Office of Pupil Personnel Services
September, 2021 vol. 3
A welcome from the new Team Chair at Milton High!
Dear Parents/Guardians:
I wanted to take a moment and introduce myself as the new special education team chair at the Milton High School. My name is Kamlawatee Simpson (Kaye). I have been a team chair for the past 5 years in Massachusetts. Prior to becoming a team chair, I was the director of academic support at a Charter School in Western Massachusetts and a coordinator of special education in Boston Public Schools. I have also worked as a team chair in the North Shore area and South Shore area in Massachusetts. In addition, I was a special education teacher for over 25 years. I will always consider myself a special educator.
One of the best parts of my job as a team chair is collaborating with families. My belief is through collaboration with families, students can become more successful academically, socially and emotionally. You know the students better than anyone and you are the best advocate for them.
I am looking forward to collaborating with you in meeting the needs of the students. My hope is to develop a working partnership with you. Please reach out to me with any questions or concerns about the students’ special education services and supports. I am very excited about working with the students, families and staff in the Milton Public Schools District. The Milton community has been very welcoming and supporting to me. I look forward to learning from you, the students, the district and the Milton community. My email and phone number are listed below. I look forward to meeting you and learning more about the students.
Thank you
Sincerely,
Kamlawatee Simpson, M.S., C.A.G.S.
Phone: 617-696-5040 Ext. 5545
Milton Glows!
Milton Glows Gold kicked off on Monday, September 13!
September is Childhood Cancer Awareness month, and together with the Michael C. McHugh Foundation, the Milton Police Department, the Milton Fire Department, and many local sponsors, we are Glowing Gold at MPS to show support for families impacted by childhood cancer.
There are many ways to participate in Milton Glows Gold and the 1st step is to sign up to join the Run/Walk/Ride now. When you sign up, join your school team so you can start amassing miles in support of families impacted by childhood cancer. After you register and start logging miles, you can ask your family and friends to support you in your effort to raise money and awareness for families impacted by childhood cancer.Thanks for your help in promoting Milton Glows Gold!
Opportunity to Volunteer!
1. One session to review policy and procedures for anti-bias hiring
2. one session to review applicants
3. One to two sessions to interview
4. One session to debrief (about 8-10 hours in total for most committees).
If you are interested, please email Mark or Susan at:
Thank you!
A message from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
August/September 2021
Dear Parents and Guardians,
As we look forward to the 2021-2022 school year, I am writing to share with you some important reminders and updates from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (“Department”). We recognize that schools and districts, along with families, worked hard to collaborate and ensure students with disabilities received services during these difficult times. This letter is intended to provide clarity to families about existing requirements and policies.
First, schools and districts must continue to provide special education services to students as written in their Individual Education Programs (IEPs). Second, if your child did not receive all of the special education services required by their IEP during any time period of the COVID-19 pandemic, they may be eligible to receive compensatory services from their school or district. Schools and districts are expected to make sure that IEP Teams meet to determine if a student needs compensatory services if a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) was not fully implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is likely that you have already met with your child’s IEP Team to discuss compensatory services. However, if you have not yet discussed compensatory services, your child’s IEP Team should meet as soon as possible.
In particular, IEP Teams should meet to discuss the possible need for compensatory services for the following groups of students that may be more likely to need them:
· Students with disabilities in schools or districts that were fully remote for three or more months during the 2020-21 school year;
· Students with disabilities who were chronically absent during the 2020-21 school year; and
· Students with disabilities who had significant difficulty accessing remote learning offered by the school or district due to the nature or severity of the disability, technology barriers, language access barriers, or other barriers resulting from the pandemic.
If you think that your child requires compensatory services and the IEP Team has not met to discuss your child’s specific needs, you may request to meet with the IEP Team. Also, if you believe that your child has a need for new special education services or if your child has a documented current medical condition that may impact how your child receives special education services, you should reach out to your child’s school or district to discuss how best to address your child’s unique needs.
The Department, together with schools and districts, is committed to partnering with you to best support your child’s learning and growth.
Sincerely,
Russell Johnston, Senior Associate Commissioner
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education