Special Education In Ontario Schools Bennett Pdf

[Erminia Scharnberg]

We don't have any way of thinking about doing that with kids who we assume are going to stay in school all day. But with a child with a disability, we somehow have this different set of assumptions," she told The Current's guest host Matt Galloway.

In a 2018 survey for Community Living Ontario, Bennett examined how much time students with special needs spend in the classroom in an inclusive education system. There were 280 online surveys, sent to parents of children with special needs in or recently graduated from the Ontario public school system, included in her analysis.

"The real solution is thinking of a system that's much more nimble and much more flexible in being able to provide the support where it's needed, when it's needed, to build the capacity in teachers and in school communities with good leadership so that we can anticipate things are going to happen. Put supports in place and then, you know, keep our promise that school is for all children."

Nicole Kaler is a board member of BCEdAccess, a support organization aimed at parents and guardians of students with special needs in British Columbia. Her 18-year-old daughter, Maya, has autism and "significant needs."

"Are we effectively sustaining and supporting our schools so that they can be inclusive? We're just not," Kaler argued, but said she is excited that New Brunswick is taking a closer look at classroom exclusions, who they're affecting, and why it's happening.

"When you start looking at who isn't there then you start to be open to why, and when you start to be open to why then you can fix the issues. I think that's our biggest problem right now: we're calling our schools inclusive or we're trying to call them inclusive but they really aren't. And it's a difficult thing to admit but unless you admit it you can't actually target the issue."

Specht and Bennett were both nominated by Community Living Ontario to be recognized for their work by CACL with a National Inclusive Education Award. The presentation took place in March 2015 at a symposium held in Kingston, Ontario. The event was a joint project of Community Living Ontario and Inclusive Education Canada. Both recipients were presenters at the event, which included educators from Ontario public schools. Kimberley Gavin of Community Living Ontario and Gordon Porter, the Director of Inclusive Education Canada, made the presentation at a symposium in Kingston.

Sheila Bennett has been a professor and the chair of the Department of Teacher Education at Brock. Professionally, Sheila has worked in Newfoundland and Ontario as a classroom and special education teacher, school board resource person and faculty member. She has been active in the field of special education for many years and has been involved in policy and practical issues in the field. She completed her Ph.D. at OISE, University of Toronto. Co-chair of the Special Education Transformation Document (Ontario) as well as co-author of Special Education in Ontario Schools, Sheila has dedicated her career to working with educators and students in her chosen field.

Jacqueline Specht is an associate professor at Western who teaches in the area of educational psychology and special education. She completed her Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Western Ontario. Jacqueline taught in the psychology department at Huron University College before joining the Western Faculty of Education in 2003. Currently she is the director of the Canadian Research Centre on Inclusive Education. Her research interests encompass pedagogical issues surrounding the participation of children in the school system.

On March 28, 2006, Anthony Soltero, Annette Prieto, and two other students walked out of De Anza Middle School with the intent to participate in protests in their neighborhood against then-pending immigration reform measures. Two days later, they were disciplined for their one-day absence from school by Vice Principal Gene Bennett (Bennett), who took away one of their year-end activities and lectured them harshly regarding the possible legal consequences of truancy, including police involvement, a $250 fine, and a juvenile hall sentence. Tragically, Anthony committed suicide after school that day. Anthony's parents and one of the other students brought this action against Bennett, Principal Kathleen Kinley (Kinley), and the Ontario-Montclair School District, alleging violations of the students' and parents' civil rights under 42 U.S.C. 1983; violations of California's Unruh Act; intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligently causing Anthony's suicide. The district court granted summary judgment to Defendants. Because Bennett did not violate the students' constitutional rights, there is no evidence that Bennett intended to harm the students, and because Anthony's death was not proximately caused by Bennett's actions, we affirm.

On Tuesday, March 28, 2006, Anthony Soltero, an eighth-grade, fourteen-year-old student at De Anza Middle School (De Anza), Annette Prieto, and "one or two" other middle school students walked out of school around 8:30 or 9:00 in the morning.[1] They did not have prior permission from the school or their parents. They left school to participate in protests against the impending passage of federal immigration legislation that would have made it a crime to assist or help undocumented immigrants. In addition to Annette's deposition, Plaintiffs submitted Annette's handwritten account of the events of the week, which was written a few weeks after the incident at the direction of De Anza's principal. Annette testified in her deposition that the students' plan was to walk to nearby Ontario High School and to participate with other students in a protest. She testified that "mostly the whole schools, like, everybody in the schools were walking out and getting cited for it. Everybody was missing a lot of school because of that."[2] When they got to Ontario High School however, no one was there. They noticed the school was on lockdown. Eventually a few students from Ontario High School arrived and they walked for 60 to 90 minutes to Ontario Middle School, but nobody was there. At that point, it was about 11:00 am and De Anza Middle School had been let out for the day because of scheduled teacher conferences. The students decided to go home. While only four students left De Anza to participate *560 in walkouts, two other Ontario middle schools had walkouts involving 50 to 150 students, and Montclair police issued citations to 125 students who had walked out of one of the middle schools.

Bennett testified that on the morning of Tuesday, March 28, 2006, a teacher told him "a girl had come up and asked another girl to leave campus with her as they were entering the classroom. . . ." Bennett was able to identify the girl and discover the identities of Anthony, Annette, and two other students. He required the four students to meet with him at his office Thursday morning when classes began.

Annette met with the other students before they entered Bennett's office. They discussed the consequences they were likely to face in the meeting, including that they "were going to have to pay a fine" and "lose one of [their] year-end activities." Annette testified that Anthony told her he was "scared of what was going to happen and nervous about just the consequences." Annette, too, stated she was so sick with nervousness about the consequences of missing school that she had stayed home from school on Wednesday as well.

The De Anza Parent Handbook explains that the consequences for a first-occurrence unexcused absence can range from after-school intervention (presumably detention) to Saturday Academy. Students participating in any protest that involves nonattendance at school are specifically identified as truant in the Ontario-Montclair School District regulations. AR 5131.4 (Prohibited Activities). In early March, a supplemental policy letter was mailed to the homes of all eighth-grade students explaining that if any disciplinary issues arose, the student could lose one or more of their promotional activities, including a dance, a trip to Disneyland, or the promotion ceremony itself. Annette had been suspended several times previously during the school year for unrelated infractions. Anthony had been placed on probation stemming from an incident the previous spring in which he carried a knife to school. Bennett, in response to notification from a concerned parent, had discovered the knife and reported Anthony to the police. Anthony's mother, in her declaration, indicated Anthony could have been sent to jail for three years if he violated the terms of his probation.

Bennett also told the students that they were going to lose a year-end activity, ultimately the Disneyland trip for each student. The reason for the students' absence was not discussed. After the meeting, the students returned to class for the day.

After school that day, Anthony told Annette that he was scared that his mother would be mad at him and he was worried about juvenile hall and having to pay a $250 fine. Anthony's mother was running errands that day, but called home to check in after school and to get a telephone number from Anthony. During the telephone call, Anthony told his mother that Bennett had caught him walking out, and that he was in trouble and going to lose one of his eighth-grade activities as a result. *561 Anthony's mother testified that he didn't say anything to make her worry about his safety and that she was able to get the telephone number from Anthony.[3] When she returned home about an hour later, she found Anthony on the floor of his room, suffering from a gunshot wound in an apparent suicide attempt. Anthony was pronounced dead later that evening.

Anthony left a suicide note which states in pertinent part: "I just want to tell you that I love you [guys] and I'll miss you, [and] tell this to all my family. I killed myself because [I] have to[o] many problems. .... Tell my teachers [they're] the best and tell Mr. [Bennett] he is a motherf# @(-)ker." He also apologized to his father for "making [him] mad."

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