Host: The education minister Paul Kandra has control of a few school boards. Tanya, help us understand what does a takeover actually mean?

Tanya: So when there's a takeover, essentially um the minister, Mr. Candra, appoints a supervisor and that supervisor then takes on the role of the board. And so instead of having a number of individuals who have been elected making those decisions and sort of guiding the board governance, um the the supervisor is responsible for that.

Host: All right, Latoya, you are a member of the Toronto District School Board's Special Education Advisory Committee, also known as SEAK. What's your role at these meetings?

Latoya: I am uh the representative for learning center 1. So um part of my role is um attending the meetings um representing the voice of uh learning center one community for those uh for the special education um going to wards meetings by trustees

Latoya: which are that that part is you know we're not it's not happening at all. So but the the good thing about being able to do things like that is that I can be able to represent more voices. Um cuz as you know special education it is not just about um one part there's just so many parts to it um to ensure that all the voices of those in special education are understood.

Host: Pull the curtain for me uh in those meetings just just a little bit to give us a sense of what type of conversations are happening in those meetings.

Latoya: Sure. So the conversations are usually about um what is happening at the board. So the board is going to present on different things that's happening uh that where they are you know supporting students um providing um updates on you know how many IPRC's that they're doing and also what is important to be happening is an understanding of uh the budget understanding on the spending for special education. uh votes do take place. So that way we can ensure that the voices are clearly understood and that the or special education um department is providing the right support for uh students for such uh a big board in the city.

Host: Bill 33 uh a lot of attention on Bill 33. Uh how does it impact and affect special education in this province?

Tanya: So, that's a great question and I think that's where we're seeing a lot of things in the news. There's a lot of concern because people just don't know. Um, and I know like working with Autism Ontario, I work with families across the province. I work with school boards across the province and I support our SEAK volunteers um who represent the organization who work on SEAKs with representatives like Latoya. And so, one of the things we're calling for um is to get a seat at the table because there's a diversity of voices. There's not one autistic voice. There's not one special education place, but we know policies um that are informed by lived experience that have um information from the people closest to the students, the families, the educators, the support workers. Um those policies are richer and they're more likely to work um if we can develop them that way. We're less likely to have appeals. We're less likely to have complaints. It's a work in progress.

Host: But right now, we're seeing there's not a lot of consultation. And so that's one thing we are reaching out um to all the boards under supervision to to meet with the supervisors to let them know the services we offer, but also um what the concerns we're hearing from the community so they're aware because many of them don't have a special education background. They're brought in for um financial reasons because they're really brought in through the

Latoya: >> the the deficits, the financial concerns

Latoya: and so they have to tap into the experts around them. M >> um and we hear them saying all the time like they they have their experts are tapping in and we're offering our voice because we know our communities need to be heard. And so really right now we don't know what it's going to look like. Some of the main concerns are around the support offices, the family support and student offices, how they're going to run, what they're going to look like. Um there's been discussion about the role of trustees. There's been discussion of community policing officers in schools. There's a number of those issues that we just

Host: >> when we don't have information, people get afraid. And so we're not sure.

Host: With that being said, I you know, we talked about the SEAK meetings. How have they changed uh since the removal of trustees? Obviously, one of them is that you're not seeing these trustes. You're not having those conversations, but what else are we seeing in terms of the changes uh since Bill 33?

Tanya: I think one of the most important changes the voices of um the diversity of um all the parents in you know throughout uh the Tdsb um being amplified. So what that looks like is um you know the the one thing with trustees is just that they are constantly trying to balance all the voices. It it is definitely diverse and really just bringing into the consideration of special education. Um what that looks like for you know those who are navigating challenges with where there is autism. I I remember at uh different meetings where you know the the parent raised a concern and it was in regards to elopement uh for their child while someone else is having a concern um because you know uh they don't feel like their child is getting supported properly as a gifted student. So bringing all of those voices in the conversation and ensuring that as an elected official that those are um heard. But also some other changes are um really getting to understand the budget like what does that truly look like? Now, um, one of the things that we have asked for is being able to really have, you know, the voices heard, being able to sort of roll back the curtain on what's happening financially um, in terms of supporting our special education students. And um, normally we can get to go before the board of trustees and uh, make motions and make requests.

Latoya: without the board of trustees then it is left up to um you know having those conversation with the supervisors and requests have been made to have conversation with the supervisors and we're waiting for that.

Host: Is it a lack of transparency or is it a delay of time from when these requests come in or is it just is it too early uh to sort of see uh in terms of where those conversations are going.

Tanya: I think it depends on who you're asking. I I think from the pro province uh side it is more of a delay. uh we're getting her on to we're putting in the supports you know you have that messaging you know with the family support offices but uh from the parent side um you do find that there's a bit of despondence uh there is a bit of fear and there is that feeling that the transparency is not there

Host: okay Tanya

Tanya: yeah I wanted to comment because one of the things that we've seen sort of in a difference and and like seak their role is to advise the board on anything related to special education like the budget the plan issues as they come Um but what we're seeing is a difference in transparency on boards under supervision because these boards had um their SEAK meetings live streamed.

Host: So SEAK meetings are open to the public and that's in the legislation. It's part of our education act. And so when we had CO happen in the pandemic, a lot of more meetings became accessible online. So we had more boards doing a hybrid or online. And so that's not available at boards under supervision. If you want to see what's happening, you have to go to the meeting. they're not live streaming them. And so that's a concern because that's not accessible for everyone and there's a concern about the transparency and also with how the notes are being recorded. What I'm hearing from our representat representatives at different boards is uh the minutes are are becoming more broad. So there's less detail captured in the minutes. So even if you're looking at the minutes later, they don't have the same level of detail context.

Host: Yeah. So just concerns. Um I I will mention so we reached out uh to the education minister for comment uh and we do have a statement from Paul Kender's press secretary. It reads since being elected in 2018 our government has increased education funding every year to a record 30.3 billion for school boards including a 36% increase in special education funding despite declining student enrollment. Bill 33 is about accountability and making sure those resources are being used to support students in the classroom. It goes on to read, "To ensure parents concerns are heard and addressed, student and family support offices are now open at the five supervised boards to give families clear answers and timely solutions." Tanya, what are your thoughts on that?

Tanya: So, I'm looking for more information because with the the funding issue, yes, they've increased the funding, but we also hear a lot from boards that they don't have the funding they need. So, there's two aspects of that. You want to look at how the money is being spent so that we can be as efficient as possible and really meet student needs and then do we have the the resources and the amount of funding that we need. I don't have answers but those are the questions I'm always raising. And then with the student support offices, we don't have a lot of information on that. There's not been a lot of conversation around how that looks at special education. So there's a protocol when you have an issue at school. like you start with the the teacher, the any kind of dispute resolution, message the problem, you go up from there

Latoya: >> and sort of like you talk to the the teacher, the special education resource teacher, maybe the principal, and then you go to the supervisor, but there's a whole sort of protocol and sometimes it can't be met the needs in there. So, there's an external one and that's sort of when you go to you might go to your trustee or your MPP or an external source and so we have less of that now without the trustees and how are the support officers going to run like what resources do they have I know at Tdsb they had a similar office before but they had more staff than they do now. Okay.