Home » Education & Career » Special Needs Issues » Volunteering - More Than Just Fun In The '90s

Volunteering - More Than Just Fun In The '90s

© Keenan Wellar

I recently got more that I bargained for. I decided that I would try to contribute something to the special needs community beyond my role as Executive Director of the Special Needs Network. So, a few months ago, when I saw that the new amalgamated school board in my area (Ottawa-Carleton District School Board) was seeking representatives for their Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) I thought I would throw my hat in the ring.

It all happened rather suddenly. I sent in my letter of application and more or less forgot about it. Then one day I received a call from what was obviously a very busy lady (I later found out she was a Trustee representative of SEAC) who asked me a series of questions in rapid fashion, and next thing I knew I was off to a meeting - that night!!!

I have now been to about 5 SEAC meetings in just a couple of months (this is the other surprise - I did not imagine more than one meeting a month) and the learning curve has been phenomenal. For one thing, although I have certainly spent time in the school environment, I am ashamed to say that I have been quite ignorant of its inner workings. It is a complicated operation to say the least.

I also had certain misconceptions about school board staff. I never thought that they were not hard working, but the hours that they put in (at least the members of staff on SEAC) are definitely not 9-5. They seem to have an evening meeting to attend almost every day of the week! I also liked to think that school board officials were out of touch with students and parents. From what I have seen so far, this is not the case.

One of my little biases has been maintained, however. This has to do with the fact that people working in the school system sometimes forget that they are just one component of a larger educational/social services community. I think this is changing however, although more by force than by choice. With schools forced to cut back on services such as after school and summer school programs, they have started to reach out to community agencies in a cooperative fashion. This should bring some positive results from what is otherwise a negative situation: cutbacks.

I think I picked the wrong time to volunteer in this fashion, at least if I thought I was going to have any fun. It is down right scary taking part in the difficult decisions that have to be made when programs are being cut. Accounting and special needs are not a great mix. It is horrible trying to make some of these decisions! It is hard (and wrong?) to attach a monetary value to services for students with special needs, but it is even harder to compare different services with an eye to reducing overall expenditures.