GUELPH – Two Upper Grand District School Board (UGDSB) special education classrooms in Wellington County are closing.
The learning resource classes at Rockwood Centennial Public School and Elora Public School will close at the end of the current school year.
“That is due to low enrolment in those classes,” said trustee Laurie Whyte during the March 28 UGDSB meeting.
“We were surprised that we did not receive many applications for these classes,” stated UGDSB spokesperson Heather Loney in an email to the Advertiser.
She said low enrolment means it’s “not feasible to maintain the courses, and also it’s not a good practice to have students (ranging in Grades 4 to 8) with so few classmates or peers.”
The families who enrolled children in the classes were notified in February of the coming closures.
Children can be bused to Guelph to join a learning resource class, Loney said, or “return to their home schools or remain in the school they are currently attending, both options with Special Education Resource Teacher (SERT) support and interventions.”
EQAO changes
During the meeting, chair Ralf Mesenbrink discussed the Education Quality and Accountability Office’s (EQAO) move to a “computerized adaptive testing model.”
Sample tests can be tried through the EQAO website, where school and provincial testing data can also be viewed, Mesenbrink noted.
UGDSB rebranding
The board’s “visual identity” is changing, said trustee Martha MacNeil. “There is work being done in consultation with many groups but including and most especially student voices,” MacNeil said.
