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On 11/18/20, the Parent Council for Parents of Students with Disabilities met for the first time this school year. The Parent Council for Parents of Students with Disabilities consists of two parent/guardian representatives from each school/program. These school representatives share information, provide input, and assist in generating new ideas to make improvements. They are also able to provide additional resources and information to their school community. The school representatives for Mount Pleasant High School are Katie Urbanki( Urbanskifamily4@gmail.com ) and Jowanna Briscoe(briscoejowanna@yahoo.com). Feel free to contact them if you would like to discuss any ideas, comments, or concerns you feel are important to be communicated to the Parent Council.
Highlights from the November meeting:
- Acronyms are everywhere! Here is one more to add to the list: SEC. SEC stands for Special Education Coordinator. This is the new title of the individuals that were previously referred to as the EDs (Educational Diagnosticians). The SECs are your point of contact in the building for IEP meetings and other special education needs.
- There is a Brandywine Parent Council for Students with Disabilities Facebook page. If you are connected to Facebook, like the page as one way to stay connected with information and resources.
- When all students return to school, there will be unfinished learning due to the impact of the school closures. Staff are working to ensure all students obtain the essential learning they need from the missed instruction.
- Data is the driving force for making decisions for students with disabilities. It is expected that there may be regression on IEP goals due to the closures and changes in the way instruction is delivered. When students return to in-person instruction, staff must determine how students are currently performing with each IEP goal. Then staff will provide in-person instruction and collect data over an 8-10 week period. This data will be reviewed to determine if the student was able to recover any lost skills and if they were able to make progress to meet the IEP goals. If the data does not suggest that the student recovered and made the needed progress, an IEP meeting will be held to determine the student's needs for recovery services. Based on this data, IEP teams will revise IEPs to add in additional services during the day and, in some cases, determine if Extended School Year (ESY) is needed during the summer.
- Parents/guardians are doing a wonderful job providing support. Keep up the collaboration but give yourself a break and some grace. Parents and teachers are better together! Check out the resources linked below for more helpful information:
Parent Information Center (PIC): COVID-19 Tips for Families of Students with an IEP