Student Services/SELPA Update
News from the Student Services/SELPA Office
Director's Notebook
I'm excited to announce that testing has been set up with most of our local hospitals, and our first round of employee testing is set to begin next week. Principals and supervisors will be communicating to their employees about what week has been assigned for each site. Please check in with your supervisor if you have questions, or reach out to me directly!
Public Health is conducting free COVID testing in Portola tomorrow, all day. Make an appointment by going to this site to sign up. More information is on the flyer below. All Plumas County residents are eligible to get a test for free.
As you've heard, public health has asked to meet with Superintendent Oestreich to discuss the rollout of the vaccine for school staff. This process could begin as early as the last week of January/first week of February. I know all of you are as excited as me to be immunized with this vaccine that has been proven safe and effective through the FDA's rigorous approval process. Thank you for completing the vax survey to help us get an idea of the quantities we will need.
Finally, there is much talk on the news about how to discuss the recent events in Washington DC with our students. Clearly, many students will need to discuss and process this with their teachers and peers, and distance learning may make this more challenging than otherwise. In my Resource of the week, I've linked to four resources, some recently developed, that may help teachers navigate some of these conversations.
As always, I stand in awe of our teaching and support staff: every day, you wake up and do amazing things for kids.
Be well.
Compliance Corner
The SEIS times are a-changing! SEIS, CALPADS, compliance: everything is changing fairly quickly due to small changes in state law, the pandemic, CDE requirements, and the way SEIS works. Therefore, to ensure that we all remain on the same page, I'm going to be asking all Case Managers to attend a once-a-month meeting on the third Friday of the month at 2PM for updates and training. The meeting will last no more than one hour, and our first meeting will be next Friday. I will be sending and email and a calendar invitation.
DIS providers, nurses, principals, and other special ed staff will be invited, but are not required to attend, as our primary focus will be on compliance, which is primarily the responsibility of Case Managers. For our TinyEye partners, I will be setting a separate meeting for their case managers.
Don't Forget!
Principals and Case managers: Check your SEIS homepage daily!
ERMHS counseling is now available! Beth Grant has joined us to provide Educationally-Related Mental Health Services. There is an assessment process that must be followed, just like any Related Service. If you'd like to refer a student, please work with Mark Atkinson to develop the AP.
Behavioral supports for students working at home: Ronni Okraski, our contract behaviorist, is developing some supportive training for parents and teachers struggling to remain engaged with distance learning. This is available for all students. Refer gen ed students through your site's SST process.
Responding to the Insurrection at the US Capitol: from Facing History.org
When Bad Things Happen: from Teaching Tolerance
Talking to Children about Violence: From Nat'l Association of School Psychologists
Civic Online Reasoning: A media literacy module from Stanford University
I hope you find these helpful.
Student Services/SELPA Department
Mark Atkinson, School Psychologist
Kevin Bean, Director
Email: kbean@pcoe.k12.ca.us
Location: 50 Church Street, Quincy, CA
Phone: 530-283-6500