NLSS DD Class - Question as a matter of interest and importance

Can anyone answer this questions for me: If a school is running at FULL capacity, meaning all classes have reached their number of pupils cap, and one more child living in the school catchment area wishes to register for JK, is that child turned away and told that they must attend a school in the next town or is the school required to hire another teacher to open up more spaces, get a portable like in the old days if there is not physical room? What happens in this situation? I need a good firm answer on this one.

Save our community DD Class co-op program

In 2010 the North Lambton Secondary School students in the developmental disabilities class had the opportunity to take a co-op class the same as the rest of the student body thanks to a funding grant from Community Living. This co-op went very well for all of the dd students, so well in fact that all who participated enjoyed a 100% employment rate as a direct result of the job co-op placements. Taking part in co-op afforded the students a means to build many important life skills, job skills, and build valuable social capital in their own community. This class is very important to these students, most of whom will never read or do math. Job specialists attended the co-op placements and ensured a good job fit and that both the student and the employer would have a positive experience, which was happening very successfully. So successfully, in fact, that the program, students, and teachers have been recognized provincially and nationally. One of the students at NLSS dd, has recently been invited to speak at our provincial parliament about her experience in the program. Despite this wonderful proven success of co-op for dd students at NLSS, the Lambton Kent District School Board has decided to cut the program for lack of funds. They continue, however, to offer co-op programs to the "regular" students. The parents and educators of this class have been told by the Board that if we want this program for our special students we must be "creative". We are approaching the community to appeal for support. We would like to let the LKDSB know that this is a very important program to not only the students and parents, but also to the whole community of Lambton. This program is educating our children to be active contributing members of our community in a way that no other academic course could do. Being employable greatly reduces the cost of long term care for these children, hopefully keeping them out of government care.

Currently the students are offered in-school placements working with the custodial and cafeteria staff. While this is a good place to start it in no way replaces the experience of working outside of school in the "real" world and it does not open up the possibility of long-term employment. The Board has suggested using peers to go with the students to job placements instead of a properly trained job coach. If the special needs student fails in their placement both the student, the peer, and the employer fail and the likelihood of the student being employed or the employer ever being comfortable hiring someone with a disability disappears. It is a great risk not to do this right the first time. Regular students are not trained by their peers.

Our dd class has done great things for our children. We should be proud to have it here in Lambton and need to support it to ensure that it stays here at NLSS allowing our children to attend school in their own neighbourhood with children they know. We need to let our school board know it is important to our community, that the community wants it to stay, and that the community wants the co-op program re-instated ASAP!

As NLSS has already developed a working model for this program, getting it running again would need little effort as the teaching staff already have the necessary skills and knowledge to implement this. More support staff would be required. At most, this would mean hiring one more educational assistant. The cost is not great compared to the advantages afforded the students.

We are asking that you contact the Lambton Kent District School Board to let them know you would like to have this program offered our developmentally disabled children. We are asking that you let your MPP know as well. We need the support of our community to have the Board understand the importance and relevance of the program to our students and that it be available to them here in their home town.

Thank you.