SEPAC PARENT UPDATE April 8 2020 WELCOME It

SEPAC & PARENT UPDATE April 8, 2020

WELCOME! It is so good to see everyone! I hope that you and your loved ones are all safe and healthy. The support you have given to our teachers and staff is so appreciated. I truly admire all of the work you are doing with your children to keep them safe, happy, healthy, and educated. At this time, we are all educators.

A Special Thanks I would like to give a shout to two amazing individuals Krissy Berg Joanie Desilets They have done amazing work in helping to organize this session, keeping in touch with me, and informing all of you. Their efforts never go unnoticed and are so much appreciated.

Questions? I know everyone has so many questions. I ask that you put the questions in the chat box. Krissy will read me the questions and I will answer them after we complete each section. I promise that I will get to each question.

Keeping It In Perspective

Let’s Start With The Easy Stuff

Gen Ed Access To IEPs All special educators have been consistently communicating with general education staff so that they can begin to provide accommodations and modifications to student work. Rest assured that they are also ensuring that general education staff have access to student IEPs as we work remotely.

ESY There are concerns that we will not be holding summer school this year due to the virus. Unless given an explicit directive by the commissioner, there will be ESY. If buildings are still closed, we may need to continue with remote services, but we will provide for our students.

Remote Learning & Service Plan Georgetown Public Schools will be providing a Remote Learning & Service Plan for all special education students. All teachers have been directed to use the same form for consistency across the district. It is quite possible you will be seeing these forms come to you via email right away, but the latest you will see them will be Monday morning.

Consent School districts DO NOT have to get parent consent in order to deliver services remotely during the school closure. School districts DO have to provide written notice to parents about what services will be provided to students during the closure. The Remote Learning and Service Plan mentioned in the previous slide will serve as the GPS written prior notice.

Notification You will also be receiving an initial email stating that the District will temporarily be providing a remote learning plan for IEP services during the school closures due to the COVID-19 public health crisis. It will state that the District is taking good faith efforts to implement IEP services remotely during the period of closure. DESE has noted that not all IEP services can/will be implemented during the school closure. After the initial email, you will receive email updates on a weekly basis. These email notices will also include a description of any important agreements or discussions held with special education staff regarding the remote provision of services during the closure.

Family Communication I feel that special education staff have done an excellent job reaching out to you and your children. I also know, as a parent, this communication can be overwhelming at times. Work out a schedule with your child’s case manager that works for you. The frequency and type of communication will obviously vary based upon the needs of your children.

It Gets A Little Harder. . .

Confidentiality Actually, this is pretty easy. Confidentiality and FERPA are in place for student records. Unless you are showing something on a screen directly related to an item that would be kept in the student’s confidential record, there is no breach of FERPA does not protect the confidentiality of information in general. For example, parents are able to observe classrooms, even sub-separate classrooms, where all students receive special education services. Videos and photos of students are not educational records. SO DON’T SWEAT THIS!

Disclaimers Obviously, we will not be providing the same services in the way we do when in a classroom. Every time a provider delivers services, he/she will be displaying this disclaimer. DISCLAIMER FOR TEACHERS PRIOR TO VIRTUAL LIVE LESSONS: We are now going to begin a remote learning opportunity through the use of video communication. In participating/allowing my child to participate in the school district’s online/remote learning activities, I understand agree that my child’s image and voice will be transmitted over the internet, into the homes of other students and staff, and that the school district, while taking measures to ensure secure transmission, cannot guarantee or warrant complete confidentiality of my or my child’s voice or image while participating in online learning. It is important that we continue to respect the privacy and intellectual property rights of our school community – our teachers and our students. By participating in remote learning today, you agree that you may not save, record, share, or post this session or any photos from this session. I also agree that I will not save, record, share or post this session or any photos from this session. The rules in school apply to this remote classroom experience. Students must treat each other with respect during our time together and must obey school rules. If you or your parents do not agree to these rules, please disconnect from this session and contact me to receive an alternative learning packet.

Guidance From The Feds & The State Both USDE and DESE recognize that remote instruction will look different from instruction that is provided within the school setting. They have recommended that districts move toward providing services similar to those identified in the students IEP as we develop and improve systems.

Harder Stuff

Service Provision A GRID Special educators and service providers will be providing ALL A Grid services. If there is a parent consult, that will occur. Of vital importance is consistent communication between general educators and special educators. They have been instructed to continue their consultation time to ensure that assignments provided by general educators are modified for students.

Service Provision B Grid services become a bit trickier, as there are no true general education classrooms. Options to provide these services include: Attendance in general education Zoom meetings Monitoring Google Classroom and Schoology to provide modification of assignments & tests Paraprofessionals will also be involved with these services.

Service Provision C Grid Special educators and related service providers can not be expected to meet grid requirements to the minute. They will be outlining these services in the Individual Service Plan based upon what they believe individual require in order to make progress given the current circumstances.

Service Provision EXAMPLES OF REMOTE LEARNING Teletherapy Tele-intervention Meetings on digital platforms Curriculum-based resources Instructional packets Projects Written assignments

Office Hours Teachers who mostly provide C Grid services such as Study Skills and Language Skills will be holding Office Hours for students and families. This will be in the Individual Service Plan, and is a specific time each week when they will be available to answer questions and provide guidance and support to assist students with navigating the general curriculum. Those teachers who provide individual or small group services will use that time for answering questions.

Meetings

IEP Meetings School Districts are highly encouraged to hold remote IEP meetings during the closure. Many of you have already participated in them. Parents MUST provide consent to hold meetings remotely. Katelin Kennedy and Kris Oldoni will be reaching out to you to ensure that you are comfortable holding meetings via Zoom.

Meeting Disclaimer Kris & Katelin will also be displaying this disclaimer before every meeting. By participating in the meeting, all parties agree to the following: The parties hereby agree to hold the IEP Team meeting remotely. The parties acknowledge and agree that the IEP Team meeting is being held remotely due to Governor Baker’s Executive Order dated March 15, 2020, which prohibits in-person instruction and educational operations until May 4, 2020 while schools are closed due to the Executive Order. By participating in the remote IEP meeting, the participants agree not to save, record, share, or post the IEP meeting. The District will take all reasonable measures to preserve your privacy and the privacy of your child, and each of our educators will continue to maintain the privacy of your child’s student record information. The Parents/Guardians agree to excuse the District from strict performance of IEP timelines which are not feasible pursuant to governmental directives arising from or related to COVID-19 pandemic issues.

Types Of Meetings We will be holding all annual reviews. We will only be holding three year evaluation meetings on those students who have completed testing. The same is true for initial evaluations. We are not allowed to complete standardized testing remotely. We will have to sort out the rest when we return. We will be holding transition meetings from school to school in this format if we do not return by the end of the year.

Current Performance DESE encourages special education staff members to use whatever data they have on a student to assist in the development of the IEP. Thus, this information will come from the most recent progress reports. The N 1 that you receive will indicate that the IEP, including current performance levels, is based on the information available from the last time that staff members worked directly with the student, and that, when warranted, additional changes may be made through the IEP Team process when school re-opens and more current data can be obtained.

Paperwork Once the IEP is finalized, you will be emailed the final version, as well as the minutes from the meeting. You will then receive Just the 2 signature pages via US mail so that you can sign and return. All paperwork will be returned to the Perley School for me to process and get to each building when the closure is complete.

Most Importantly Stay Safe & Healthy While we are obligated to provide all students with a free and appropriate public education, , that obligation can only be delivered “consistent with the need to protect the health and safety of students with disabilities and those individuals providing education, specialized instruction, and related services to these students”. In short, everyone’s physical and emotional health comes first, no matter what.

Keep In Touch I MISS YOU ALL! Reach out any time with questions, or a need for clarity. Keep yourself and your loved ones healthy. Keep the faith.

THANK YOU! I so much appreciate all of the well wishes I have received, and all of the positive feedback I have received regarding the work of my staff. This is an amazing community, and I am proud to represent special education for this district. Your dedication to education, flexibility, and understanding make my work so much easier.