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The Oakville Beaver, Friday March 12, 2004 - 5 School trustees play hookey Five elected officials protest board' s position on gifted student ruling Kim Arnott SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER W ELL E Q U IP P E D FROM Five Halton public school trustees are taking a very public stand against a recent decision made by their own board. The trustees, representing wards in Oakville and Burlington, have written a letter to the provincial Minister of Education decrying the Halton District School Board's position in the case of a gifted Burlington student. They also boy cotted last week's school board committee meeting. The parents of 14-year-old Jamie Hlusko, a student at Nelson High School in Burlington have asked Ontario's Special Education Tribunal to force the board to create a special high school class for gifted students. While the board operates a program for gifted students until Grade 8, it does not offer a secondary school level program. Hlusko's mother, Jennifer Kerr-Hlusko, who is making the case before the tribunal, also serves as a Burlington trustee on the Halton public board. Parents of exceptional students who wish to appeal board-level decisions are entitled to bring their cases to the tribunal. But the school board has asked for a judicial review to look at whether the tri bunal actually has the jurisdiction to order the board to amend its special education plan by creating a new program. "The judicial review is the only way to define what the jurisdiction is," said Education Director Dusty Papke, who noted that the last few years have seen the tribunal used more frequently. Although the Halton public board has only been involved in two previous appeals to the special education tribunal, Papke noted that the process is both con frontational and expensive. He says there is a need to clarify exact ly what issues the tribunal has the right to deal with. Trustees Bruce Jones (Oakville), Wes Pulling (Burlington), Peggy Russell (Burlington) and Susan Sheppard (Oakville), have publicly announced that they oppose the board seeking a judicial review of the case. The four, along with Kerr-Hlusko, signed a letter to Education Minister Gerard Kennedy stating: "The Halton District School Board should not be taking this matter to court. As school board trustees, we take exception to spending public dollars on legal fees in this manner and the tactics used to diminish the voices for children." The same trustees also boycotted a committee of the whole meeting of the school board last week to make their posi tion clear. "We have a moral obligation to say that this is wrong," said Jones. , The trustees who signed the letter will now return to their seats around the school board table and continue with their work. "We are not interested in disrupting the operation of the system or the board," said Jones. Board chair Mary Chapin said the boy cott of the meeting was ineffective because the trustees didn't make it clear why they weren't there to other members of the board. Chapin added that the request for the judicial review in the Hlusko case could save the board money. The tribunal hearing is expected to cost the board about $120,000, including the cost for staff required to appear. A judicial review would cost about half that, said Chapin. /M O . 39 M O S. PLUS $1000 IN ACCESSORIES. W E LL E Q U IP P E D FR O M / M O . 39 M O S . PLUS $1000 IN ACCESSORIES. W ELL E Q U IP P E D FROM / M O . 39 M O S . PLUS $1000 IN ACCESSORIES. M A J O R P U B L IC A U C T IO N CANADA CUSTOM CLEARED K.L.M. CARGO NO. 074-9476-1984. 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