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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-04-13 Special Education Parent Advisory Council Minutes f't"CLIVt U �• orx TOWN CLERK Town of Reading ,�' Meeting Minutes' i� 2071 MAY 18 AM 9: 15 '•urconrpP� Board - Committee - commission - Council: Special Education Parents Advisory Council Date: 2021-04-13 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Location: Address: Session: Purpose: Business Meeting Version: Attendees: Members - Present: Laura Noonan, Board Member Amy Stewart, Board Member Alyssa Scaparotti, Board Member Members - Not Present: None Others Present: Dr. John Doherty, Superintendent Dr. Jen Stys, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services Allison Wright, Director of Special Eduction Erin Gaffen, School Committee Liason Kelly DiCato, District Team Chair Lisa Studer, District BCBA Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Alyssa Scaparotti Topics of Discussion: 1. At 7:02 PM,the business meeting commences,and all board members are present. Board member Amy Stewart chairs the meeting. 2. Board Member Laura Noonan made a motion to review and approve minutes from the 3/09/2021 meeting. Scaparotti seconded. The minutes were approved unanimously. 3. Jennifer Stys,Assistant Superintendent of Student Services gave an update: a. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts released Dyslexia guidelines. Reading is already doing a lot of the things included in the guidelines. The administration was happy to see the guidelines released. b. Videos are being made by a high school student about the different Special education programs. Videos will be released on the Student Services website when available. c. Reading Committee-Thomas Wise and Stys are finalizing a list of book resources. Additionally,the administration is editing and finalizing the video of the March reading presentation. It will be posted on the Student Services website when completed. d. The administration is working with Chris Nelson in the extended day program to create a general education summer program for students who are struggling with reading and possibly math. This will be funded by a grant. Page 1 1 e. Heather Grada-Durbeck, District BCBA, moved.The District found a replacement BCBA quickly. f. There are upcoming Parent Trainings about social and emotional topics including mindfulness, helping with student anxiety,etc. 4. Allison Wright,Director of Special Education, noted that Extended School Year dates for this summer will be from July 6, 2021-August 9,2021. Parents will receive schedules via email from Wright. Services will be available in person. If a student is remote in the spring, please reach out to Wright to let her know if the student wants to stay remote over the summer. Transportation will be available if designated as needed for the summer in the student's IEP. DESE is extending pooled testing funding throughout the summer. 5. Kelly DiCato, Reading Public Schools Team Chair,gave a presentation on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Resource Guide to the Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for Students with Disabilities a. A recorded version of the training will be available on the Student Services Webpage. 6. SEPAC Board Member Amy Stewart and SEPAC member Timna Serino gave a presentation on local and regional community resources providing family education, advocacy,recreational opportunities, and summer camps. a. The resource guide will be available on the SEPAC website. b. There was discussion from members and administration present at the meeting sharing additional resources. 7. SEPAC members Michele Sanphy, Kate Goldlust,and Kit Lonergan gave an update concerning the feedback they had solicited from families on topics for future meetings and the proposed draft survey. a. They have received responses from parents with children with special needs and parents whose children only access general education. Parents of general education students would like guidance on how to talk to their children about disabilities and how to be an ally. b. Their goal is to identify five (5) of the highest interest topics to use in a survey sent out district-wide. They would like the survey to be brief to hopefully increase the amount of participation. They are hoping to use the results of the survey as a roadmap for future SEPAC presentations. c. Michele asked the group thoughts about whether to send the survey this spring or in the fall. Feedback leaned toward sending the survey at the end of May. 8. There was a discussion regarding feedback from SEPAC pertaining to BCBA turnover and transition. a. Laura Noonan,SEPAC Board Member, stated that she hoped the discussion would be about whether the SEPAC could help with communication between the District and parents. She reported that parents were given notice of a BCBA transition at different times and were given different information.She reported that some parents received more information from other parents than from the District itself. Discussion about this topic had occurred on Facebook.To clarify this discussion occurred on a private parent Facebook group unaffiliated with SEPAC. Noonan asked a series of questions: I. What is the policy,or procedure, currently in place to ensure that all IEPs are being serviced when there is such a gap in service providers? Page 1 2 ii. When there is a gap between the departure of one service provider and hiring of the next provider, is there a policy regarding notice to parents that there is a gap? iii. How transparent is this process and can SEPAC be of service? b. Noonan opened the floor to deliberation on the following: 1. Is this a matter of policy for the school committee, 2.a matter of operations for the district,3. whether or not we agree that this is an area that could be improved upon, and 4. if SEPAC can be of assistance. c. John Doherty,Superintendent of Reading Public Schools, noted that the BCBA resigned and the District hired a replacement quickly. He advised that the school committee does not have oversight over service provider transitions. He refers parents to Dr. Stys if they have questions about transparency.A parent has a right to talk to Dr. Stys directly to learn more about policy. d. Noonan clarified that the topic is communication to parents,who are an important member of the IEP team,and inquired whether there is District policy regarding communication to parents about service provider transitions. e. Stys stated that this is good feedback for the administration. People are welcome to reach out to her and Wright directly. In general,a service provider is a staff member of a specific school and typically a communication about a departure is made by the school principal.This BCBA was a District employee so communication was not made by a principal.Stys reported that when services cannot be covered by District employees,the District may contract out for services, offer reimbursement for private services,or provide compensatory services at a later date. f. Lisa Studer, BCBA for Reading Public Schools, reported that the departing BCBA worked very hard to make a smooth transition. The District is working around the clock to ensure students are getting what they need with the transition. g. Noonan clarified that she would like the discussion to be about communication from the District to the parents about the transitions of service providers including informing parents as to the end date of one service provider and the start date of the next and what is done when there is a gap in service providers. h. A member noted that parents are embracing their role as an important IEP team member.As an integral member of the team she would have been frustrated if she did not receive clear communication from the District. I. A member opined that if one parent knows about the transition, every person working with the service provider should know about the transition. There is a need for communication from the District before there is parent-to-parent information sharing. j. A member opined that discussion should address communication to families about staff change. A staff member leaving could potentially rise to the level of policy for school committee consideration, like when there was previously a reading specialist vacancy at the high school for an extended period of time. k. Stys stated that this is great feedback and the administration will make an effort to communicate future transitions in a different manner. I. Noonan asked if she can make a motion for SEPAC to advise the school committee that the district should have a clear policy regarding communication to parents who are important members of IEP teams when service providers are changing. Page 1 3 m. Doherty opined that this is an operational issue not suitable for the school committee and a motion was not included on the agenda. n. Stewart stated that everyone is on the same page and the District acknowledged that the departure could have been communicated better and has indicated a willingness to improve.Stewart indicated that she could not understand the motion and more detail about the motion would need to be explained. In response to Noonan's comment that the current Board has not advised the school committee,Stewart stated that we have been advising the School Committee and district for the past 2 years on our calls and meetings,which have included our liaison Erin Gaffen. If a motion is to be voted on it needs to be stated clearly and be on the agenda beforehand. o. A member opined that this is not the SEPAC's role and is bordering on operational. p. Erin Gaffen, School Committee liaison, stated a takeaway for administration is that parents want information about service provider transitions as soon as possible. A takeaway for parents is that social media is not the appropriate place for this type of discussion. Gaffen respectfully requested that discussion move to other topics on the agenda. q. Noonan read from the Massachusetts statute about the role of a SEPAC.She reported that if the SEPAC has information or advice that it wants to give to the school committee and/or the District, due to open meeting laws,the SEPAC must have public deliberation, motioning,and voting prior to taking any action. SEPAC discussions need to take place in public. r. Noonan made a motion that the SEPAC enter into conversations with the District Administration in order to offer advice to the District on any procedures they have regarding parent communication pertaining to transitions of service providers within the various special education programs. No one seconded the motion. s. Stewart made a motion to table Noonan's motion. Scaparotti seconded.The motion passed with 2 in favor and 1 against. 9. Public Comment a. A parent asked DiCato whether Entry Points are new. DiCato clarified that it is not new and recommended that if parents have questions specific to their child they should speak to the IEP team or the child's special education teacher.The same parent noted that they had never seen the resource guide shared in DiCato's presentation in her experience working with her child's IEP team over the last six(6)years. DiCato responded that the guide is primarily intended for teachers'use in modifying curriculum,so it is not surprising that the guide had not been seen by the parent previously.The guide is available on the DESE website. 10. Scaparotti made a Motion to adjourn and it was seconded by Stewart. The motion passed unanimously. Page 14