The Autism Centre of Excellence school is moving to the planning phase. But not all parents are happy

Emily Williams · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 02, 2025 1:26 PM EDT | Last Updated: 4 minutes ago

Edmonton Public Schools is readying a dedicated schoolhouse for students with autism they accidental volition connection an enhanced learning situation and summation capacity, but which immoderate parents and advocates pass is simply a setback for education.

The Autism Centre of Excellence schoolhouse received readying backing from the state past December and was approved successful the 2026-29 Capital Plan astatine Tuesday's schoolhouse committee meeting. 

The thought is to person an existing schoolhouse tract into a abstraction dedicated to providing enactment for the division's increasing fig of autistic students. 

It would see learning environments tailored to autistic students, accrued capableness for support, enhanced programming and training, and a pupil modulation hub, a study tabled Tuesday says.

But parents of kids with disabilities similar Nicole Renaud and Rajesh Kumar are disquieted it creates a segregated system. 

"Disabled students are conscionable opening to retrieve from a nine-week targeted exclusion from EPSB schools," Renaud said astatine the meeting, referring to students who were asked to enactment location during the caller enactment idiosyncratic strike. 

"And present EPSB is looking for ways to segregate disabled students further arsenic a precedence successful their planning."

About 40 per cent of autistic students enrol successful specialized interactions programming, a benignant of acquisition designed to amended communication, societal enactment and behaviour portion processing world skills.

The different 60 per cent chose to beryllium integrated into a regular classroom. 

But Kumar said parents are progressively being pushed distant from the integrated exemplary and told they volition get amended enactment successful the interactions program. 

Kumar is disquieted the caller schoolhouse volition further incentivize underresourcing astatine neighbourhood schools.

"I cognize galore parents similar maine are not being heard. We are looking to spot the part present the enactment teachers request to supply an inclusive education," Kumar said.

Kumar and advocates from Inclusion Alberta said integrated classrooms supply the champion outcomes for disabled students.

"Segregated schools for students with disabilities are neither caller nor innovative," Inclusion Alberta manager Philip Ney told the meeting.

"Such schools were created due to the fact that students with disabilities were agelong denied their close to a nationalist education."

Superintendent Darrel Robertson said their exemplary has shown success, but acknowledged the part doesn't person each the answers.

"We don't person everything figured retired successful presumption of supporting each of our children to beryllium successful," Robertson said. 

"And I'm not definite determination is simply a schoolhouse part successful the satellite that does."

Over the past six years, 75 per cent of each caller classes established by EPSB person been dedicated to the interactions program, the study says.

The caller schoolhouse would let the part to code that growth, and besides provides genitor choice, Robertson said.

"Planning backing for an Autism Centre of Excellence gives america an accidental to imagination a small spot astir what could be," Robertson said.

"It's not meant to supply a segregation exemplary successful the schoolhouse part for children connected the spectrum." 

He said the lone idiosyncratic who tin nonstop a pupil placement is the superintendent — and that absorption is lone fixed successful exceptional circumstances.

Robertson said determination are much than 3,000 autistic students successful the schoolhouse division. There are astir 120,000 students successful the full schoolhouse population. 

"We're consenting to rotation up our sleeves and we privation to enactment and emotion and attraction for our kids successful the champion mode possible," Robertson said.

Saadiq Sumar, the trustee for Ward G, voted against the question due to the fact that of concerns raised by parents and advocates. 

"Given the comments from immoderate of the speakers I person doubts," Sumar said. 

He noted the program had to beryllium submitted to the state that day, and already had backing allocated to it, leaving small country for amendments.

"I deliberation the volition down this is good, but sometimes wherever bully intentions tin pb is not ever wherever we privation to be."