CRANSTON SPECIAL EDUCATION ADVISORY COMMITTEE

MEETING MINUTES

November 7, 2017

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

Excused members: Ed Angilly

Guests: Pam Schiff, Cranston Herald

School Committee: Domenic Fusco

Administrator: Lisa Abbott, Anne Bouchard

Asst Principal:

General Education Teacher:

Special Education Teacher: Carmen Ruggieri, Cranston East

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

Approval of minutes – October was a panel- Project Search, no minutes to review. There was a request for minutes to be posted on-line. Dannelle to ask Ed the password to upload the most recent, approved minutes.

Chairperson Update-

RISEAC and CEAB Update

CEAB hosted an Aspen training at Park View on 11/6. It provided technical support to parents. A new feature was highlighted, tutor.com. Students with a library card can login from Aspen (under Quick Links) and ask questions on-line, white board capability as well as uploading papers/projects for feedback. This on-line feature is free and available 2p-10pm. The session is run by teachers and not meant to provide answers but to assist/guide students.

Jeff Gale said a subcommittee is being formed for the school lunch program. There is a deficit with payments and solutions are being sought for collecting unpaid balances.

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

SEAN Update

Just released- RI Social Emotional Learning Standards, there are 5 domains with subcategories that are age appropriate (handout distributed). RIDE will be releasing more information as it gets integrated into schools.

Pathways- defining examples of activities and strategies that are appropriate for the transition of middle and high school students. The goal is to get everyone on the IEP team to participate in measurable goals- a handout was distributed “Engage the Page’ with examples of what a completed list might look like. Secondly, access to programs was reviewed- giving “tiers of opportunity”. For instance if a student is interested in working with animals, there are more options than just becoming a Veterinarian- tech, check in, walker, etc. Exposing different levels within a desired field.

Representative Amore has a bill relating to curriculum materials, assisted technology with that curriculum and professional learning standards.

ESSA- RI has submitted a plan, pending approval (Federal funding). Some new requirements are included in regards to Foster Care (DCYF and school coordinator) in a best effort to keep things consistent for a child in the program.

Survey Works- all data from general education and IEP parents will be merged into one survey. The goals is to get more rich data and an accurate gauge on whether something is effecting a certain segment of the population vs the school as a whole.

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-

ECC had a successful Trunk or Treat event. Children had the opportunity to practice trick or treating with visuals and social stories.

The Wonders program is now being used on the elementary level which is going well. Eureka is the math curriculum and now teachers have access to a google docs program that answers questions amongst teachers.

School Committee Report-

Contracts have been approved for custodians and secretaries

Details to follow on potential schedule changes being made at the middle and high school level (TBD)

New Business-

*Carmen Ruggieri- Cranston Police Department Establishes Autism Spectrum Disorder Registry to assist officers in responding to calls for service.

Carmen had given us the back story of her ALEC training and personal experience with a safety risk that led to her partnership with Lieutenant Mark Freeborn (Cranston Police) to create a registry. The press release was distributed (just released last week). Colonel Winquist stated this information to be helpful to “prevent behavioral escalation and resolve a situation easily”. Jason Head (Newport Police Department) conducts the training for Police officers. This is a great program that in time will extend to the fire departments- congratulations.

An example of the form was given as well as an opt-out/withdrawal form once the child turn 18 and so chooses. We discussed ways in which this can be distributed- can it be done at the IEP (profiling?). Can it be linked on the SEAC and CPS website/facebook?

Other ?’s- does this follow their license ex- when someone on the spectrum gets pulled over for a moving violation and perhaps they are not making eye contact, etc. this may be perceived differently with a diagnosis.

UPDATE: unfortunately the DMV operates on a different network is not linked with this program.

*Suzanne Arena is now on the Dyslexia committee and worked with RIDE to have a tab available on-line that is dedicated to Dyslexia. Supports, assessments, accommodations, RtI, and technology resources are available for parents.

*Thanks to Nikki for providing RI Youth Transition Workbooks

Old Business-

*Crowd funding- FERPA violations

There was a conversation about teachers in the district who were using a website to raise money for materials they needed in their classroom/special needs students. Pictures of the students were used on the website without a release from CPS (the website provides their own release form however it is uncertain as to whether those were used when posting each student’s photo). Not only are there concerns in regards to FERPA, there are also concerns about what is being procured- how it is being used, catalogued, etc. In an example, a teacher left the district but took the crowd funded materials with her. Michelle Simpson is working closely with Dannelle to monitor the site and contact families. Dannelle also spoke at the SEAN meeting (RIDE present) to bring the matter to light as it affects all districts.

FERPA training is given annually- perhaps reexamine criteria and add examples like this one. A policy is also being created- agenda item for the school committee.

Details to follow.

*Private/confidential settlements

There were questions about how schools track out of district placements that are settled between school lawyers and parents. Currently you cannot see how much is being spent, where it is going, etc. As part of these agreements there is a gag order and parents waive their IEP rights. In Massachusetts this information is now public after a Supreme Court ruling. No current updates in RI.

Adjournment- The meeting was adjourned at 8:10pm

Minutes respectfully submitted by, Liz Wilson