Regina woman not sending nephew back to preschool after specialized program cut

A Regina woman will not be sending her nephew, who has intensive needs, back to school this fall after the specialized Discovery Preschools program was cut by Regina Public Schools following the March provincial budget. 

Michelle Grodecki said her nephew, Austin, has severe apraxia of speech with "no intelligible speech," and does not think he will get the attention he needs in a classroom of 20 or more children.

"For Austin, it's not fair to him to set him up to fail," Grodecki said.

The Discovery Preschools program had been in place for decades, aimed at assisting children with special needs, intellectual disabilities and autism.

The program was cut by the public school board as it was facing a $9.5-million shortfall.

Grodecki said her nephew "has a lot of intensive needs that are not necessarily going to be properly addressed in the classroom."

She noted that her nephew took one year of the Discovery program before it was cut; students enrolled typically took it for two years. 

In the Discovery environment, Grodecki said there was a ratio of about one teacher for four students and that level of attention would not be provided in a larger classroom.

"We were told that there's no guarantee of an assistant," Grodecki said. 

She added that she was told if there was an assistant present, she did not know what level of support Austin would receive or how often. 

Grodecki said the family is searching for an intensive support option for the home environment for the next year, though nothing has been found yet.

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