Teachers’ union warns of special education cuts at Windsor schools

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There will probably be substantial cuts subsequent 12 months within the quantity of special education educating positions at the Greater Essex County District School Board, the pinnacle of academics’ union warns.

Mario Spagnuolo, president of the Greater Essex Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario, stated there will probably be an 18-per-cent reduce, however a board spokesperson says last choices have but to be made.     

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Spagnuolo additionally advised the Windsor Star that academics have reported to the union that they’ve been advised by the board to — pending outcomes of a assessment — pause placements for its RISE (Reaching Individual Success and Excellence) program, which gives college students in want of further assist in English and math half-day courses of their very own. That resolution has affected enrolment in this system, he stated. 

Asked to remark, the board wouldn’t affirm whether or not such an instruction was issued. 

Spagnuolo stated final week that figures offered by the board present 21 positions in special education will probably be diminished, however Scott Scantlebury, the board’s public relations officer, stated changes are being made as a consequence of anticipated decline in enrolment.

And whereas the board’s RISE program was reviewed, Scantlebury stated no cuts have been introduced. The outcomes of the assessment will probably be shared with the board’s special education advisory committee, which meets May 14.    

But Spagnuolo stated the anticipated cuts to special education educating positions are disproportionate to projected declines in enrolment. 

The faculty board faces an $8.9-million working deficit this 12 months. The board’s actions on the deficit are being watched by the province, with any deficit anticipated to be eradicated inside two years.   

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The board was allotted $56.5 million for special education for this fiscal 12 months but it surely spent greater than that on programming, “primarily because of growing demand and need,” Scantlebury stated in an e-mail to the Star.   

He added it’s troublesome to nail down the quantity of academics particularly devoted to special education as a result of there may be overlap of employees tasks with different programming.  

Two classes of educators are going through cuts, stated Spagnuolo. 

Learning Support academics — who work with college students inside the school rooms or in special courses — will see 11.5 positions diminished, whereas the RISE program will see 9.5 positions reduce, he stated.   

The GAINS (Giving Attention to Individual Needs and Strengths) program, which helps college students with advanced studying and bodily challenges in elementary faculty, is just not going through cuts, stated Spagnuolo.  

The reductions will have an effect on these recognized with special wants for studying, stated Spagnuolo.    

“Students that are aligned to a learning support teacher probably won’t see their learning support teacher as much as they did this year because the learning support teacher will have more students on their caseload,” he stated.   

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“In terms of the RISE program, some of these kids might not go into the program at all next year. They might just be put into their regular home room and it will be left to the teacher to differentiate their program.”   

Those college students could possibly be a number of years behind their classmates in math, he stated.   

“And so what’s going to be expected is that the teachers provide an individual program in math and language for these students.”  

At the April 2 board assembly, Spagnuolo known as on the varsity board to disregard the province’s calls for to eradicate the deficit and “let the budget process fail and let the folks from Queen’s Park come down and have them answer the questions of concerned parents trying to help their kids get a proper education.”  

At that very same assembly, Shelley Armstrong, the board’s treasurer and superintendent of enterprise, stated the province has positioned limits on sure board spending and has ordered the structural deficit to be eradicated inside two years.   

One of the most important causes of the deficit was larger bills for special education, which presently exceeds provincial funding, Armstrong stated.  

 bamacleod@postmedia.com 

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