Round and Round - Questions the School Refuse to Answer - Call and ask and you will understand our problem!

SO, I have been creative. I have researched our community and have found that there is community funds from both corporate and government sources that could be accessed. Perhaps as much as $150,000 per year for three years with an option to continue if it is a proven success.

Problem is, the school and board are now insisting that the entire board must have funding for the program in every school with DD kids. WHAT A RUN AROUND AND EXCUSE. Currently Alexander MacKenzie has co-op for their DD classes, are they in our school board? Exeter has a program supported by outside funding partners. There are many schools in Ontario with coop for their DD classes. So why does NLSS have to fund everyone else. Our school board policies state that the principal is able to bring in programs that he/she feels are appropriate to the community.  

                                               

SO did the funds from Community Living funds which originally supported this program go to the whole Board? Were they sustained – I thought it was a 3 year contract? Were staff hired with those funds? Were they laid off when those particular funds ended? If NLSS can’t have the program because other schools can’t, how do you explain the ones that exist now?

This certainly opens up a lot of questions that the Principal and Board really can’t or don’t want to answer. This does not mean they are going to avoid our asking! What does it take to make them understand we will not simply go away when given such insulting answers.

No funds????

Can anyone confirm if this is, in fact, true? I was recently told this. If a student has completed their 40 hours of community service and then does more "volunteer" work the school will pay them! Is this right? If so, where is that money coming from?

More to come! Just because they ignore us does not mean we are gone.

So did you get the letter to the editor in the Forest paper last week? Hoping for some community response. Funny, I talk to people about this issue and more often they have at least heard of the class now. We are still trying, still hoping for a just world for our kids. We are trying to be creative. I have been looking into other models of coop that other schools have. Did you know that when "regular" students have coop it is funded by the Ministry of Education but most coop that is offered to special needs students is funded by someone else or it is not offered. Why is this? Why is it viewed that "regular" students are more deserving, have more need for employment experience, than a child with an intellectual disability? With the right education these kids would be just as employable but the key is the right education. Coop for the DD class also educates the community, shows everyone how much these kids have to offer. It is a winning situation for everyone involved: the student learns and becomes a good citizen; the employer gets a good employee; the government does not have to pay to keep someone in care. Everyone is happier. I just don't understand why this would not be a priority. Just in case you are thinking we are looking for a great deal of money, the funding needed is really not all that huge. Here are the estimated amounts:

Based on what was previously in place in the DD classroom at North Lambton Secondary School, the following formula shows the dollar figure we would need to get the co-op up and running again.

10 students x (average of) 4 hours/week of co-op= 40 hours of co-op per week

40 x $25/ hour (substitute EA) = $1000 per week

$1000 x 10 weeks/semester = $10,000 per semester

$10,000 x 2 semesters = $20,000 per school year

*Alternately, if co-op ran for 12 weeks per semester, it would cost $24,000 per school year

As for the level of support we are looking for, previously some of the students required one on one job coaching at first, and then were able to work without that assistance.  Of course, this will depend on the place of employment and the individual student’s needs.

There is plenty of community funding that could be accessed if the school were willing to do so. But filling out all those forms and going that extra bit takes dedication and desire to actually educate. So far we have been told that it would take too much money, that we would have to have enough money to put this program in every school (but currently some schools have it now and not others so why would every school have to get it if NLSS does??), that other funding can't be used because it is not "ongoing", though other programs have outside funding and most Ministry funding is done on a maximum 3 year contract - the same as say a Libro financial donation which could be obtained for $60,000 per year or more - more than needed. Why are we being given all these imaginary road blocks? Is there actually a good solid reason for not reinstating coop right away? It would be nice to know what it would take to get the school board to move on this before more children are too old and miss their opportunity. How long would any parent want their child to go without learning math? Three years? more? Would they like the school to say they aren't teaching math for at least 8 years to save money when their child is due to graduate in 4 years and will have to go without ever learning it? This is how it feels to a parent of a child in the DD class at NLSS. Coop is as important as reading or math is to another student.

If you have any "creative" ideas I invite you to share them with us, or share them with the principal at NLSS and the school board. You never know what might be the answer.

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?