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17| The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,A pril 12,2018 theifp.ca Locally owned & operated by neighbours you've known & trusted for over 40 years! * See store for detailscarpetone.com 26 Guelph St, Georgetown • 905-877-9896 We guarantee* you'll love the results. VISIT US For Outstanding Service Quality Products & Certified Installation Let us fLoor you CALL US FOR YOUR FREE IN-HOME ESTIMATE Platinum 2 Halton Hills Platinum 2017 Halton Hills with our great selection of Hardwood, Carpet, Tile, Vinyl, Laminate, Area Rugs & More! Some members of Hal- ton District School Board's special education advisory committee are expressing a strong disappointment with the current state of the special education re- view, which has been ongo- ing for the past two years. These sentiments fol- lowed superintendent of education Mark Zonne- veld's April 3 announce- ment of a stagnant budget for 2018-2019 and no further recommendations. Last month, the com- mittee was presented with eight key recommenda- tions by Elana Gray, an ex- ternal consultant for the review - suggestions that Sherry Foster, of the Asso- ciation for Bright Chil- dren, says are not in line with the committee's origi- nal plans. The special education review, initially designed following budget cuts that surfaced in 2016, was ex- pected to address the issue as to how services can be delivered to students in more cost-effective ways, Foster added. "I don't know how many tens of thousands of dol- lars we spent on a consul- tant that has not delivered anything, in my opinion, that was originally (decid- ed upon)," Foster said. "I think the scope changed at some point, and so, we've had two years to think about this and now what I'm hearing tonight is that we have a flat budget and we have no recommenda- tions." Zonneveld responded, telling SEAC members that the HDSB has been working on a number of improvements to the spe- cial education program, including gathering exten- sive baseline data on stu- dents and determining their levels of performance based on different excep- tionalities. He said when it came to the prospect of providing updated services to stu- dents however, the board ran into a roadblock, as it was determined they cur- rently do not have suffi- cient data to be able to track the costs of providing specialized supports to students in need. Diane Vandenbossche, of Learning Disabilities Association of Halton, says she has been hearing a fair share of concerns from parents, and her questions have yet to be answered. "It has nothing to do with dollars and cents. It has to do with student growth. Are they making gains? That's the answer we want," she said. "I know our students with learning disabilities are not having their needs met now, and I hear that day in and day out from parents." Chair Jason Bartlett al- so expressed his concern that SEAC has made less progress than expected at this point in the review process. "How do you not know the costs of the services when you need to prepare a budget on it, and we have not even gotten close to an answer on any of it," he asked. "I'm concerned that we're just hitting the same loop and it's been going on longer than two years." Zonneveld says track- ing the costs of providing specialized services is an idea being considered by the board, but one that if approved, will require a significant amount of time from teachers who are do- ing the tracking. He says for now, SEAC should focus on mulling over the pros and cons of the recommendations pre- sented back in March. "The report and recom- mendations just came out a few weeks ago so, in fair- ness, we need some diges- tion time," he said. "We are considering where to go next and if a continuation (of the review) is appropri- ate, warranted and feasi- ble." NEWS Tammy Beattie, Jeanne Gray and Diane Vandenbossche provide feedback on four of the eight special education recommendations at the SEAC meeting on April 3. Vandenbossche, along with two other SEAC members, expressed their discontent with the current state of the review. Veronica Appia/Metroland Frustrations about special ed review arise at SEAC meeting VERONICA APPIA vappia@metroland.com