Data shows increasing need for intensive supports in Catholic Division

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The number of students who need Intensive Support and Inclusion and Intervention Programs (IIP) in the Prince Albert Catholic School Division continues to grow.

Each year in December the Ministry of Education requires school divisions to submit the number of students that need IIPs. Superintendent Charity Dmytruk presented the data to the board of education at their regular meeting on Monday.

“We see the numbers are rising,” education director Lorel Trumier said. “We are seeing them in our classrooms again. Our Pre-K and the ELIS program in particular is supporting children with intensive needs but the proportion of students to that (program) is very low right in the classrooms. In Pre-K we have 15 students and we have a maximum of three ELIS students in a classroom.”

The memo included data from the 2017-2018 school year to 2022-2023. There are currently 230 students on Inclusion and Intervention Plans, or eight per cent of students compared to all enrolment.

In 2021-2022 there were 207 students on IIPs or seven per cent. When the reporting began in 2017-2018 there were 156 students on IIPs or five per cent.

Each student in the Early Learning Intensive Support (ELIS) program requires an Inclusion and Intervention Program (IIP).

Trumier said the current government support has been vital to meet the increased need.

“It’s exciting to integrate students with intensive needs and to get the support to do it through processes like the additional E.A.s this year that were supported with the funding model from the Government of Saskatchewan,” she said. “We couldn’t do it without that kind of support for sure.”

The Ministry of Education collaborates with other ministries to collect prevalence rates of students with specific diagnoses. The information is then used to develop programs, approaches and supports to meet the needs of students currently enrolled in schools and to support their smooth transition as they leave school and enter the community.

This information is also part of the data used to determine each school division’s Supports for Learning funding.

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