BY WENDY ELLIOTT

The Advertiser

NovaNewsNow.com

A review committee studying special education in Nova Scotia has recommended eliminating a tuition support program within three years, but some educators and students suggest that would be a step backwards.

The program helps to cover the cost of tuition at three private schools in the province that offer specialized programs. About $1 million went to the tuition support program in 2006-07.

The committee has indicated it wants all the money redirected to schools so they can offer appropriate programs and support to students with special needs.

Students who come to Wolfville’s Landmark East School from far and near want intensive remediation. Graduate Dan Farrar from Michigan said arriving at Landmark East “felt like walking into open arms.”

Another student, Brad Holland of Lower Sackville, told staff, “I thought it was just another school, but since I’ve been here my work ethic has changed altogether. I’ve learned not to underestimate myself and my abilities.”

Brad’s twin brother Krys appreciated the small classes. “Learning is easier. You get to really know the people around you and you develop deeper bonds with your classmates and teachers.”

One mother and son moved from Australia for a year, then the boy spent another year as a boarder. Students come to Landmark East from as far away as Bermuda and Hong Kong.

Sense of deja vu

For headmaster Tim Moore, there’s a sense of déjà vu about another potential funding cut. In the 1990s, the withdrawal of Atlantic Provinces Special Education funding sent the school scrambling.

“I’m very disappointed. We had higher expectations, but I’m not surprised,” Moore said.

Eighteen of the 52 students currently enrolled at Landmark East come from all sectors of Nova Scotia. Ten of them receive tuition support.

At the Berwick hearing Moore attended, parents told the government that funding should be expanded and extended, not phased out.

The headmaster recalls that in the mid-1990s school boards across the province promised to bring in full-time educators to work with severely learning disabled children, but they didn’t. Instead they hired itinerant teachers.

“There’s an inclusive philosophy by definition, but it’s not applied consistently. In my view, needs are not being met,” Moore says of the public system.

Meanwhile, parents in Kings County have mortgaged their homes to send their children for help. “There are so many stories,” he said.

What Landmark East offers, along with the two private schools in Halifax, is extensive remediation. Moore notes that his staff boost self-esteem and social skills in several ways. “It’s not just the academics,” he said.

The student/teacher ratio at the Wolfville school is less than three to one. Middle school classes usually have six pupils, while the high school classes are about eight.

Even day students spend about 11 or 12 hours a day at the school. “They’re part of a community,” Moore said.