In mid-January, Langley School District No. 35 (SD35) published a report examining some of the problems and issues related in providing support to special needs students. Denis Fafard, president of the Sunshine Coast Teachers' Association, said the report is a valuable tool to look at problems here on the Sunshine Coast.
Fafard said Langley's report has lessons that districts across the province can learn from and to which the province should pay particular heed.
"Special education teachers working in School District No. 46 (SD46) who have read the report agree that many of the panel's recommendations are relevant here," said Fafard, "in particular in relation to caseloads and lack of targeted funding, which is leading to lack of service to students and discouragement on the part of special education teachers."
The Langley report was supposed to examine issues specific to special education in SD35. However, the report's authors, Nancy Guiltner, Dr. Shelly McBride and Mike Suddaby, said it soon became evident that many of the challenges faced "by parents, teachers and special education assistants were also challenges for administrators and the board, based on decisions taken at the provincial level."
Fafard acknowledged there are probably aspects of the report that are site specific, but he also believes that some of the issues pinpointed in the report, such as unmanageable caseloads of resource room teachers and the lack of support for classroom teachers who have students with special needs integrated into their classrooms, are some of the same issues faced by SD46.
Other points in the report Fafard said have relevance here on the Coast are insufficient focus in teacher education targeted to teaching about students with special needs and the historical under-funding by the province for special education.
Fafard said, given the constraints, SD46 does what it can to provide quality services. The problem, he said, is a chronic lack of funding that goes back to provincial decisions starting four to five years ago. Another important area highlighted by the report is the growing number of students with special needs, adds Fafard.Debbie Amaral, SD46 district principal of student support services, said SD46 has been luckier than other districts in maintaining a certain level of support for special needs students. "This is because of a very active and involved parent advocacy for children and a very mobilized community, a board of education that has been very supportive of students with special needs and an administration with a strong commitment to special needs students," Amaral said.
She said some of the challenges she sees are keeping up with the latest information about special needs and the growing number of children with special needs.
Amaral said the number of children with special needs has increased over the years and she thinks it will continue to increase.
Amaral adds the Langley report dealt with issues specific to their school district, and even though SD46 shares characteristics with other districts, it is also unique in what it has maintained in comparison to other areas. What the Sunshine Coast does need, she said, is its own child development assessment centre. She believes an assessment centre like Sunny Hill Health Centre in Vancouver would have a significant beneficial impact on families with special needs children. She said some parents have difficulty getting back and forth to Vancouver, and there isn't the consistency of support because of the distance families have to travel. Even though specialists make visits to the Coast, their time here is minimal and not all children are served.
