January 2017

Annual General Meeting—January 23 2017

Meeting called to order 7:05pm

  1. Welcome, Introduction and History
  2. Motion to accept previous minutes—Andrea, seconded by Jackie
  3. Motion to accept agenda—Rebecca, seconded by Eleanor
  4. Recap and priorities

Joanna Angelidis moved to Delta school district

District is trying to be proactive and considering thoughtful allocation of hours

Collaboration with District Principals (now 3 DPs in the district, new to ABA)

  1. Elections

Positions available: Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Director/Member at Large

21 voting members present

Code of Ethics read by Eleanor. Members voted in must sign Code of Ethics.

Nominees:          Elaine Raynault (by Eleanor)

Andrea Kennedy (by Jackie)

Nicole Kaler (by self)

Jen  Antic (by Elaine)

All voted in by acclamation.

  1. Board of Education update (BOE) by Nicole Kaler

Monthly meetings, 3rd Thursday of the month. Next meeting February 2016

January 2002 the collective agreement changed, affecting class size and composition.

A generation has been through the school system without crucial language.

Class size is law, make due with class sizes.

Composition requires more thought. The world has changed in 15 years. Will be sensitively considered by BC government and BCTF. Will not translate into changes for EAs and SWs.

Interim spending $6 million for SD36. For elementary 20 IST, 30 LST, total of 120 positions

There is no program to train ISTs—have a different skill set. District committed to 55 postings now for ISTs. ISTs/LSTs in the system with limited experience.

‘Hope’ program—for high anxiety kids, homeroom in secondary setting

  1. Upcoming dates

Welcome to Kindergarten meeting for new parents scheduled for February 6th

March 1st deadline for new or existing SWs

Request for SW, Consent for Observation, Consent to Share Information

Co-therapy agreement new

SD staff say parents don’t need to spend money on forms. Looking for proof of involvement by BCBA (i.e. team meeting notes, Behaviour plan, summary of goals etc).

Parent could be asked how many times consult visited child at school for observation.

8.)   Kindergarten Entry Checklist: Elaine provided detailed notes to be uploaded in FB group. Please contact Advisory if you would like a copy

DPs will review applications, not yet sure about allocation

Suggest families bring home video or documentation from professional

May transition meeting

Personalize SW posting as much as possible. BCBA could suggest posting wording to IST.

Principal or IST, or BASES, or LST involved with postings depending on the school.

HR/District interviews in June and July

SW can join spare board in May to gain a bit of seniority

Principal receives entitlements in May, positions are created in schools based on entitlements

District tries to match student with SW

If a student moves schools, it becomes a new posting

SPARK program—10 week program for Grade 6/7 boys

9.)   High School Transition Checklist to be uploaded in FB group. Please contact Advisory if you would like a copy

Typically students retain grade 7 support hours into grade 8

CUPE exceptions are rare (3 per year approximately)

Are postings customizable? Varies by admin. Principal responsible.

  • District resources

Deena Buckley—District Principal

Doug Roch—District Principal

Jacob Sol—District Principal

Michelle Schmidt—Director of Instruction

Catherine Sereda—Area Superintendent

 

Steps of escalation

  • Classroom teacher ( or specialist teacher including SLP, music etc.)
  • IST
  • Principal
  • District Principal
  • Director of Instruction
  • Area Superintendent
  • Assistant Superintendent
  • Superintendent
  • Section 11-BOE formal complaint

*Parents need to speak up, so district knows about situations and issues

  1. District Behaviour Specialists (DBS) and District BCBAs (D-BCBAs)

-District has an ‘Autism team’ in place

-Formalizing an intake request form

-Co-therapy agreements are being put in place

-Concern that DBS and D-BCBAs are overruling private support (i.e. private SLPs) adding confusion, possibly expense to families, and muddying the waters for the student.

-Not one augmentative communication solution for all students (i.e. Touch Chat)

  1. Questions/Comments

BASES stands for Building Academic Social, and Employment Skills

Break coverage—lack of trained EA/SW to cover, lack of EA/SW on spare board. District trying to hire. School might need to ask for more support.

Are SWs assigned based on need? No.

Adjournment 9:10 pm

Next meeting: Monday, May 1st with Deena Buckley and Doug Roch @ 7:00pm

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