By Megan Harman
Special education classes at Cambridge Street Public School and Centennial Public School escaped cutbacks by the school board in early March as a funding shortfall of almost $28 million forced trustees to make tough budget decisions.
But hours of debating and voting by the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board resulted in the elimination of 85 full-time teaching positions for the 2007-08 school year – saving $6.9 million. Centretown’s Glashan Public School is among the schools likely to feel effects of these cuts.
The long list of motions that the board debated included many recommendations related to special education programs, including a proposal to eliminate one of two physical support unit classes at Centennial Public School. Trustees voted against the proposal, which would have combined about 12 students, ranging from Grades 1 to 8, into one class.
“These students are very high-need students. They have physical disabilities and other needs as well on top of that,” Jennifer McKenzie, trustee for Somerset-Kitchissippi, said in an interview.
“Trustees found that to be more than we could approve.”
“We’re thrilled,” says Maureen Martyn, co-chair of Centennial’s school council and a mother of two Centennial students. She says the school already lost one of its physical support unit classes due to budget cuts in the 2005-06 school year, forcing three such classes to combine into two.
“We were devastated by the cuts last year.”
Martyn says the students in the physical support unit classes, all in wheelchairs, require space and much individual attention.
“You can’t get 12 kids with all their equipment in one room,” she says.
Other proposals would have closed language learning disability classes at Cambridge Street Public School and Centennial Public School. Trustees voted to keep these classes in place.
The special education decisions came after the school board held several consultations with parents in January. Members of the Centennial school council attended the consultations to protest the cuts.
“We were very vocal,” says Martyn. “We had face-to-face meetings with our own trustee and other trustees, and we just kept pushing.”
The proposed special education cutbacks are part of a province-wide movement towards integrating special education students into regular classrooms, McKenzie says. “We’re moving to a more integrated model.”
Martyn says the new model is a step in the wrong direction. “Integration doesn’t work for everybody.”
Budget proposals that were approved include eliminating 46 full-time teaching positions in elementary schools. The positions, called “overlay” teaching positions, are not provincially funded – they supplement the required number of teachers for each school.
Overlay teachers often teach specialty subjects such as design and technology and arts, provide support in special education, English as a second language and provide student guidance.
“It will make it much more difficult for our intermediate schools to offer programs like art and music,” says McKenzie, noting the cuts will have the most impact on schools with intermediate level classes –Grades 6, 7 and 8 – such as Glashan Public School.
She says the programming that is cut will particularly affect students at risk of leaving school.
Kate Preston-Thomas, Somerset-Kitchissippi zone liaison officer for the Ottawa-Carleton Assembly of School Council, says Glashan will likely see the effects of these cuts in guidance, computer support, special education and English as a second language.
“For these kids to lose guidance is huge,” she says. “These overlay positions have equipped schools to meet the support needs of these intermediate kids. They’re desperately needed, but unfortunately they’re not considered to be a requirement by the province.”
The board also voted to eliminate nine vice-principals and one principal in elementary schools, though it is not yet clear which schools will be affected.
With a daughter at Glashan Public School, Preston-Thomas says she is concerned about these cuts. She has launched a petition for the board to reconsider the 46-teacher overlay cuts.
“So far, I’ve had a lot of support,” she says, noting that she got 65 signatures in one day.
Grants from the provincial budget are expected to be revealed in late spring, at which time the board will make decisions about remaining budget items.
“Hopefully we’ll see some relief so we can bring back some of the teachers that have been cut,” says Preston-Thomas.