Special EDge
April 2019 FCPS Special EDge Hot Sheet
Special Education Bundle
Special Education has provided a Special Edition Bundle for April.
The bundle link is below entitled Meet Google Drive. It is organized in folders by month.
There are critically important documents in this bundle, including memos and technical assistance bulletins that area mandated for circulation. Please ensure you read this information carefully.
End of Year Special Education Recognition Nominations
It is with great pleasure that the Department of Special Education and Psychological Services extends to you the opportunity to recognize outstanding FCPS Staff who support special education. Recognitions are presented to individuals who demonstrate superior performance above expected duties while demonstrating positive and professional interactions. In particular, we are seeking nominations of individuals who are meaningfully engaging parents of students with disabilities, building relationships with students by understanding their learning needs, recommending infusion of technology into daily instruction and engaging in collaborative practice with instructional staff to ensure the needs of students are met to access the curriculum.
Please take the time to nominate individuals in the following categories:
• Special Educator (elementary, middle, high)
• Special Education Instructional Assistant (elementary, middle, high)
• Speech-Language Pathologist
• Administrator
• School Psychologist
• Related Service Provider (OT, PT, Itinerant Hearing Teacher, Itinerant Vision Teacher, ACTT, School Therapists, etc.)
• “Friend of Special Education”(awarded to someone outside the field of Special Education)
Following the selection of these outstanding educators, we will hold the annual Special Education Recognition Celebration on May 13th, 2019. Those who are chosen to receive awards, as well as those who nominate them, will receive invitations.
On the Google form, Special Education nominations, please submit your nominee(s) by highlighting the positive impact and influence this individual has on the implementation of effective instructional programming in your school in alignment with FCPS aspirational goals.
You may nominate as many or as few as you deem appropriate in the categories. Feel free to share this email with others and consult as a school team for school nominations. Please complete and submit your nomination(s) by Friday, April 26, 2019. Unfortunately, nominations received beyond this date will not be considered.
April 11, 2019 IEP Chairperson Google Hangout
An IEP Chairperson Google Hangout occurred on April 11, 2019.
You can watch the google hangout at this link: April 11, 2019 IEP Chairperson Google Hangout.
Attached here are the presentation and resources from the presentation:
Autism Awareness
Joined by the international community, hundreds of thousands of landmarks, buildings, homes and communities around the world, light blue in recognition of people living with autism. Autism-friendly events and educational activities take place all month to increase understanding and acceptance and foster worldwide support.
People across the world were celebrating the uniqueness of Autism and their love for those that are individuals with Autism.
Carroll Manor Elementary School celebrated as well (see the picture below). Thank you CMES!
MSDE IEP Parent Survey Closes May 17
Currently FCPS is at a 4% response rate with 179 parent surveys completed. We need your help in this last month to get more parent responses. Please continue to Spread the Word with your families.
Each year the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) surveys parents of children receiving special education services in the State. The purpose of the Survey – The Maryland Special Education Parent Involvement Survey – is to hear from parents about how well they think their child’s school is partnering with them and promoting parent involvement in their child’s education.
You play a central role in how parents perceive special education services in the State and we ask for your help in encouraging parents to complete the Survey.
When will the Survey be administered?
Surveys were mailed on February 4, 2019 and must be returned (mail or online) by May 17, 2019.
What is your role as an IEP School Team?
- Encourage parents to complete the Survey.
- Distribute the flyer at IEP Team Meetings, PTA meetings and other school events.
- Offer parents your computer lab or a device in your building so they may complete the Survey online https://www.mdparentsurvey.com/
- Remind parents to complete the Survey when you see them at IEP meetings, PTA meetings and other school events.
- Each school will receive a packet of 25 flyers/with FAQ printed in English. These copies will be delivered to the attention of the principal and will arrive at your school over the next two weeks.
- Copies of the Spanish version of the FAQ flyer are available through central office. Contact kendra.sampson@fcps.org to obtain copies for your school.
Where can I get more information about the Survey?
- Review the Frequently Asked Questions document. This document is included in the Survey packet parents are mailed.
- Contact Ken Hudock at MSDE at 410-767-7770 or Kenneth.Hudock@maryland.gov.
- This Survey will help MSDE and each local jurisdiction understand how they can support you and support parents in educating Maryland’s children with disabilities.
Help Spread the Word!
*The responses from this MSDE Parent Survey provide results for our State Performance Plan Indicators and should not be confused with our internal FCPS Parent IEP Team Survey that is also in progress.*
Parent Contact Logs for the Special Education Blue Folder
How to complete a Parent Contact Log on OIEP.
- Parent contact logs should be placed in the student blue folder by the end of the school year.
- At the end of the school year, ensure all parent contact logs (1. either written, if the hard copy form was used, or 2. printed from the OIEP, or both) are copied or printed and placed in the student blue folder to evidence the 2018-2019 school year parent contacts for that student.
Rochelle's Special Education Legal Tips
(Rochelle Eisenberg is a Maryland Special Education School System Attorney. These are her legal advice based upon her experiences in cases around the state.)
HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals just issued a significant special education decision involving the Cecil County Public Schools (CCPS): R.F. v. Cecil County Public Schools, 4th Cir. No. 18-1780 (March 25, 2019). In a published, unanimous opinion, the Court held that while certain procedural requirements of the IDEA were violated, those violations did not substantively deny the student a FAPE. This is a well-written opinion and was decided after the Supreme Court’s issuance of its decision in Endrew F. ex rel. Joseph F. v. Douglas Cty. Sch. Dist. RE-1, 137 S.Ct. 988 (2017). In fact Endrew F. was issued in the middle of the trial and highlights so many of the issues that confront IEP teams that Tips will spend the next couple of Tips focusing on the decision.
The student has a severe autism spectrum disorder and a rare genetic disorder. She was one of only two people in the world diagnosed with the disorder at the time. She engages in aggressive behaviors, has physical limitations, and requires adult supervision and assistance at all times. The parents wanted her placed in the Benedictine School, a private school, but the IEP team placed her in its intensive communication support classroom (ICSC) for children with communicative difficulties. The parents filed a due process complaint seeking placement at the Benedictine School or another private school at CCPS’ expense.
Typical of these cases, the parents’ contended that the school system had committed procedural violations and should therefore be required to pay for private school. The Court held that while CCPS did violate certain procedural requirements of the IDEA, most notably by changing the student’s placement without notifying her parents or modifying her IEP, such violations did not deny the student a FAPE. But hold the wedding. This does not mean that IEP teams can just go around having secret placement meetings. In this case the student’s hours were increased in the ICSC class beyond those specified in her IEP in order to enable her to make progress appropriate in light of her circumstances. Her special educator recognized she was struggling in the general education classroom and determined she would make more progress with more one-on-one instruction in the ICSC. He did so on a gradual and individualized basis, based on close attention to her performance in a general education setting and in the ICSC. The IEP meeting formalizing the change in placement was held 4 months later, but because the student was provided with more special education services, not less, there was no significant impediment to the parent’s participation rights when the CCPS failed to inform them that it was gradually changing her placement in line with the parents’ expressed wishes to have more special education. When the meeting was held 4 months after the fact, the parents had their opportunity to participate meaningfully in the creation of an IEP for their child. The Court held that the CCPS’ procedural violation of the parents’ right to participate in decisions about the child’s placement did not rise to the level of a substantive IDEA violation that could be cured by private placement.
Moral of the story: Not all procedural violations result in a FAPE violation. But the violation must not have a negative impact on the child. Better yet, the child should be better off because of the action taken.
Another moral: When there has been a violation, fix it at an IEP team meeting.
Rochelle’s Special Education Tips (“Tips”) are designed to be helpful and thought provoking, but should not be considered legal advice as they may not be accurate for use in all situations. Tips are based on my opinions and positions in accordance with federal and Maryland law and my over 35 years of experience in the special education legal field. – Rochelle S. Eisenberg, Esquire
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