May 11, 2011 Special Ed. Sub Meeting

Quincy School Committee
Special Education Subcommittee

Mrs. Emily Lebo, Chairman
May 11, 2011 7:00 p.m.
Quincy High School
Agenda

  1. Welcome and Introductions - Mrs. Lebo

  2. CORI process - Mr. Kevin Mulvey

  3. Confidentiality - Mr. Kevin Mulvey,     Ms. Judy Todd

  4. QPAC Updates - Ms. Gichuhi
    Events
    Goals

  5. Substitute Teachers, District - Ms. Emily Lebo
    Accommodation Information Sheet - Ms Judy Todd

  6. Inspire Project Update - Ms.. Judy Todd

  7. Calendar SY 11-12 - Team

  8. Parental Concerns - Parents

  9. Adjourn – Thank you! - Mrs. Lebo

Minutes

Quincy School Committee, Special Education Subcommittee

May 11, 2011

On May 11, 2011, the Special Education subcommittee (SESC) met at Quincy High Middle School with QPAC Board Members and interested parents. Present from the School Committee were: Mrs. Emily Lebo, Chairperson, Ms Anne Mahoney and Mr. David McCarthy. Also present representing the Quincy Public Schools (QPS) were: Dr. DeCristofaro, Mr. Kevin Mulvey, Ms. Judy Todd, Ms. Erin Perkins, Mr. Richard Kelly, Ms. Donna Cunningham as well as three teachers from the Parker Elementary Language Development Program.. The following meeting opened at 7:00 P.M. with introduction of all present. Agenda items were addressed.

CORI process: Mr. Mulvey went through the CORI process and its history in MA and included how it is done in QPS (maximum 2 week turnaround). All staff, people working with our students and any volunteers are CORI’d prior to having contact with students. It is assumed that anyone who works for QPS may come into contact with students and they are included. Schools systems get the entire history on a CORI and Mr. Mulvey holds all to highest standards. He meets with anyone whom he has a question about. There is no recourse for people not being hired because of a CORI. All School Bus drivers also get CORI’d by State in order to get a bus driver’s license, If hired by outside transportation company, they get CORI’d then but QPS still does a COR, because QPS gets more information.

Confidentiality Mr. Mulvey went through the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) last updated in 2008 and reviewed the process of how this information got to school staff. Mr. Mulvey reviews it at his Personnel Team meetings annually and all professional staff get this information with the required Civil Rights training annually. Mr. Mulvey said only information in records is protected or information that was gotten from a record. Mr. Mulvey will review how substitutes get this information. It was unclear if all other appropriate staff got this training annually and would be checked into. There was discussion that some staff have given parents and others information about other students as explanation that should not have been disclosed. Mr. Mulvey requested that when anyone had this happen they should call the principal so that FERPA could be explained and upheld for all students. Mr. Mulvey asked that anyone who did not get the response they felt was necessary should contact him.

QPAC Updates: QPAC has a new Executive Board: Jill Gichuhi, President, Maureen Lynch, Vice President, Mia Hurld, Treasurer Laura Keeley, Public Relations Jen Keane, Outreach •Secretary – needed. On May 24th, QPAC is having a workshop on Collaborative Problem Solving and their last meeting of the year is May 14, 2011. QPAC reviewed their goals from last year: Goal A Increase participation in QPAC, QPAC established a resource center and evaluate the hours, they will be working on making changes to the hours for next year. They also did explore some fundraising opportunities and have made $220 and will be buying a computer for the center. Goal B Advise the District on special education policies, procedures, and programs. QPAC collaborated with Special Education Office on a disability characteristics booklet. This is now in Ms. Todd’s hands for editing. QPAC also worked with the district to identify transition related resources and best-practices. This is ongoing. QPAC also conducted a Parents Needs Assessment (survey). Three was a 16% response rate. Many of the responses were positive. QPAC has decided to focus next year’s goals on the areas of concern: Behavior, Extracurricular, Communication and Progress, and Social Skills Ms. Gichuhi will work with the superintendent and Ms. Todd on these.

Update on Substitute Teachers;
This will be an item on the May 18, 2011 School Committee meeting. Ms. Todd and Ms Gichuhi have been working on the accommodation listing to give substitutes, This item will stay in subcommittee until this is completed. It was clear that some teachers gave more information to the substitute than others. Ms. Todd will review if there is a way to insure that needed information is given by all teachers to subs. It was also discussed as to how long term substitutes get information. They are treated as classroom teachers and have to prepare for the classes and are given the information needed to conduct the class.

Inspire Project Update: Purpose is early identification of problems so remediation can be started to decrease problems with reading. Special Education Staff gave an overview of two programs Phonological Awareness and Developmental Reading Assessment and the significant positive impact this has had on students in the one and a half years it has been implemented. Three teachers from Parker explained how the programs work in their classrooms and how they work collaboratively to support the needs of the students in whole group, small group, and pull out sessions. They spoke of the continual assessments, interventions, and progress monitoring that goes on to ensure that students are improving their skills. The program has been well received by parents is having very good success and the district is casting a wider net to bring students in who could benefit. With continued data, the district and QPAC will start to spread the word on the good effect this is having.

Calendar 2011-2012: School calendar, QPAC, and School Committee dates were reviewed and dates for this subcommittee were established for next year:

October 26, 2011
February 1, 2012
March 28, 2012
May 23, 2012

Parental Concerns: There was a short discussion about program movement and if students in substantially separate programs were being required to make too many school site changes due to program movement. Specifically, CARES (Squantum has 2 K-2 classes but no 3-5, which is at Snug Harbor) vs LDC (which has the same schools fro all years. Ms. Todd reported that the way CARES is structured was most beneficial to students and that there is no space at Squantum for an additional classroom. No other programs are planned to be moved.

Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM