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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-11-05 Speical Education Parent Advisory Council Minutes Town of Reading Meetin Minutes Board-Committee-Commission-Council: di! UE136 PNI2: 59 Special Education Parent Advisory Council Date: November 5,2019 Time: 7:OOPM Building: Reading Public Library Location: Community Room A Address: 64 Middlesex Ave, Reading, MA Session: Purpose: Business Meeting Version: Attendees: Executive Board Members-Present: Laura Noonan, Board Member Alyssa Scaparotti, Board Member Maria Morgan, Board Member Amy Stewart, Board Member Executive Board Members-Not Present: Others-Present: Jennifer Stys, Director of Student Services Allison Wright,Assistant Director of Services Jeanne Borawski,School Committee Liaison Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Alyssa Scaparotti Topics of Discussion: • Call to Order:Amy Stewart called the meeting to order at 7:OOPM. Amy Stewart chaired the meeting. • Welcome/Intro By Board: o Each of Laura Noonan,Alyssa Scaparotti, Maria Morgan,and Amy Stewart introduced themselves as the current board members. o Amy Stewart chaired the meeting. o Amy noted that the Board's goal for the meeting is to make all attendees feel welcome and informed. The Board would like everyone to feel like their input at the meeting was valued by the Board. o Amy also noted that all SEPAL members present at the meeting are welcome to vote. o The Board's obligation to follow the Open Meeting Law was discussed. All board members reviewed the materials provided by the town clerk and completed the certifications of receipt and review. It was noted that the Town Clerk is responsible for enforcing the Open Meeting Law,and that it was agreed the Open Meeting Law does not need to be discussed further at the SEPAC meetings unless an issue is identified by the Town Clerk. Page 1 1 Town of Reading Meeting Minutes WL, • Old Business: o Read and approve minutes from 10/15/19 meeting ■ Amy Stewart made a motion to approve the minutes. Laura Noonan seconded. The minutes were unanimously approved. • New Business o Discussion of SEPAL purpose obligations, roles and meetine structure ■ Purpose and Obligations • It was agreed at the meeting that discussion of the SEPAL purpose and obligations will be deferred until after Leslie Leslie of the Federation for Children with Special Needs(FCSN)presents a workshop to the SEPAC regarding the role and purpose of the SEPAL in Massachusetts at future business meeting in December or January. o The FCSN presentation will cover topics including the purpose of SEPAL, statutory background,what works well and what does not work well,and strategies to engage the community. o The FCSN presentation is available as webinar to view on the FCSN website if anyone would like to view it outside of a SEPAL meeting. ■ Roles • Board Member Roles:Amy Stewart noted that the board members are not employees of the District and thus do not need email addresses from the District. The board will keep gmail accounts. • Role as Relates to School Committee: o Jeanne Borawksi noted that the SEPAC has a participatory and advisory role to the School Committee. Her role in the SEPAC is as a liaison who brings information from the SEPAC to the School Committee. She is also willing to give brief updates at the SEPAC meeting regarding relevant School Committee information. Jeanne acknowledged and confirmed that her role attending the SEPAC meetings is principally for observation purposes. o It was also discussed that the presence of a School Committee liaison at the SEPAC meetings is not a substitute for SEPAC members to do at least one annual formal presentation at a School Committee meeting. The SEPAC may also consider presenting its point of view at School Committee meetings each time the Director of Student Services presents,which is 3 or 4 times a year. o Michele Sanphy,a member of the SEPAC,volunteered to be the SEPAC budget parent. o There was discussion of the support previously given to the SEPAC from the School Committee-precedent included a MassPAC Plus Membership annually, photo copies and audio visual support at meetings. SEPAC members informed Jeanne that going forward SEPAC would like all of those same supports and would like the School Committee to consider giving the Page 12 Town of Reading Meeting Minutes WIN , .P SEPAC a budget to pay 1 speaker this academic school year and •,r 2 speakers the next academic year. • Role of Voting Members: Amy Stewart read the relevant portion of Article III of the by-laws aloud: "Voting membership shall be limited to any general member who is a student(not less than 14 years of age)or parent or guardian of a child with special needs residing in Reading or attending Reading Public Schools with or without an Individual Education Plan(IEP). Voting membership is required to vote in annual officer elections and other business that comes before any SEPAC meeting." It was noted that a parent/student is not considered a voting member of the SEPAC if the student resides in Reading,attends private school,"n not have special needs. ■ Meeting Structure: • Precedent: Previously there were 3 types of meetings: Business meetings, parent support meetings, and general meetings where educational programming was provided. Meetings are typically held in the evening. • Daytime Meetings: o Laura Noonan stated that there had been requests from parents to have SEPAC meetings during the day for those who cannot attend in the evening. o Alyssa Scaparotti moved for the SEPAC to approve Laura Noonan sending a survey to the SEPAC email group about coordination of date and interest in a daytime meeting. Amy Noonan seconded. The vote passed unanimously. • Parent Support Meetings: o Multiple members present at the meeting requested more parent support meetings. o Amy Stewart suggested that the meetings need to be mindful and intentional with a facilitator. Amy also noted that SEPAC would need to be thoughtful about what information is being disseminated at parent support meetings and perhaps guidelines would be needed to ensure respect among parents attending. o There was general discussion among members, with many voicing opinions that no facilitation was needed. It was also discussed that at the beginning of each parental support meeting it should be noted that it is not a confidential setting. o Jennifer Stys stated that if SEPAC wants a specific topic discussed the school department could help facilitate a training with someone who works in the school district. She asked the SEPAC if it would like to provide feedback on whether there are specific needs the administration could help with at these meetings(e.g. homework help). o Updates from the Director of Student Services,Jennifer Stvs Page 1 3 Town of Reading Meeting Minutes ■ New Special Education Program Currently Being Developed at RMHS: •r • Jennifer Stys stated that there is a big focus on the 8th grade to 9t" grade transition. Middle school staff has been meeting with high school staff to discuss smooth transitions. • Compass is in Coolidge now, but there is not currently a classroom at the high school. Jennifer Stys is working with her staff to identify a space and hire staff for a high school program. ■ General Updates: • Jennifer Stys explained that during the In-Service day on November 5, 2019, separate meetings were held for staff of each special education program. Staff from the same programs that work in grades kindergarten through 12th grade met together. Staff was asked to share with Jennifer Stys about their program,what they do,what professional development they need,guidelines for placing students in the program and what students receive to move forward. o Examples of topics discussed at the meetings included: ■ How does RPS define reading deficits. If it is a double deficit, how do we meet that need? ■ Going forward,what can the District do better to include all specialists like speech pathologists, psychologists,etc in servicing students. • Jennifer Stys noted that the Department of Student Services plans to send surveys out to parents in the future about each program. • In response to a question from a member,Allison Wright explained that if an older sibling is not in their neighborhood elementary school due to a placement on an IEP, a younger sibling entering the Reading schools typically attends the neighborhood school. Sometimes the younger sibling can attend the same school as the older sibling, but bussing would not be provided for the younger sibling if not required under an IEP. ■ Dyslexia Screenings • Jennifer Stys provided the following update about Dyslexia Screening in Reading Public Schools. • Jennifer Stys noted that research based on brain function is showing that if children receive reading instruction frequently and early(e.g. in preschool and kindergarten)this can help them not to be struggling readers. The dyslexia screenings are not a special education support, but rather a general education screening that occurs for all students. • For the 2019/2020 school year,Joshua Eaton got a grant from the state to pilot a new dyslexia screening process.The new screening process does not replace the screenings that are already done at Joshua Eaton. Only Joshua Eaton will try the new screening tool. The grant does not extend to the other elementary schools in Reading. • No new screening techniques to identify dyslexia will be used at the other elementary schools in Reading during the 2019/2020 academic Page 14 Town of Reading Meeting Minutes WNW year in response to Massachusetts Chapter 272 of the Acts of 2018 An Act Relative to Students with Dyslexia(passed October 19, 2018). Each elementary school will continue to do the Child Find screenings that are already in place. • In response to a question from a member,Jennifer Stys explained that the District is having a lot of conversations about implementing screenings at preschool. Chris Kelley(assistant superintendent)would like to implement a way to monitor early literacy skills in Reading preschools. Representatives from the District met with all early childhood community partners recently. • In response to a question from a member,Jennifer Stys explained that the District does not have a system whereby younger siblings of older students with dyslexia are automatically flagged and evaluated for dyslexia. The District has universal screening and everyone is screened. The state has highlighted research showing that a family history of dyslexia is often an indicator. The District should be asking these questions, but does not have a system right now to look closely at younger siblings. Jennifer Stys thinks the District should be looking into this forthe future. o Discussion of 2019-2020 values, priorities.and goals. including but not limited to fosterine parent eneaeement ■ Members agreed that the priority for the 2019/2020 school year would be parent engagement and parent support. ■ The members present at the meeting suggested the following ideas to promote parent engagement and parent support: • Add SEPAC updates in all school newsletters. • Design a SEPAC flyer for the District to hand out at all team meetings. o A draftflyer was reviewed. o Laura Noonan made a motion thatthe SEPAC approve the flyer previously designed by Sarah McLaughlin and request that it be distributed by the District. Amy Stewart seconded. The motion was unanimously approved. • Make remote access available to MetCo parents and specifically connect with them via email and phone. • SEPAC should strategize new ways to connect with non-English speakers and out-of-district parents. • Allison Wright agreed that Student Services staff will add undertheir email signatures a link to the SEPAC website. • There is a need to make SEPAC more visible so parents know what it is and that there are monthly meetings. o Members discussed the merits of designing a SEPAC poster for each school and having information about the SEPAC available in the lobby of each school in the District during parent teacher conferences. Page 1 5 Town of Reading Meeting Minutes ■ Jennifer Stys agreed to investigate if there is an available resource available to the SEPAC for printing posters. ■ Maria Morgan made a motion that Maria Morgan and Alicia Williams work together to create a SEPAC poster design and create multiple posters for display at during parent-teacher conferences on November 21, 2019. Alyssa Scaparotti seconded the motion. The motion was unanimously approved. o Laura Noonan noted that she was in contact with many District groups to advertise SEPAC meetings including Reading Embraces Diversity,school PTOs,School Principals, and various Facebook pages. o Members were encouraged to tell their friends about SEPAC and invite a friend to the next meeting. • Many members want more parent support opportunities provided through the SEPAC. • Parents would like education and research resources available through the SEPAC for parents new to the IEP process, including the following topics:the IEP process,scheduling meet and greet sessions for parents new to special education in Reading,available state resources and how to access them,who-is-who in the District. • Members desire more dissemination of resources from the SEPAC. o Alicia Williams volunteered to add event updates to the SEPAC website. o It was also discussed that high school students may be willing to volunteer to redesign and update the website. • SEPAC should administer a Facebook page to share events and/or provide a monthly newsletter listing events.. Amy Stewart noted that DESE has provided guidance stating that SEPACs can use Facebook pages to promote events, but not for discussion purposes. o Laura Noonan made a motion that she should take action to create a SEPAC Facebook page to use for promoting events. Amy Stewart seconded the motion.The motion was unanimously approved. • Members would like the SEPAC to have money to spend on special education resources. SEPAC could possibly partner with school PTOs or Education Foundation for specific funding needs. • Jennifer Stys mentioned that POST, a program run jointly between Reading and Wakefield to support 18-22 year olds would like to promote a transition fair and Jennifer Stys would discuss the fair with them. o Presentations to be Scheduled: ■ FCSNWorkshop about thPurpose and Role of the SPA Page 1 6 Town of Reading Meeting Minutes • Laura Noonan made a motion that Amy Stewart schedule the FCSN SEPAC workshop for the December 10, 2019 meeting. Amy Stewart seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. ■ DESE Presentation RE:Tiered Focus Monitorine • Laura Noonan made a motion that the District would schedule a date in January for DESE to present to the SEPAL about the Tiered Focus Monitoring process that DESE will undertake with the District. Amy Stewart seconded the motion. The motion was approved unanimously. ■ Basic Rights Workshop: • Amy Stewart made a motion that she will schedule the FCSN Basic Rights workshop in January or February. Laura Noonan seconded. The motion was approved unanimously. ■ Science of Reading Workshop • Tom Wise, School Committee member and SEPAL member,was not present, so Laura Noonan presented his proposal to the SEPAC. Members discussed whether the SEPAC would be interested in co-hosting with the School Committee a Science of Reading workshop with either Ola Ozernov-Palchik or Nadine Gaab of Harvard presenting along with Nancy Duggan of Decoding Dyslexia, if the School Committee decides to host it. • The workshop had not yet been discussed or approved by the School Committee so this topic will be tabled as old business for discussion at the December meeting. • Public Comment o Jeanne Borawski asked if SEPAC would like her to give an update from School Committee at SEPAC meetings and there was a brief discussion among members. ■ Amy Stewart made a motion to include in the December business meeting agenda an update from the School Committee liaison. Laura Noonan seconded. The motion was passed unanimously. o A SEPAC member, made two comments: ■ She would like a program in District fostering relationships between parents of children with special needs in younger grades with parents of children with the same needs in older grades. ■ She asked if Reading has resources for giftedness. • Rachel Connolly volunteered to be a liaison to SEPAC to communicate more information about giftedness if there is an interest among SEPAC members. • Jennifer Stys noted that Chris Kelley is doing work around having extended programs available to students in the classroom. Giftedness is addressed through curriculum. • Maria Morgan noted that there is a national organization that offers Professional Development for teaching gifted students o There was discussion from multiple members that it would be preferred for public comments and district updates to be moved earlier in meeting. Page 1 7 Town of Reading Meeting Minutes e o It was discussed that the Public Comment portion of the agenda is for .; discussion of topics that are not on the agenda. The District is not expected to give answers on public comment at meetings nor is the SEPAC Executive Board required to give information on the spot in response to public comments. o It was noted that all Board members are available to speak individually to SEPAL members after meetings, via emails, and via phone. At 8:53 PM, Maria Morgan made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Alyssa Scaparotti seconded the motion. It was approved unanimously. Page 18