FSSD Special Education News
Doing what's right for our students - one child at a time
May, 2016
Empty desks...Bittersweet.
As we wind down the 2015-16 school year, I hope you all know how much I appreciate all you do for our students with disabilities. The compassion and dedication you show to our students and parents makes me feel proud and humbled. As much as I hate it, we are losing some positions for this next year due to a decrease in numbers of students. We will also shift some teachers and paraprofessionals to other schools as the numbers of students change from school to school. We are also losing some people to other districts, home or other personal reasons. Whatever the reason for change, please know that you are valued and appreciated. Thank you so much for your hard work this school year. Use the time away to renew! August 1 will be here before we know it!
One day at a time...one student at a time...
Beth Herren
615.794.6624 - FSSD Central Office
615.472.3722 - Direct office line
615.238.1867 - work cell phone
Important Upcoming Events
- District-Wide SPED Advisory meeting - Tuesday, May 17 @ 3:30 PM
- Parent meeting with Trisha Clark and Katie Menanno - Tuesday, May 17 @ 6:00 PM
- LAST DAY OF SCHOOL - May 25
Best Buddies
District-Wide Advisory Group Meeting
Childcare needed for May 17th - 6:00 PM - Special Education Parent Meeting
IEA (Individualized Eduction Account) training for schools - June 22 9:00-11:00 AM or 1:00-3:00PM
The TDOE will be providing a series of regional trainings for school district staff a on the IEA Program in eight locations across the state. As described in previous newsletters, the IEA is the Individualized Education Account - an option for parents and students to choose alternate means of education through the use of public funds.
More information on the IEA may be found at this link: http://www.tn.gov/education/section/iea
Two district trainings will be held in each CORE region.
- The district trainings will last two hours, with one session offered in the morning and one offered in the afternoon at each training site.
- Districts will be able to send up to five representatives to the trainings offered in their CORE region. Registration will be monitored to ensure each district does not exceed this number.
- Districts have flexibility in choosing which district and school level staff attend the training. Examples of staff positions that might benefit from the training include: directors of schools, special education supervisors, finance officers, legal staff, attendance supervisors, assessment supervisors, school counselors, and school psychologists.
Training Content
The trainings are an optional opportunity available to all districts and will be designed to provide information to educators on the implementation of the IEA Program, including:
- an overview of what the IEA Program is, which students are eligible, how students enroll in the program, and what types of expenses IEA funds can be used for;
- district responsibilities, including how districts should report students enrolled in the IEA Program to the department; and
- details about how IEA funding will be calculated, distributed, and monitored.
If you are interested in attending this training, please email Beth Herren (herreneli@fssd.org) no later than May 25th. We have room for four more participants. Celby Glass is attending as the Attendance Supervisor, but I would love to see at least one school psychologist attend this training. Any other interested parties are welcome if we have open spots for this training.
Click on the link below for information on Parent trainings for the IEA.
STATE Offered Summer PD
Summer 2016: Instructionally Appropriate IEPs
The TDOE will offer a repeat session of Instructionally Appropriate Individual Education Plan (IAIEP) training this summer. We will briefly discuss the Special Education Framework and then work in small groups to develop IAIEPs as a means to drive instruction and intervention. Utilizing an “I do, we do, you do” teaching model, participants will be exploring narratives, PLEPs, MAGs, accommodations and modifications, special education intervention, as well as progress monitoring data. We recommend school teams to attend this session so that teams can redeliver the content in their districts. Participants will work on follow-up plans for implementation of the workshop content.
Recommended Participants:
General education teachers, special education teachers, ESL teachers, school psychologists, related service providers, all support staff making instructional decisions, and administrators.
Click here to register. Please contact Kristi.Harris@tn.gov if you have any questions.
Date June 27
Region Middle
Location MTSU
McWherter Learning Resources Building
Room 101
1558 Military Memorial Drive
Murfreesboro, TN 37130
8:30 a.m.– 4 p.m. CDT
District Offered Professional Development
Wednesday, July 20 - 8:00-11:00AM - Instructionally Appropriate IEPs - A REFRESHER! - FMS Media Center - Facilitator: Diane Miller
Autism Strategies - Katie Menanno and Trisha Clark
NCI recertifications - Betsy Bagsby
Trauma Informed Care - Betsy Bagsby
IEP Note-Taking - Beth Herren
Please send me suggestions for other Professional Development needs.
***** SPECIAL ED REMINDERS FOR THE END OF THE YEAR IEP MEETINGS *****
- Before you leave for the school year, make sure all documents are uploaded to EasyIEP. Refer to the checklist in the manual to make sure you know what needs uploading
- Read your manual!
REST
RELAX
RECUPERATE
REJUVENATE
RECHARGE
Beth Herren, Supervisor of Special Populations
Email: herreneli@fssd.org
Website: www.fssd.org
Location: 507 New Highway 96 West, Franklin, TN, United States
Phone: 615.794.6624