2020-09-08 Speical Education Parent Advisory Council Minutes

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next steps will be to develop entrance and exit criteria, however, will publish descriptions prior to that next step. Stys anticipates that descriptions will be published on website by end of October. Stys reported that a new team chair at high school has been hired. Her name is Renee Lamore and she also is a reading specialist. Stys reported that Melissa Forbes has transferred to be the team chair at Coolidge Middle School. Stys reported that student services has been working with Gail Dowd and individual schools to provide PPE and sneeze guards. Also working on "red cat systems' and closed captioning for Zoom. SEPAC short term and long term goals Laura Noonan advised that one required goal of the SEPAC is to host a basic rights workshop. She announced that the SEPAC has scheduled the FCSN to present Basic Rights: Eligibility and Evaluation on October 13th. Noonan also reported on SEPAC's efforts to collaborate with Andover and North Andover to offer the other basic rights workshops within the same timeframe. Noonan also reported that SEPAC elections are scheduled for October and that the Bureau of Special Education Appeals (BSEA)will be presenting to the SEPAC in November on its available mediation related services. Maria Morgan advised that based on her conversations with parents in Reading that SEPAC related support and social opportunities are the priorities among parents. Amy Stewart agreed and referenced her own conversations with parents. Amy Stewart suggested that presentations that may be of interest to caregivers include: 30th anniversary of the ADA and history of 504 (referenced documentary"Grip Camp" available on Netflix) and state and community based resources for families with disabilities beyond that of the district's services, such as DDS, Masshealth, Communitas,Arc, etc. Amy Stewart questioned whether more caregivers would feel comfortable volunteering on the SEPAC board if the roles/responsibilities were explicit and assigned, as opposed to a general board format. Stewart also questioned whether encouraging caregivers to "shadow' current board members for a month or two would provide caregivers with the skills and confidence to take on board leadership roles. Stewart suggested that an alternative to board positions may be volunteers who self-identify and are considered as"on-call"to support the board. Suggested that volunteers could be called "Friends of SEPAC"or the like. Laura Noonan staled that she prefers a flexible approach to the board structure with no explicit roles or assigned responsibilities. Noonan stated that serving as meeting chair involves a lot of work and she prefers to rotate and share that responsibility. Maria Morgan suggested the SEPAC school liaison effort be a priority and that outreach to all parents of all disabilities be a priority. Morgan stated that Amy Stewart reached out to Metco last year and these outreach efforts should be continued this year. Morgan stated that virtual meetings likely may become the norm and Its an opportunity for greater participation by caregivers. Tom Wise agreed that social support should be a prioritized goal of the SEPAC. Wise also suggested that discussion/programming on "unseen disabilities" be a focus of SEPAC this year. Wise suggested parent education on reading development and instruction, including what to look for in terms of red flags, what to listen for in teacher feedback, how to interpret test results, and how to be a team member and appropriate and reasonable advocate for your child to help them move forward. Pa9e 1 2