I found an update in the October 14, 2025 board meeting package, starting on page 45.
The update opens by outlining the provincial model so trustees and families understand the constraints shaping services. BC uses a model created more than twenty years ago, which places most learning support funding into the general per-student allocation. Only a small group of designations receives additional funding:
- Level 1: Physically Dependent (A), Deafblind (B)
- Level 2: Autism (G), Chronic Health/Physical Disabilities (D), Deaf/Hard of Hearing (F), Visual Impairment (E), Moderate–Profound Intellectual Disabilities (C)
- Level 3: Intensive Behaviour or Serious Mental Illness (H)
The point of this section is straightforward: the system funds a narrow set of categories, and even within those categories, the funding levels vary widely.
Designated student numbers are growing in high-needs categories
The headcount completed on September 29 shows several important shifts:
- An increase in Autism (G): +11 students
- An increase in Intensive Behaviour / Serious Mental Illness (H): +2 students
- An increase in Deaf/Hard of Hearing (F): +4 students
- A decrease in Chronic Health / Physical Disability (D): –5 students
- A large decrease in Moderate Behaviour (R): –15 students
Overall, the district has 4 more designated students than last year. But because funding amounts differ, the district receives less money despite supporting more students with complex needs.
This contradiction underpins the entire update.
Assessment capacity remains limited and heavily strained
The district psychologist completed 47 assessments last year. This is a significant caseload, and the report acknowledges that wait times continue to grow. The psychologist is also responsible for consultation on complex cases, meaning the role is stretched across assessment, planning, and system-level problem-solving.
Speech-Language Pathology services are over capacity
The district has 3.2 FTE speech-language pathologists supporting:
- All students meeting Level 1–2 criteria
- Universal Kindergarten speech screening
- Early-intervention caseloads
- Direct and consultative supports to 440 students last year
This workload “far exceeds recommended ratios”—a rare admission in a public board report. It signals significant service pressure and long-term sustainability concerns.
Itinerant specialist services are thinly staffed
The Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (TSVI) and the Teacher of Deaf/Hard of Hearing (TDHH) each serve the entire district. Both also support neighbouring districts through contract work. This means the system relies on a very small number of specialists to cover a large geographic area.
More complex needs, less funds than last year
Because provincial funding depends on the distribution of designations—not the total number of students who need support—the district receives a slight decrease in supplemental funding.
This is due to the loss of several students in high-dollar categories (especially D and R) even though autism, mental health, and sensory-related needs have all increased.
In plain terms: Schools face higher need with fewer funded resources.
Systemic pressure point
The update closes by stating that demand “continues to remain a concern.” This phrase carries weight in board language. It means:
- Current staffing cannot meet demand.
- Pressure on inclusive education services is rising.
- Students will experience delays, limited access, or reduced intensity of supports.
It is a soft warning to trustees that the system is operating beyond sustainable capacity.
Summary
The district’s Inclusive Education Update reveals:
- Higher numbers of autistic, mentally ill, and sensory-disabled students
- Severe assessment delays
- Speech-language caseloads far above recommended limits
- Extremely limited itinerant specialist capacity
- A decrease in funding despite an increase in need
- A board-level acknowledgment that demand outpaces resources
It is a formal, carefully worded document that communicates a material reality: Inclusive education needs are rising faster than the systems designed to support them, and the district is receiving fewer resources than required to meet those needs.
Families deserve educational environments that honour their children’s needs with consistency, dignity and genuine support, and every child in District 6 carries the right to an education shaped by equity rather than scarcity, by timely intervention rather than deferred care, and by systems that rise to meet their growth rather than expecting them to endure avoidable struggle, so I invite every family in Rocky Mountain School District to demand stronger commitments, deeper investment and more accountable oversight, because your advocacy strengthens the collective insistence that every learner receives the services, assessments and inclusive supports required for full participation in school and full belonging in community.
