Alternate Program - March 18th Discussion Summary

In the alternative programs working group last Thursday we had an excellent discussion. The process we followed was to brainstorm different scenarios under three key categories: Consolidation, Closure and Cohabitation.

• Consolidation means the programs would merge together or with mainstream programs while trying to preserve key elements that support the students
• Closure means the elimination of a program
• Cohabitation means that the programs share a building, some resources and possibly administration but the programs retain their identify and special approaches. Presently all alternative programs except the Keith Lynn program cohabit the Lucas Centre.

Each group came up with quite a number of scenarios. I was encouraged by the range of ideas and the open minded approach. We posted all these idea on the wall then broke into teams of two. Each pair then added plusses and minuses to each worksheet. This enabled the group to capture many perspectives in a rapid way. These will be consolidated for discussion in the third session.

We then changed direction to go back to a discussion we had in session 1 about how to collect student input to the working group. While everyone valued the idea that student input would be important there were different views on how to collect this data without causing the students un-needed stress. In some of the programs the students have challenges which would make direct participation in the workgroup difficult. After discussing the issues off-line with key stakeholders the facilitator recommended that we not include direct input from the students at this stage, but that the representative from each program develop a suitable method that fits their individual character. The focus of the desired input will be on any issues with transition should one of the proposed changes be implemented. Ideas were then shared as to how to do this.

In conclusion we reviewed our action plan for the next meeting and concluded that there would be three homework assignments. Assignment one was to review the minutes and data collected in the meeting to ensure that it was captured correctly. Assignment two was to gather more feedback from stakeholders outside the team on the options. Assignment three was to examine all the plusses and minuses to try to see common themes so that we could structure the conversation efficiently in session three.

Thanks to Mike Sexsmith for sending this summary