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©2015 ATLANTIC INSTITUTE FOR MARKET STUDIES
EXTENDING THE EDUCATIONAL LIFELINE
Extending the
Educational Lifeline
The Tuition Support Program and Its
Benefits for Special Needs Students
Dr. Paul W. Bennett
Director, Schoolhouse Consulting
Halifax, Nova Scotia
May 2015
ATLANTIC INSTITUTE FOR MARKET STUDIES
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©2015 ATLANTIC INSTITUTE FOR MARKET STUDIES
EXTENDING THE EDUCATIONAL LIFELINE
The Atlantic Institute for Market Studies (AIMS)
AIMS is a Canadian non-profit, non-partisan think tank that provides a distinctive Atlantic Canadian
perspective on economic, political, and social issues. The Institute sets the benchmark on public policy
by drawing together the most innovative thinking available from some of the world’s foremost experts
and applying that thinking to the challenges facing Canadians.
AIMS was incorporated as a non-profit corporation under Part II of the Canada Corporations Act and
was granted charitable registration by Revenue Canada as of 3 October 1994. It received US charitable
recognition under 501(c)(3), effective the same date.
287 Lacewood Drive, Suite 204,
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3M 3Y7
Telephone: (902) 429-1143
Email: aims@AIMS.ca
Website: www.AIMS.ca
Board of Directors
Chairman: John Risley
Former Chairman: John F. Irving
President and CEO: Marco Navarro-Génie
Vice-Chair: Laura Araneda (New Brunswick)
Vice-Chair: David Hooley (Prince Edward Island)
Vice-Chair: Leo Power (Newfoundland and Labrador)
Secretary: Fae Shaw
Treasurer: Doug Hall
Directors: Paul Antle, Lee Bragg, Robert Campbell, Stephen Emmerson, Richard Florizone,
Nelson Hagerman, Mary Keith, Dennice Leahey, Scott McCain, Todd McDonald,
Jonathan Meretsky, Don Mills, Bob Owens, Maxime St. Pierre, Peter Woodward.
Advisory Council
George Bishop, Angus Bruneau, George Cooper, Ivan Duvar, Peter Godsoe, James Gogan,
Frederick Hyndman, Bernard Imbeault, Phillip Knoll, Colin Latham, Norman Miller, James Moir, Jr.,
Gerald L. Pond, Cedric E. Ritchie, Allan C. Shaw, Joseph Shannon.
Board of Research Advisors
Advisors: Charles Colgan, J. Colin Dodds, Morley Gunderson, Doug May,
Jim McNiven, Robert Mundell.
The author of this report worked independently and is solely responsible for the views presented here. The opinions are not
necessarily those of the Atlantic Institute for Market Studies, its Directors, or Supporters.
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©2015 ATLANTIC INSTITUTE FOR MARKET STUDIES
EXTENDING THE EDUCATIONAL LIFELINE
Table of Contents
Overview: The crying need for special support programs 4
The Nova Scotia Tuition Support Program and its origins 8
Establishment and acceptance of the Tuition Support Program from 2010 to 2015 13
The current Nova Scotia model – After the Jeffrey Moore case 15
Search for sustainability – Sweeping away the remaining barriers 19
Unlocking the potential – Prospects for a bigger breakthrough 23
Summary and recommendations 25
References and sources 29
Extending the Educational Lifeline
The Tuition Support Program and Its Benefits for
Special Needs Students
Dr. Paul W. Bennett
Director, Schoolhouse Consulting
About the Author
Principal author Paul W. Bennett, Ed.D., (OISE/Toronto) is Founding Director of Schoolhouse Consulting
and Adjunct Professor of Education at Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia. Over a career spanning four
decades and three provinces, Dr. Bennett has served as a secondary school history teacher, academic head, public
school trustee, and the headmaster of two of Canada’s leading independent coeducational day schools, Lower
Canada College and Halifax Grammar School. He has written or co-authored many academic articles, policy
papers, and eight books, including The Grammar School: Striving for Excellence in a Public School World (2009),
and Vanishing Schools, Threatened Communities: The Contested Schoolhouse in Maritime Canada, 1850 -2010
(2011), and The Last Stand: Schools, Communities and the Future of Rural Nova Scotia (2013).
Today Paul is primarily an education policy analyst and commentator, producing regular columns and book
reviews for The Chronicle Herald and articles for Progress Magazine and a variety of publications. His most recent
academic articles have appeared in Acadiensis, Historical Studies in Education, and the Royal Nova Scotia Historical
Society Journal. Over the past five years, he has produced major policy papers for the Atlantic Institute for
Market Studies, the Society for Quality Education, and the Canadian Accredited Independent Schools Association.
He specializes in K-12 educational policy, education history, educational standards, school governance, teacher
education, and special education services.
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©2015 ATLANTIC INSTITUTE FOR MARKET STUDIES
EXTENDING THE EDUCATIONAL LIFELINE
Two personal stories
“It was a five year struggle for us ....
The change was miraculous. He stopped
acting out, began doing his work and
felt more accepted. It was a tremendous
relief. Finally, there was hope for him to be
successful for the first time.”
- Mother of former Bridgeway Academy -
- student, 2011-2014, Nova Scotia
Overview:
The crying need for special support
programs
Struggling students in Moncton, New Brunswick, have very few options outside
the regular mainstream public school system. For elementary students with severe
learning challenges and their families, Riverbend Community School is really the only
option, and, even then, only viable when they can scrape together the money to pay
its hefty $11,500 tuition fees. Since its inception as a day school in September 2013, a
small but growing number of families are doing just that, attracted by the passion of
its youthful director, Rebecca Bulmer, and founder/co-director Jordan Halliday, often
desperate for a special program specifically designed to respond to their children and
their extraordinary needs. “If you have a struggling and confused child in your life,”
Bulmer says, “we can help. We can replace fear and anxiety with pride and success”
(Bulmer interview, April 15, 2015). That was also the key message of her April 2015
CBC Moncton Information Morning series called “Learning Outside the Box,” which
explained the world of learning disabilities (LD) to a new audience (Bulmer, 2015).
The Moncton school for high-risk students is filling a gaping hole in the system.
Students and their parents are finding the Riverbend Community School completely
on their own because it flies below the radar and is funded entirely by fee-paying
parents. Like most such independent ventures, it exists because of the sheer dedication
“Having M. attend Riverbend School
has definitely reduced his personal stress
level but in turn has added tremendous
financial stress …. As working parents
supporting three children, we already
have struggles and challenges. Raising
a child with special needs and severe
learning disabilities and no financial
support has been extremely difficult and
takes everything we have.”
- Korey Breen, Parent of Riverbend Community
- School student, Moncton, New Brunswick
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EXTENDING THE EDUCATIONAL LIFELINE
and commitment of its founders, Rebecca and her mother, Priscilla Wilson, the retired
school teacher who first saw the need and, back in 2008, opened her own Moncton
tutoring centre (Bulmer, 2015). Out of that small project emerged today’s Riverbend
School, a growing presence with 10 day students and some 40 students enrolled
in its after-school tutoring programs in reading and mathematics. All have been
drawn to this tiny, warm, home-like Moncton school that pledges to “discover the
potential” in each child and is prepared to provide “the proper intervention” needed
to transform each child into “resilient, independent learners ready to take on the
world” (Riverbend Community School, 2015).
Students attempting to overcome severe learning challenges in today’s regular
classrooms need an educational lifeline. For Dartmouth student Nick and his mother,
Jennifer, the ordeal lasted four long years in two different public schools — from
primary (kindergarten) to the end of Grade 4. Unable to read after Grade 1, Nick
was trying to understand many of his worksheets and was, in his mother’s words,
“completely lost.” “I saw the deterioration in his spirit,” she now recalls, and it
pained her to see him “frequently punished
for his classroom misbehaviour.” By Grade
4, Nick was becoming angry. “Why am I so
stupid?” he asked, after being belittled inside
and outside of class.
Gaining admission to Bridgeway Academy, a
Dartmouth special needs school, with financial
aid from Nova Scotia’s Tuition Support
Program (TSP) changed their lives. Within a matter of weeks, Nick was on the road
to recovery. It was a tremendous relief for Jennifer to see the look in his eyes. She
saw the glimmer of “a happy, confident child who knew he was capable of success
in life.” Her boy was not alone in his struggles. Today, some 220 to 230 students like
Nick benefit from the educational lifeline program made accessible through what is
best known as the TSP (personal interview, anonymous parent, 2015).
Nick and his family are among the lucky ones. One in 10 Canadians reportedly suffers
from some form of learning disability, and between 2 per cent and 4 per cent of
Nova Scotia’s public school students, numbering from 2,400 to 4,800, are struggling
with serious learning challenges. Without easy, affordable access to special intensive
programs and schools, up to 14,000 students across Atlantic Canada face serious
learning challenges and struggle on the margins. Does Nova Scotia have the answer?
This is the fundamental question explored in this research report and commentary.
...between 2 per cent and 4 per
cent of Nova Scotia’s public
school students, numbering from
2,400 to 4,800, are struggling
with serious learning challenges.
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Rescuing and properly educating special needs children with severe LD have proven
a challenge in Nova Scotia’s regular primary to Grade 12 schools. A small number
of private, independent schools has emerged since the 1970s to fill the gap by
providing a vitally important “lifeline” in the continuum of student support services.
Demand for such schooling grew after 2000 to the point where the Nova Scotia
Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (NSDE) began looking
at implementing a provincial tuition-support program to serve students with more-
acute learning difficulties.
The TSP, initiated in September 2004, provides an option for students with special
needs who cannot be served at their local public schools. It is explicitly intended for
short-term purposes and works on the assumption that students can eventually be
successfully “transitioned” back into the regular system. The TSP provides funding
that covers most of the tuition costs to attend designated special education private
schools (DSEPS) and any public alternative education centres that might eventually
be established in Nova Scotia.
Since my initial AIMS report, A Provincial
Lifeline: Expanding the Nova Scotia
Tuition Support Program, three years
ago, the TSP has been sustained and
further improved in the province but has
yet to appear in either New Brunswick or
Prince Edward Island. Successive Nova
Scotia governments have renewed their
commitment to the provincial program
and even allocated more funding to accommodate more of the most severely learning
challenged students in the few regions with grant-eligible DSEPS. Consistent and
reliable support from the Nova Scotia Department of Education has been of great help
to families that are in — or near — crisis. Small modifications have made TSP easier
to qualify for and have provided much more certainty for parents who have severely
challenged children and who are often desperately in need of financial assistance to
pay the tuition fees. Solid progress has been made since February 2012, but more
can be done to ensure the sustainability of TSP and its adoption in neighbouring
provinces.
Full inclusion is now the overriding philosophy everywhere, as it should be, but it is
only the beginning. Inclusive programs and services require extraordinary levels of
investment to achieve the level of support attained in specialized-program schools.
Only one out of every three Nova Scotians surveyed in the 2014 Nova Scotia Education
[TSP] is explicitly intended for
short-term purposes and works
on the assumption that students
can eventually be successfully
“transitioned” back into the regular
system.
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EXTENDING THE EDUCATIONAL LIFELINE
Review reports that “special programs and services are meeting the needs of all
students” (Freeman, 2014, 40). Growing numbers of educators, in Nova Scotia and
elsewhere, recognize that funding full inclusion for all through to graduation is simply
not a realistic option. This is a major reason a clear majority of Nova Scotia teachers
surveyed last year, from 63 per cent to 76 per cent depending upon grade level, went
on record claiming that “special programs and services” in the public school system
were not working to meet the needs of all students (Freeman, 2014, 41).
Families with vulnerable children and teens are in dire need of an educational helping
hand. For some 2 per cent to 4 per cent of children and youth with severe learning
challenges, the regular classroom is the problem (Bennett, 2012NS, 2012NB). If that
is the case, then we need to look at different ways of delivering a “full spectrum” of
services. The proven results of Nova Scotia’s TSP are the clearest indication, so far,
that severely learning-challenged students can achieve greater success and that it is
time to sweep away the remaining obstacles to change.
The next frontier is New Brunswick, where the needs are great and the options
severely limited for children who do not fit the current one-size-fits-all model of public
schooling. One school already exists, Riverbend Community School in Moncton, and
it could well be the logical place to start in accrediting DSEPS along the same lines as
in Nova Scotia. In New Brunswick, it has to start somewhere because the crying needs
of severely learning-challenged students are simply not being met under the current
model (Bennett, 2012NB). This report will make it clear that Riverbend Community
School offers exactly the kind of special education program urgently needed, not just
in Greater Moncton but — where numbers warrant — throughout New Brunswick.
It is time to consider extending tuition support in order to level the playing field and
make this service available to a far wider range of children and their families.
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Search for a new paradigm – the “most enabling environment”
“The new paradigm, in order to achieve equality for all children, is that the school system
must provide all children with an education in the most enabling environment — one
that will a) effectively and in a timely fashion address all their needs ...; b) provide the
necessary accommodation that enables them to fully access all the programs provided by
the school system; c) provide a continuum of placements in order to fulfill the foregoing.”
- Yude Henteleff, C.M., Q.C., Winnipeg lawyer, National Summit on Inclusive Education,
- November 24, 2004, Ottawa, Ontario
The Nova Scotia Tuition Support
Program and its origins
The Nova Scotia TSP was established in September 2004, but its origins run much
deeper in the province. From 1963 onward, the Association for Children with
Learning Disabilities, now the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada (LDAC),
spearheaded the campaign to have LD recognized as a designated “exceptionality”
and accepted as a way of accessing special education services (Price and Cole 2009,
6). Nova Scotia, like other provinces, eventually recognized that children with LD
require special programs. A few different funding arrangements have existed over
the years. At the very beginning, over 30 years ago, families had to apply to the
Atlantic Provinces Special Education Authority for funding to attend Landmark
East School and Bridgeway Academy. Eventually, school boards began negotiating
individual tuition agreements for a limited number of LD students, a precursor to the
TSP (Lucinda Low interview, 2011).
A series of LD conferences organized by Judy Pelletier helped to promote acceptance
of the special needs of LD children, which led to the authorizing of more and more
Tuition Support Agreements (TSA) (Small 1982; Low interview, 2011). One of the key
proponents of expanded services was Dr. Jean Backman of the IWK Health Centre,
who became the principal architect of Nova Scotia’s current special education system,
which is based upon Individualized Program Plans (IPPs) that document specific
learning needs and accommodations. The Special Education Implementation Review
Committee produced a key report in 2001 that favoured the inclusion of special
needs children in mainstream classes but recognized the limits of such a policy (NSED
TSP Review 2009, 2-3).
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When the number of families seeking IPPs could not be accommodated within existing
regular classrooms, the Department of Education began to look at a new arrangement.
The relocation of Bridgeway Academy to a larger Dartmouth school campus and the
intensive lobbying efforts of parents, individually and collectively, through the Equal
Education Association of Nova Scotia (EEANS) were critical in getting Tuition Support
on the public agenda (Rhonda Brown interview). Former premier Dr. John Hamm and
his education minister, Jamie Muir, were among the first to come onside. Eventually,
the concept of a TSP appeared in the 2003 Blueprint for Building a Better Nova Scotia
policy paper. It was introduced in September 2004 as a pilot project and involved the
three schools. Students were funded under the TSP for one year with an option to
renew for a second year. The transitional period for students was extended from two
years to three in 2006-2007 and further increased from three years to four in 2008-
2009 (Annie Baert interview, 2011).
The TSP was unique in that it provided, for the first time, a provincial option for
students with LD who met certain eligibility requirements that qualified them for
access to “specialized programming and
services outside the framework of the Nova
Scotia public school system (NSP).” Right
from the beginning, the explicit intent of the
program was to “provide students with the
opportunity to develop strategies and skills that
will support their successful transition back to
their neighbourhood school, post-secondary
learning and/or community.” Funding to cover up to 90 per cent of the tuition costs
at officially approved DSEPS or registered special education private schools was
provided. Since no French first-language special education schools existed, students
deemed eligible in the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial were given the right to
transfer fees to schools outside the province of Nova Scotia (TSP Review 2009, 5).
The Nova Scotia TSP broke new ground and survived two provincial program reviews.
In June 2007, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development Karen Casey
received the Minister’s Review of Services for Students with Special Needs, which
recommended that the TSP end effective June 30, 2010 (Minister’s Review, July 2007).
The Learning Disabilities Association of Nova Scotia (LDANS) and parents of students
enrolled in the DSEPS flatly rejected this short and rather blunt report. This led to a
second, more-comprehensive review co-chaired by Annie Baert of LDANS and Gaye
Rawding, regional education officer with the Nova Scotia Department of Education.
The TSP was unique in that
it provided, for the first time,
a provincial option for students
with LD who met certain
eligibility requirements...
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Over a nine-month period starting in June 2008, the TSP Review examined the long-
term effectiveness of the program, the duration of placement, the research-based
interventions and methods of instruction, transitional outcomes for students, criteria
for acceptance and the question of regional accessibility. The review was broader in
scope, including ongoing consultation with EEANS and key personnel at the three
DSEPS (TSP Review 2009, iii-v). Critical to the second review was the review of best
practices completed by Dr. Anne Price of the Calgary Learning Centre, now the
CanLearn Society (Price and Cole, 2009).
A new Minister of Education, Marilyn More, finally weighed in in favour of the TSP
in March 2010. Effective 2010-2011, students in DSEPS were authorized to receive
support for three years, with an option for a fourth year, which is intended for
transition. Instead of shelving the program, the Department agreed to its continuance
provided a “specific accountability reporting framework” was established to validate
“student progress” in “academic, physical and social development” and that staff
were given “professional development,”
specifically in the areas of student
assessment and IPPs implementation. While
hardly a ringing endorsement of the TSP, the
Minister’s Response laid to rest calls for the
abandonment of the TSP and recognized the
validity of research supporting the option
of special education schools (Minister’s
Response, March 2010, 3-5, 6, 9).
With the Minister’s March 2010 policy statement, the TSP became, in the words of
Co-chair Annie Baert, “more entrenched” in the Nova Scotia P-12 education system
(Baert interview, 2011). The TSP was given a new lease on life, even though it remained
strictly defined by the Department as “a short-term support program, rather than an
alternative public school program, allowing students to transition back to the public
school system.” This status was confirmed when, after 2010-2011, the limit of four
years was more-strictly enforced by the Department (Baert interview, November 29,
2011). In short, the TSP would continue, albeit as an anomaly, providing a measure
of choice for students with recognized and documented LD.
Since the advent of the TSP, the number of students receiving tuition support from
the province has gradually grown in spite of a few peaks and hollows. In the initial
year, 84 students received TSP subsidies, and by 2011-2012, the number had more
than doubled to 183 students. Enrollment spiked in 2010-2011 when some longer-
term students were granted a fifth or sixth year of eligibility for transition purposes.
...the Minister’s Response laid
to rest calls for the abandonment
of the TSP and recognized the
validity of research supporting
the option of special education
schools...
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Over the first eight years, the Department heard some 301 appeals for extension;
some of those appeals came from the same families multiple times. The decision was
overturned in 163 (54.2 per cent) of the cases, upheld in 80 (26.5 per cent) of the
cases, and a smaller number (58 or 19.3 per cent) either did not appeal or withdrew
appeal requests (Baert interview, 2011).
Solidifying the TSP has been of benefit to the DSEPS in Nova Scotia. In the case of
Landmark East, a Wolfville boarding and day school, it has helped to attract and
maintain a healthier day school enrollment. Since Headmaster Peter Coll’s arrival
in June of 2010, enrollment, driven mostly by a dramatic increase in Nova Scotia
students, has grown from 38 to 75 students. While Landmark East only enrolled 21
Nova Scotia students in 2009-2010, it now has 48 local students, including 43 from
the surrounding Annapolis Valley Regional School Board (Landmark East, Enrolment,
2009-2015). “We specialize in addressing language-based learning difficulties,” Coll
says. “Having the TSP simply allows us to serve more local kids and families” (Coll
interview, 2015).
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The purpose of the Nova Scotia Tuition Support Program
“The Tuition Support Program (TSP) provides an option for students who meet program
eligibility requirements to access specialized programming and services outside the
framework of the Nova Scotia public school system (PSP). The intent of the TSP is to
provide students with the opportunity to develop strategies and skills which will support
their successful transition back to their neighbourhood school, post-secondary learning
and/or community.”
- Tuition Support Program, Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development,
- http://tuitionsupport.ednet.ns.ca/ (2015)
Establishment and acceptance of the
TSP from 2010 to 2015
The introduction of the TSP aided student enrollment but did not lead to a dramatic
expansion in the province’s small private special education sector. All three DSEPS,
Bridgeway Academy, Churchill Academy and Landmark East, have achieved modest
gains in student numbers. After weathering the impact of the 2008 global financial
meltdown, Landmark East recovered and succeeded in securing a more-stable,
modestly growing student population. In the case of Churchill Academy, enrollment
was virtually capped at 63 to 65 students up until 2011-2012; so much of the overall
increase was accommodated at Bridgeway Academy, which allowed the school to
expand from Dartmouth to a second satellite campus in the Bible Hill/Truro area.
From September 2004 until 2012, Bridgeway enrollment grew from 77 to 104
students, a 35 per cent increase (Bennett, 2012, 9-10). With the help of Annie Baert
and the Department of Education, the DSEPS are winning support one school at a
time. Securing the paperwork, in the form of an IPP or a letter of permission, became
a little easier. “Schools have to agree that students are not meeting the curriculum
outcomes,” Coll reports. “Some schools are receptive; others reluctant or resistant,”
limiting the potential for more students (Coll, 2015).
The Nova Scotia TSP is more robust today than it was five years ago. Since the
2011-2012 school year, the TSP has attracted more students and experienced a
modest growth in its overall budget. Data provided by the Department of Education
in February 2015 demonstrate that overall TSP enrollment has risen from 172 to
between 213 and 230 students. The overall cost of the provincial program, including
students with both TSP funding and extension TSA has increased from $1.64-million
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a year to approximately $2.4-million a year. The provincial program serves as many as
230 students, or approximately 25 per cent more students than it did in 2010-2011.
The cost per student for the TSP plus the TSA has also risen from $9,531 in 2011-
2012 to approximately $11,414 in 2014-2015 (NSDE, 2015). This is quite consistent
with the overall growth in cost per student in the public education system province
wide in Nova Scotia. In 2011-2012, for example, the Nova Scotia cost per pupil was
$12,031 compared with $9,531 for high-needs students funded by the TSP (Van Pelt
and Emes, 2015, 13).
Extending Tuition Support to Nova Scotia students with severe learning challenges
is proving to be the most cost-effective option. Students applying for the TSP are at
least two years behind their age group grade level. Virtually all of the eligible students
would qualify for a Severely Learning Disabled (SLD) designation if they could get a
spot and secure a resource class placement in a regular day school. The most they
could receive in the regular schools would be two hours of SLD help per week and
perhaps 20 minutes per day in a resource class, totalling approximately 116 hours of
services a year. This is far short of the 4.5 hours a day of intensive support provided in
a DSEPS, which equals approximately 810 hours per year (Sampson, Tuition Support
Briefing, 2012). Assuming the cost per student for TSP is $11,414.00 in 2014-2015
(NSDE, 2015), this is not only lower than the average cost per student province wide,
but also considerably less than what it actually costs for SLD students in regular
schools.
Source: Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, February 2015. Calculations of
Cost per Student are by the author. Asterisk: Incomplete, Year to Date, 2014-2015.
TABLE 1
Growth in the Nova Scotia Tuition Support Program
2010-2011 to 2014-2015
Year No. of Students Funding Unit Total Costs Cost per TSP Student
2010-2011 183 $7,100 $1,671,716 $9,135.06
2011-2012 172 $7,200 $1,639,382 $9,531.29
2012-2013 212 $7,300 $2,091,725 $9,866.62
2013-2014 230 $7,600 $2,448,296 $10,644.76
2014-2015* 213 $7,900 $2,431,208 $11,414.13
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Adoption of the TSP has provided Nova Scotia students with LD with a vitally
important school option at a particularly vulnerable time in their lives. By serving a
hard-to-reach student population, the program also carries benefits for the public
education system. Providing tuition assistance also lowers the rescue boats into the
water, allowing a far more diverse range of children and families to gain access
to intensive, full-day special education programming. For hundreds of LD children,
the DSEPS have provided an educational lifeline and a second chance to succeed in
school (Bennett, 2012, 10). Its success in meeting the needs of SLD students provides
important lessons for the neighbouring provinces of New Brunswick and Prince
Edward Island, where students and families struggle on without much in the way of
support outside the regular school classroom.
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The Jeffrey Moore decision, 2012
“Adequate special education, therefore, is not a dispensable luxury. For those with severe
learning disabilities, it is the ramp that provides access to the statutory commitment to
education made to all children in British Columbia.”
- Judge Rosalie Abella, Supreme Court of Canada, November 9, 2012
The current Nova Scotia model after
the Jeffrey Moore Case
The TSP may have put Nova Scotia ahead of the curve in responding to students with
special needs. The landmark November 2012 Supreme Court of Canada decision in
the Jeffrey Moore case effectively changed the whole policy landscape. That ruling
put schools on strict notice that they cannot neglect or evade their responsibility to
accommodate children with special needs. Brushing aside the financial woes of a North
Vancouver school board, the Court concluded on November 9, 2012 that the school
board had discriminated against a dyslexic child who was not given adequate help to
attain literacy (Levy, 2014). Madam Justice Rosalie Abella ordered school authorities
to reimburse Moore’s family for several years of costly private education they sought
after Jeffrey fell far behind in school. “Adequate special education, therefore, is not a
dispensable luxury,” Judge Abella wrote in her 9-0 judgement statement. “For those
with severe learning disabilities, it is the ramp that provides access to the statutory
commitment to education made to all children in British Columbia” (Makin, 2012).
The Jeffrey More decision confirmed that Nova Scotia was on the right track when
compared with neighbouring provinces. In British Columbia, where Moore resided,
there was a complete lack of funding for SLD students who were unable to cope
in regular schools. This is not the case in Nova Scotia, where the TSP provides, on
application, tuition support for DSEPS and supplemental assistance up to 90 per cent
of total fees in cases of demonstrable need. Before the Moore decision, according
to Winnipeg lawyer Yude Henteleff, school boards claimed, “We can’t afford this.”
“Now,” he added, “they can’t afford not to” (Makin, 2012). With more parents like
Jeffrey Moore’s taking up the cause, the TSP looks more and more like a practical,
affordable alternative. Transferring fees to students attending a DSEPS is a small price
to pay given the proven effectiveness of such intensive alternative support programs.
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Special programs for students with special needs are anchored in the key formulations
of Nova Scotia human rights and education policy and supported by the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Under the Charter, Section 15, everyone is recognized
as being “equal before and under the law,” but also entitled to “equal protection
and equal benefit of the law” (author’s emphasis) without discrimination. In similar
fashion, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act prohibits imposing “burdens, obligations
or disadvantages on an individual or class of individuals … not imposed upon others
… in society.” It is not sufficient to treat everyone in an identical fashion when some
“benefit” less than others do from those services. Rather, the law or service provider
must ensure that the individuals or groups affected receive the same benefit from the
law or service as the public at large does (Levy, 2014).
Nova Scotia’s education policy framework also allows for access to not only “inclusive
education” but also “appropriate education” that meets the special needs of certain
classes of individuals. The preamble to the Education Act affirms the education
system’s commitment to “fair and equitable participation and benefit by all people
in Nova Scotia.” (author’s emphasis) Under Section
146 (1), the Governor in Council (premier and
Cabinet) is authorized to make regulations with
respect to a lengthy list of matters, including, in
sub-section (xa), matters related to DSEPS and
specifically in “defining special needs” (xa) (i). A
provincial Regulation, Section 67, clarifies who
qualifies as a student with special needs. Such students are those with “attention
deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or a learning
disability (LD), as diagnosed by either (i) a licensed physician, or (ii) a registered
psychologist or candidate registered psychologist with expertise and training in
making the diagnosis. Nova Scotia’s Special Education Policy also “recognizes and
endorses the basic right of all students to full and equal participation in education,”
immediately followed by the Charter’s dual commitment to the “right to appropriate
education” as well as to “inclusive education” (Levy, 2014). In short, the “benefit”
test is critical and access to special needs programs includes “appropriate education”
in the case of students with severe needs that are well beyond the current capacity
of regular schools.
The public demand for Special Education schools in Nova Scotia far exceeds the
supply of student spaces. Based upon research conducted by the Learning Disabilities
Association of Canada, it is estimated that between 2 per cent and 4 per cent of Nova
Scotia’s public school students, numbering from 2,400 to 4,800, are struggling with
The public demand for
Special Education schools in
Nova Scotia far exceeds the
supply of student spaces.
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serious learning challenges (Barrington Consulting Group, 2011, 15-16). Rescuing
and properly educating special needs children with SLD have proven a challenge in
the province’s regular primary to Grade 12 schools. Taken together, the three existing
special independent schools enroll from 213 to 230 TSP-supported students. They are
accommodated on three campuses and three small satellite sites in Truro/Bible Hill,
Stellarton and Yarmouth (Bridgeway, 2015).
Over time, the day schools have gradually become more dependent upon TSP funding
to sustain their enrollment levels. In the case of Churchill Academy, some 90 per cent
to 95 per cent of the student body is on TSP grants that cover up to 90 per cent of the
tuition fees (Churchill Academy, 2015; NSDE, 2015). Since 2010-2011, Nova Scotia
enrollment at Landmark East has grown from 31 students to 48 students, while the
numbers on TSP grants have risen from 24 to 42 students, representing 77.4 per
cent and 87.5 per cent of the cohort (Landmark East, Enrolment, 2010-2015; NSDE,
2015). “If the TSP disappeared,” Churchill Academy Head Pat Doherty said succinctly,
“we’d struggle to get 50 kids, and they wouldn’t be able to stay so long” (Pat Doherty
interview, 2015).
Nova Scotia’s DSEPS meet the needs of a diverse population, drawn from a middle
range socio-economic demographic. A sizeable proportion of the students attending
the DSEPS, perhaps over 50 per cent of total enrollment, comes from families that
Source: Nova Scotia Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, February 2015.
Asterisk: Incomplete, Year to Date, 2014-2015.
TABLE 2
Students Supported by Tuition Support Program, by School
2010-2011 to 2014-2015
School Year DSEPS and Number in TSP and on TSA
Bridgeway Academy Churchill Academy Landmark East School
2010-2011 96 63 24
2011-2012 93 57 22
2012-2013 104 (+6 TSA) 64 (+5 TSA) 33
2013-2014 7 (+15 TSA) 71 (+10 TSA) 37
2014-2015* 88 (+12 TSA) 71 (+11 TSA) 38 (+4 TSA)
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cannot afford private schools that charge between $13,000 and $25,000 (for day
students). Most of the families are distinctly middle income, since between 60
per cent and 75 per cent of the students qualify for supplemental funding that is
awarded based on need (NSDE, 2015). One Landmark East supporter, Bob Levy,
recently acknowledged that many parents are still incurring “a considerable, perhaps
prohibitive, financial burden arising from their child attending a DSEPS” (Levy, 2014).
Parents like Lynne Bartlett, whose 12-year-old daughter attends Bridgeway Academy,
struggle to make ends meet. Even with the TSP, she has to find $460 per month to
pay the shortfall between the fees and the support. “The Tuition Support Program
is always at risk because it is not in legislation,” she says. “From one year to the
next, we are unsure if this funding will be available or not. It’s already enough of a
financial burden, with the existing support .... Every child in Nova Scotia should have
access to schools like Bridgeway no matter where they live or how much money their
parents make” (Bartlett, 2014).
Tuition costs, even after the TSP supplement, still deter some families from incurring
any more childcare or educational expenses. This is what motivates parents like Chris
Holland, the current chair of EEANS, the DSEPS parent support group. “Our mandate,”
Holland says, “is to make sure that each child has that opportunity to learn in the
way that best suits them” (Holland interview, 2015).
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Easing the transition
‘“We’re always assessing whether a student is ready to “leave the nest.” This is a
safe spot, a place where kids don’t have to worry about sticking out because of their
challenges. But the idea is for them to eventually not need to be insulated and to be able
to function in the wider world.”’
- Pat Doherty, Head of Churchill Academy, Hello Dartmouth.ca, March 3, 2015
Search for sustainability –
Sweeping away the remaining barriers
The actual demand for special needs day schools far exceeds the number of enrolled
students. Active parent advocates like David Sampson and Chris Holland testify to the
obstacles facing prospective students and their families. Essentially, parents are left
to discover the TSP on their own. Under the current special education delivery model,
the TSP does not appear on the official continuum of service because it is delivered
outside the public school system. Within the Halifax Regional School Board, a growing
number of principals and special education teachers are favourably inclined to refer
students, albeit as “a last resort” in most cases. Overall, the TSP, after more than
a decade, remains a best-kept secret. In the case of Holland, a Churchill Academy
parent, he discovered its existence when stumbling upon Churchill during a search
on the Internet (Holland, 2015).
The Nova Scotia Department of Education did produce an attractive TSP brochure in
January 2012, which outlines the scope of the TSP, its eligibility guidelines, funding
details and the DSEPS. NSDOE Special Education Consultant Annie Baert developed
the brochure in collaboration with David Sampson, former chair of EEANS, and
the designated special education schools. It was designed in response to parental
concerns about the difficulties acquiring information at the school level about TSP
and the DSEPS. During meetings with Department of Education officials in late 2011,
Sampson received assurances that the brochures would be distributed and readily
available in the schools (Sampson, 2015). While it is posted on the Department
of Education Web site, it does not appear to have made it into the schools. “We
had brochures created,” Holland reports, “and none can be found in the schools”
(Holland, 2015).
The TSP is gradually gaining acceptance one school at a time in Nova Scotia. An IPP
assessment or a principal’s letter testifying to eligibility is easier to obtain in provincial
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schools, but it still varies from board to board and even school to school. The Head of
Bridgeway Academy, Lucinda Low, initially found that the Chignecto-Central Regional
School Board (CCRSB) principals were reticent to identify and recommend students
for the special program. Three years later, she reports that many of the referrals are
coming from Pictou County schools on the eastern frontier of the CCRSB. With the
opening of the Bridgeway satellite campus in September 2012 in Yarmouth, Low is also
seeing more response from parents in the Tri-County Regional School Board district
in southwest Nova Scotia (Low interview, 2015). Two of the DSEPS heads, Pat Doherty
of Churchill and Peter Coll of Landmark East, see improvements in the responsiveness
of schools that are familiar with the TSP, and they appreciate the efforts of Baert and
NSDOE staff in streamlining the approvals process (Doherty 2015; Coll 2015).
Building acceptance for the TSP is proving to be an arduous process. Students and
families in crisis still find the wait time interminable, especially for those unable
to afford private psychological assessments. School principals have considerable
discretion in deciding when and if IPPs are conducted in their schools. A delay of six
months is expected, and some take longer. Securing one in some schools remains
next to impossible (Sampson, 2015; Low, 2015).
Rural schools with declining enrollment can pose
difficulties because they are the most reluctant
to part with students (Low, 2015). All of these
factors contribute to the relatively low number
of students who qualify for the TSP and to
attendance at DSEPS in Nova Scotia.
The DSEPS are gradually winning over parent and
families. Enrolling a child in a special education school is no one’s first choice, but it
can be an educational lifeline for students struggling with severe learning challenges.
Schools like Bridgeway Academy can play a crucial role in “getting through” to those
who are learning challenged, and they do not pretend to be a “forever school”
(Bridgeway Academy, 2015). Allowing some students to stay beyond the “short-term
transition” has also relieved the pressure on dozens of families. The DSEPS, for the
most part, are doing a good job educating a hard-to-serve student clientele. Most
students surveyed at the DSEPS during the 2009 TSP Review were very positive about
their educational experiences, and the vast majority of parents claimed that the
schools had “saved their children” (TSP Review 2009, 106-110, 55-67).
Having a “life-changing experience” tends to bond students and families to the schools.
After a few years in such a school, benefitting from smaller classes and considerably
more individual attention, going back to the district school can be upsetting, if not
Students and families in
crisis still find the wait time
interminable, especially for
those unable to afford private
psychological assessments.
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frightening, for some students. Students transitioning back can experience a serious
personal crisis, necessitating emergency medical and psychiatric care (Sampson,
2012). More recently, such cases are rare because of the greater flexibility in allowing
students to stay on and the much improved student support that allows a successful
transition back into regular schools (Doherty, 2015). Giving some enrolled students
the option of funding to complete their high school studies at a DSEPS has definitely
helped to relieve stress and anxiety in many families (Sampson, 2013, 2015).
Initial fears that allowing more access to DSEPS might open the floodgates have not
materialized in Nova Scotia. ‘“We’re always assessing whether a student is ready to
“leave the nest,”’ Doherty recently told Hello Dartmouth.ca. ‘“This is a safe spot, a
place where kids don’t have to worry about sticking out because of their challenges.
But the idea is for them to eventually not need to be insulated and to be able to
function in the wider world”’ (Watson, 2015).
The Nova Scotia model has stood the test of time, serving students with SLD well
for more than a decade. Since September 2004, the TSP has aided hundreds of
students and provided an educational lifeline for their families. It exists today as a
provincial program supported by successive provincial governments and under its
own regulations. Back in November 2007, then Liberal education critic, Leo Glavine,
proposed a private member’s bill to amend the Education Act and enshrine “support
for special needs students” attending “special-education private schools” (Nova
Scotia, Bill No. 35, 2007). The bill died on the order paper, but Minister of Education
Karen Casey rejected a Ministerial Review recommending cancellation of the TSP and
commissioned a new study that resulted in the ultimate retention of the TSP.
Supporters of the special education schools only want what they have discovered is
best for their child. They are seeking better, more appropriate alternatives and have no
desire to see any children “stigmatized” or “segregated” from others against their will,
especially those with physical disabilities or severe mental handicaps (Ryan, 2014). After
two province-wide reviews and three successive governments, it may be time to take
the next step in amending the Education Act and provide more certainty for students
and families now benefitting from, and dependent upon, the TSP in Nova Scotia.
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Looking ahead
“Integration does not work for every
child. Let those it works for attend public
school and allow those it doesn’t work for
easier funded access to private specialized
schools. It seems a simple, straightforward
solution, doesn’t it?
- Parent of a DSEPS student,
- testimonial to Nova Scotia TSP, 2012
“Things began to change for the better (for
my little boy) when he began to attend
tutoring at Riverbend, and after two years
of full-time classes there, he is performing
well at his school work and is a happy
confident child .... I have met parents
of other children with similar learning
difficulties who would benefit from the
program ... who are not able to pay the
fees.”
- Current parent, Riverbend Community
- School, April 16, 2015
Unlocking the potential –
Prospects for a bigger breakthrough
Nova Scotia has shown the way in initiating and solidifying its TSP, supporting 220 to
230 students with SLD and their families each year. That “lifeline program” has come
to the rescue of the largest number of learning challenged students in the Halifax
region, central Nova Scotia and southwest Nova Scotia.
While this support only reaches approximately two out of five students at severe
risk, it represents an important breakthrough. Some estimates, based upon Statistics
Canada data analysis, put the number of students in Atlantic Canada with identified
LD at approximately 14,000. Whatever the actual number, the success of the Nova
Scotia model provides us with a program that has achieved proven results. The cost of
the Nova Scotia TSP, at $2.4-million in 2014-2015, is a very wise investment when one
considers the social and economic costs to society of students who never graduate
from high school and end up going off track in life (NSDOE, 2015; Sampson, 2012).
Special education is a policy in a dynamic state of flux. New Brunswick’s 2012
report Strengthening Inclusion, Strengthening Schools adopted a narrow focus and
represented a missed opportunity (NBDECD, Porter and AuCoin, 2012). Some of its
research findings, especially on alternative school programs, did raise serious questions
about whether the existing “full inclusion” model could ever be retooled enough to
serve the diverse and complex needs of today’s students. The core philosophy of
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inclusion is almost universally accepted, but there is a growing awareness that the
best schools “teach the way children learn” and that there is a place for specialized,
intensive learning programs where provincial education authorities build a bigger
tent and open the door to new program options within an even more inclusive system
of education (Bennett, 2012NB; Wilson 2013).
All is not lost when better approaches to special education are flourishing elsewhere.
While the 2012 New Brunswick Inclusive Education review merely perpetuated
the status quo (Bennett and Gallagher, 2013), the recently formed New Brunswick
government may be inclined to look at special education with a different set of eyes.
It will require a new vision and nothing less
than a provincial strategy to seed the needed
educational innovation. If Nova Scotia is any
indication, developing a full continuum of
services will not happen overnight. Working
in close partnership with school districts,
teachers, the PCSPD, NBACL, LDANB, Facing
Autism in New Brunswick and other advocacy
groups, the province should build upon
the initial success of Moncton’s Riverbend
School (Riverbend Community School, 2015)
and use it as a pilot school for building a
network of alternative programs and schools
to fill its service gap (Bennett, 2012NB,
Recommendations).
It is time for New Brunswick, Prince Edward
Island and Newfoundland/Labrador to join
Nova Scotia in embracing the new paradigm in special education services. Leaders
in the movement in Ontario, Alberta, the United Kingdom and many U.S. states are
rethinking special education for the 21st century. Prominent educators such as Sir
Ken Robinson have alerted us to the challenge of re-engineering education systems
that promote conformity, uniformity and industrial habits of mind so that they
foster creativity and innovation — and recognize individual learning differences (CBC
Maritime Magazine, 2012).
Nova Scotia’s TSP leads the way in breaking the mould. Providing tuition subsidies
in the form of per student grants (or vouchers) is successful in meeting the unique
special education needs of a hard-to-serve student population. Given best-practice
research, there is a clear place for private special education schools in the overall
Working in close partnership
with school districts, teachers,
the PCSPD, NBACL, LDANB,
Facing Autism in New
Brunswick and other advocacy
groups, the province should
build upon the initial success of
Moncton’s Riverbend School...
and use it as a pilot school for
building a network of alternative
programs and schools...
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continuum of service (Cole and Price, 2009; Henteleff, 2009). It follows, then, that
students with LD and complex needs in neighbouring Atlantic provinces would be far
better served by opening the door to new forms of schooling and utilizing evidence-
based programs and interventions. The Nova Scotia TSP has proven that it can benefit
hundreds of students with SLD and their families.
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A New Vision
“We need more schools committed to the
Riverbend School vision of The Three R’s:
Rethinking education, Rebuilding self-
confidence and Recognizing potential. It
has to start somewhere.”
- Rebecca Bulmer, Director,
- Riverbend Community School,
- April 3, 2015
What it means to students
“I like Bridgeway. It’s very different in
the way they teach you. I was terrible in
math before, but now I am really good at
it, especially in long division. It’s more
one-on-one, so if I get stuck, they go step
by step of how to do it so I understand ....
The day goes pretty fast. If you finish your
work you can read or listen to music and
on Fridays it’s more of a fun day where we
play games .... I’ve made a lot of friends
and am able to talk to more people and
larger groups.”
- Tyler Burton, Grade 10 student at
- Bridgeway Academy, Truro,
- November 21, 2012
Summary and recommendations
Over the past decade, Nova Scotia’s TSP has provided a much-needed educational
lifeline for hundreds of at-risk children and youth. Severely challenged students
from Grade 4 to Grade 12 struggling with learning deficits for two or more grades
have found a home and reasonable success in one of Nova Scotia’s three DSEPS.
After securing a psychological assessment and an IPP designation, some 180 to 230
students have qualified to receive TS and a supplement that covers 90 per cent of
the tuition at one of the DSEPS. The DSEPS, for the most part, are doing a good job
educating a hard-to-serve student clientele. Most students surveyed at the DSEPS
during the 2009 TSP Review were very positive about their educational experience,
and the vast majority of parents claimed that the schools had “saved their children”
(TSP Review 2009, 106-110, 55-67). The TSP forms an important component of a
Nova Scotia system that supports all students, where they can learn best, in a more
fully evolved continuum of services (Henteleff 2004; Cole and Price 2009).
With up to 14,000 students in the Atlantic region estimated to be struggling with
severe learning challenges and complex needs, the regular classroom is clearly not
the answer for all children. While inclusive education is the overriding philosophy
and starting point for all children, modern school systems, acting upon independent
best-practice research, are embracing a new paradigm founded upon providing “the
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most enabling environment” for each child. Such a model supports parent choice and
seeks to provide, wherever possible, a full continuum of service from total integration
to resource classes to specialized program schools (Cole and Price, 2009). Instead
of adding to the heavy responsibilities of regular teachers, this model allows for a
broader range of placements with specialist teachers, access to professional resources,
much smaller classes and time for true parent-teacher collaboration in meeting the
students’ needs. No regular public school, especially in times of budgetary restraint,
can provide the small class sizes and this level of intensive support for these high-
needs students.
The up-front costs of a TSP, currently budgeted at $2.4-million for 220 students, are
a sound investment when one considers not only the comparable costs in the public
system, but also the staggering long-tem costs of not addressing the largely hidden
problem. Statistics compiled by the LDAC, based upon North American studies,
document the potential long-term costs to society. High school students with LD drop
out of school at roughly twice the rate of
regular students. Some 50 per cent of U.S.
females with LD become mothers within
three to five months of leaving high school.
A series of Canadian studies of young
offenders have shown that between 30 per
cent and 70 per cent of that population
has experienced learning difficulties, and
the cost of detaining them in 1998 was estimated to be $100,000 a year. In 1995,
Correctional Service Canada reported that 45.6 per cent of adult inmates with LD had
previous youth court records. A more recent Ontario Ministry of Labour study found
that adults with LD typically hold a job for only three months and are most likely
terminated for social skills deficits, not lack of job skills (Warwick LDAC, 2010). In
short, investing now in high-risk students saves society thousands more in the costs
of supporting high school dropouts and marginalized youth who become dependent
upon social assistance, burden the health care system and populate our prisons.
Every Nova Scotia DSEPS success story produces not only productive citizens and
happier families, but also reduces potential long-term social and economic costs for
the provinces. Specialized LD schools like Moncton’s Riverbend Community School
deserve the opportunity to be recognized and, with tuition support, would only help
broaden accessibility in other provinces. Providing a lifeline for our most vulnerable
children and youth simply makes common sense all around for students, families and
the province.
The up-front costs of a TSP ...
are a sound investment when one
considers ... the staggering long-
term costs of not addressing the
largely hidden problem.
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Recommendations for Atlantic Canada
Recommendation 1
The Departments of Education and Early Child Development in New Brunswick,
Newfoundland/Labrador and Prince Edward Island initiate studies of the Nova Scotia
TSP and the lessons it provides in expanding the range and scope of the existing
continuum of service for children with severe disabilities and complex needs.
Recommendation 2
The recently elected New Brunswick government takes a closer look at Riverbend
Community School and considers establishing it as a provincial pilot alternative school
(Grades 4-9) that utilizes public-private partnerships and offers specialized, intensive
evidence-based programs for children and teens with SLD and complex needs.
Recommendation 3
Departments of Education outside of Nova Scotia support existing independent schools
like Riverbend Community School and/or establish pilot special education schools
committed to providing children with “the most enabling” learning environments
that are appropriate to their needs.
Recommendation 4
Education Departments outside of Nova Scotia, working with school districts, the full
range of special education groups and system partners, assess the costs and benefits
of adopting a transfer-of-fees funding formula modelled on the TSP and consider
allocating $1.5-million in tuition support for the first 100 students deemed to be in
need of such intensive, all-day learning support.
Recommendation 5
All school districts and boards develop closer partnerships with special education
advocacy groups and regular day schools and future special schools to enable
smoother transitions and to ensure that students with LD do not slip through the
cracks in the system.
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Recommendation 6
The university faculties of education, serving both the Anglophone and francophone
communities, introduce expanded special education training programs (with part-
time and evening sessions) specifically for current and prospective special education
program teachers.
Recommendation 7
The Departments of Education, including Nova Scotia’s, develop a more explicit
continuum of service model, including self-contained classes and special education
alternative schools as well as a province-wide communications strategy to promote
awareness of such schools and the application process for TSP subsidy eligibility.
Recommendation 8
The province of Nova Scotia takes the lead in reforming the Education Act to formally
recognize the rights of students with diagnosed SLD to access special education
program schools. The province distributes information about the TSP in every public
school in the system. This will continue the process of modelling best practices for
neighbouring provinces.
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References and sources
Academic and professional articles
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Hanushek, Eric A., John F. Kain and Steven G. Rivkin (2002). “Inferring Program
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for Students with Special Needs. Walter Farmer, M. Lynn Aylward and Miles
MacDonald. Halifax: NSDE, July 2007.
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Nova Scotia Department of Education (2009). Promoting Student Engagement:
Report of the Minister’s Working Committee on Absenteeism and Classroom
Climate. Howard Windsor. Halifax: NSDE, September 2009.
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Nova Scotia Education (2011). Steps to Effective and Sustainable Public Education
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Annie Baert and Gaye Rawding. Halifax: NSDE, 2009.
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Burrell, Kevin (2012). “Truly Life-changing Program.” The Chronicle Herald, March 1,
2012.
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Education.” June 5, 2012.
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Model.” April 17, 2012.
CBC News, New Brunswick (2010). “N.B. Teachers Need More Special Needs
Training.” June 23, 2010.
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Chislett, Tara Lynn (2012). “Dad Worries about Inclusive Education Report.”
The Daily Gleaner, May 28, 2012.
Chislett, Tara Lynn (2012). “Groups Don’t Agree on Definition of Inclusive
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29, 2006.
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Metro Halifax, December 18, 2014.
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the Editor, The Chronicle Herald, May 26, 2013.
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Shiers, Kelly (2011). “N.S. Special Needs School Gets Endowment of up to
$750,000.” The Chronicle Herald, December 20, 2011.
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Personal interviews
Anonymous parent of former Bridgeway Academy student, 2011-2014, Dartmouth,
February 18, 2015.
Baert, Annie, Learning Disabilities Consultant, Nova Scotia Department of
Education, Halifax, November 28 and 29, 2011.
Brown, Rhonda, Director of Communications, Bridgeway Academy, Dartmouth,
November 30, 2011, December 16, 2011 and January 9, 2012.
Bulmer, Rebecca, Director, Riverbend Community School, April 3, 15 and 16, 2015.
Brummet, Wade, Past president, Equal Education Association of Nova Scotia,
Halifax, November 29, 2011.
Cochrane, Dennis, Former Deputy Minister of Education, Nova Scotia, December 27,
2011.
Coll, Peter, Head of School, Landmark East School, Wolfville, February 9, 2015.
Doherty, Pat, Head of School, Churchill Academy, Dartmouth, December 12, 2011
and January 28, 2015.
Holland, Chris, Chair of Equal Education Association of Nova Scotia, March 8, 2015.
Lucinda Low, Founder, Bridgeway Academy, Dartmouth, November 30, 2011 and
February 18, 2015.
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McNeil, Paul, Executive Director, Bedford-Sackville Adult Literacy Network, February
2, 2012.
Sampson, David, President, Equal Education Association of Nova Scotia, Halifax,
December 2, 2011 and January 29, 2015.
Web site sources
Bridgeway Academy (www.bridgeway-academy.com).
Churchill Academy (www.churchillacademy.ca).
Landmark East School (www.landmarkeast.org).
Nova Scotia Education (2011), Amendment to the Governor in Council Education
Act Regulations made under Sections 67 to 78 of Chapter 1 of the Acts of 1995-96
and Amendment to N.S., Reg. 74/97, June 24, 1997. http://tuitionsupport.ednet.
ns.ca/sites/default/files/ed-gic_education_act_regs-201073-scha.pdf.
Nova Scotia Education, Tuition Support Program (http://tuitionsupport.ednet.ns.ca/).
Riverbend Community School, Moncton, New Brunswick (http://riverbendschool.ca/).
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