‘The last ones to get services’: Rally at Belleville, Ont. school for the deaf calls for funding

Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf in Belleville was the focus of a protest Thursday afternoon that is calling on the provincial government to stop education funding cuts.

Parents, teachers and students of Ontario’s four schools for the deaf and blind gathered at Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf in Belleville Ont. on Thursday to protest ongoing provincial funding cuts to special education.

“This rally is to raise awareness about the problems that exist in provincial schools,” says Provincial Schools Authority Teachers (PSAT) District 30 Officer David Sykes. “They’re deep rooted problems, they’re systemic problems and they’re long standing problems.”

Sykes says the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federation (OSSTF) has seen his district’s membership decrease from about 205 teachers to 174 at last count.

“We’re noticing the declining enrollment as well,” Sykes says. “And it’s not that there’s less deaf kids being born in this province, it’s that they’re not getting identified and they’re not being provided with an opportunity to attend our schools.”

According to OSSTF PSAT D30, 130 people were in attendance of the day’s event.

Organizers are calling on the provincial government for oversight and transparency, as well as protection of provincial schools through funding programs, resources and staffing.

“Special education students are the last ones to get services,” says PSAT D30 President Tamara Witcher. “We’ve already lost 25 per cent of our teachers in the last few years. 25 per cent!”