At this week’s Board of Trustees meeting, the Upper Canada District School Board explained that new special education teachers have been hired in local schools. The decision came from what the board calls a “notable increase” in the number of students who need special education.
“A lot of new registrations,” says John Danaher, a representative from the board’s Special Education Advisory Committee who attended the meeting, “have affected some of the numbers in a good way. They’ve gone up. There’s been additional staff allocated to the schools, based on that.” According to the Committee’s report, 4.4 new special educators have been hired by the board.
Danaher also says special educators throughout the board have received guidance on how to teach students with fetal alcohol syndrome. “There was a workshop on fetal alcohol syndrome that all spec ed teachers were invited to attend,” says Danaher, “that was very well attended.”
The Committee’s report also says regular teachers have been given an assessment toolkit to help identify students who could benefit from special education, and ways to help teach and support those students in regular learning. More work is being done to expand things like mental health services for students as the school year continues.