CRANSTON SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE

MEETING MINUTES

December 5, 2017

Members present: Dannelle Littleton (President), Liz Wilson (Secretary), Suzanne Arena (parent), Nikki Hanauer (parent), Jack Hanauer (student representative), William Littleton

Excused members: Ed Angilly

Guests:

School Committee: Domenic Fusco

Administrator: Julie Driscoll

Asst Principal: David Schiappa

General Education Teacher:

Special Education Teacher:

Dannelle called the meeting to order at 7:05pm and the following business took place.

Approval of minutes – May and November were approved.

Chairperson Update-

RISEAC and CEAB Update

Next CEAB meeting, 1/8 @ 7pm- Nel/CPS Construction Career Academy.

RISEAC- Ed was not in attendance, no update

SEAN (meeting 2018- update at that time)

RIPIN- upcoming workshops…

11th Annual Family Voices Partnership Conference, Supporting the Caregiver- Radisson Providence Airport Hotel, 8:30a-3pm,

TBD 2018

9th Annual Dare to Dream Student Leadership Conference- Wednesday, May 23rd and Thursday, May 24th 2018 at URI, 8a-3p

8th Annual Transition 101 Conference for Parents- Friday,

December 1st, 2017, Radisson Providence Airport Hotel, 8a-2:15p

14th Annual College Planning Forum (students with disabilities, parents and school personnel)- Saturday, March 3rd 2018,

8:30a-2pm

Administration Report-

Julie Driscoll attended a meeting at RIDE with other elementary Principals and teachers to obtain more information on the social/emotional standards that were just released. The national standard “CASEL” will be implemented. Roxanne Gustafson will be leading the integration into schools.

David Schiappa is working on getting Cranston West classified as a unified banner school. He is working closely with Chris Hopkins (Special Olympics) in regards to sports as well as other criteria to meet the required standards. Many of these are already being practiced however the official application is being finalized in the Spring with the goal of being a unified school by Fall 2018. Most recently the National Association of Mental Illness came to the school for a seminar that was well attended by students and faculty.

School Committee Report-

Schedule changes to the middle and high schools were approved- block scheduling (semester) will be the new standard. This set-up will allow for more internships and electives. There will also be more opportunities for career and tech pathways which can now start as early as 9th grade- Zach Farrel will be the lead on this initiative. Other potential positive outcomes- school visits to other schools, more integration, hands on learning/creative projects, group think, etc. Teachers to receive support as to how to incorporate this new style of teaching.

New Business-

Nikki Hanauer distributed flyers for transition planning…

College Planning Forum- March 3, 2018, 8a-1:30p, Providence College- Ruane Center (free)

West Bay Regional Transition Night and Resource Fair- April 4, 2018, 6p-7:30p, Deering Middle School (free)

Suzanne Arena is working with URI to create a certification program for Dyslexia. Teachers needing training on a secondary level will be able to go to URI.

Old Business-

*Crowd funding- FERPA violations

A policy is proactively being created- agenda item for the school committee.

Details to follow.

*Private/confidential settlements

No updates from our last meeting- potential agenda item for the next RISEAC meeting.

Adjournment- The meeting was adjourned at 7:50p

Minutes respectfully submitted by, Liz Wilson