Information Sharing

Q: What information can be shared with the community?

• All information presented and discussed at each ARC meeting is public.

• Information will be posted on the Board's website, with paper copies available at each school and in a format that can be included in each school's newsletter.

• What is discussed at each ARC meeting should be discussed at each school's School Council meeting with feedback and input brought back to the next ARC meeting.

Peel DSB ARC Committee Meeting Minutes, April 22. 2008

SEAC Request for Representation on ARC Defeated

Peel DSB Special Education Advisory Committee Minutes of the April 15, 2008 SEAC Meeting (excerpt)

Whereas:

a) SEAC notes that the Board is reviewing the possibility of school consolidation due to excess classroom capacity, and that consideration is being given to the input of members of school councils and others, through their future participation in the Accommodation Review Committees (ARC);

b) SEAC recognizes that the schools being considered for closure typically have a significant proportion of congregated classes of students with special needs and have effective special education practices. However, SEAC notes that many of the students with special needs are not from the catchment area of the present schools, and are often part of regional and superintendency programs;

c) While SEAC acknowledges that the ARC will look at the options and give guidance on the question of closures, SEAC notes that those committees do not include representatives from the school communities from which many of the students are drawn, or from any SEAC associations;

d) SEAC members have previously commented that many of these congregated classes are located at the periphery of their regions or superintendencies and that one-way travel times by school bus can be as much as 60 minutes for many students in Grade 4 and younger;

 e) SEAC also notes that regional programs for French Immersion, the Arts and International Business usually have continuing commitments to their locations, with at least one example of more than 20 years, while many regional programs for special education have had three locations in far shorter time periods.

Therefore, be it resolved that, the assessment and review of the location of congregated classes for students with special needs and the selection of future location must:

1) Include recognition of the home school location of the students concerned and of their future paths for promotion and transition to higher grades.

2) Consider equity, travel times, and the age and maturity of students, as well as factors such as convenience and access to family and their social supports.

3) Recognize the skills, experience, relationships and resources provided to individual students and classes by their present teachers, as well as in-school, itinerant, and regional support staff.

4) Recognize the benefits of a continuing learning experience that would be provided if those staff, where expedient and meeting their own wishes, could transfer to the schools at which the congregated classes are moved, in preference to transferring the programs to new teaching and support teams in those new locations.

5) Include a nominee of SEAC to each of the Accommodation Review Committees (ARC).

 …........... defeated

The needs of all students within the board’s particular planning area are to be considered. — Ontario Ministry of Education the Pupil Accommodation Review Guidelines

Ontario Ministry of Education

Highlights of the Pupil Accommodation Review Guidelines

The guidelines ensure that where a decision is taken by a school board regarding the future of a school, that decision is made with the full involvement of an informed local community and it is based on a broad range of criteria regarding the quality of the learning experience for students.

Public meetings must be well publicized, in advance, through a range of methods.

All relevant information developed to support the discussions at the consultation is to be made available in advance.

Each ARC must include membership drawn from the school community and the broader community.

The plans are to address where students would be accommodated; what changes to existing facilities may be required; what programs would be available to the students; and transportation.

The ARC must ensure that a wide range of school and community groups are consulted. These groups may include the school(s)’ councils, parents, guardians, students, teachers, the local community, and other interested parties.

Minutes reflecting the full range of opinions expressed at the meetings are to be kept, and made publicly available.

The needs of all students whithin the board’s particular planning area are to be considered.

For the full text click here

School Valuation: What goes into "Value to the Student"?

The Ontario Ministry of Education has recommended criteria for assessing the "Value to the Student".
The Peel District School Board has adopted this list placing a 55% weighting of the decision on the following criteria:

Value to the Student 55%

• quality of the learning environment at the school;
• student outcomes at the school;
• range of course or program offerings;
• range of extracurricular activities and extent of student participation;
• adequacy of the school’s physical space to support student learning;
• adequacy of the school’s grounds for healthy physical activity and
• extracurricular activities;
• accessibility of the school for students with disabilities;
• safety of the school;
• proximity of the school to students/length of bus ride to school

The guide to the ARC process is called the "Ontario Ministry of Education Pupil Accommodation Review Guideline". October 31, 2006
To see the full text: click here

Accommodation Review Committee Members

The ARC process is set out by the Ontario Ministry of Education.

The Peel ARC is comprised of:

Click to read more ...