The Scoop
Special Services Update - August 7, 2023
Communication, The Scoop & You!
Hello TISD Special Services #ShiningStars!!! We have the roles of a lifetime to make a difference in so many lives... I can't wait to see how your story plays out and and to see you #shine in your roles this school year!
For those of you who are new to our department, we will send out the SCOOP newsletter every week on Monday mornings to keep you informed of all the latest updates, news, celebrations, etc.
The Scoop is a place for you to make sure you are in the know and have all the information you need. You are responsible for the information in the SCOOP. If you need clarification, please reach out to your Student Support Specialist or me.
We are all so excited to see everyone together at Convocation on Monday, August 7th!
~Keri
convocation
Hi Special Services Team! If you are an employee of Tomball ISD for the 23-24 School Year, we can’t wait to see you at Convocation 2023 being held at Champion Forest Baptist Church!
All Special Services Staff Housed at TIC (have an office/cubicle in the building) will ride the TIC bus that is leaving TIC at 7:20 am.
All Special Services Staff NOT housed at TIC, please ride with one of your campuses. The leave times from the campuses are listed HERE (you have to be signed in to your Tomball google account to view link).
It is expected that employees will travel as a group on the buses in order to minimize the traffic.
C&I has ordered t-shirts for all of us to wear. They are in! If you haven't picked yours up, I have them in my office at TIC and will bring any not picked up to Convocation so you can put it on there. It is a gray t-shirt that says CAREER. Please feel free to wear jeans.
Once everyone arrives at the church, please make your way to the section for C&I (Front & Center) as we will all sit as a group.
Every campus and department does a skit to introduce themselves at roll call. Each skit will be no longer than 2 minutes per campus/dept. For ours, we will all have the t-shirts that say “CAREER” provided to us by C&I. CAREER is a new initiative, Tomball developed, for character education for our secondary campuses. We will be “fans” of “CAREER”, cheering, etc... We will just follow the lead of the C&I leadership. Nothing fancy to memorize or worry about … YAY!
We are looking forward to seeing everyone!
Cross Talk Tuesday Morning
We can't wait to see all of you in one room to get the year started off right! Dress is business casual. You will have time to mingle and meet from 8 to 8:30 during breakfast and then at 8:30 we ask you put your cell phones and computers away so we can make the most of our time together.
Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH)
If a student meet DHH disability, then a DHH representative must be included in the IEP meeting. Please see who to contact below:
Consult Services:
Less than 45 minutes a week of any type of services provided by Terri Dagostino. Terri will attend these ARD meetings. She will provide input, complete the supplement, and give the parents information regarding Texas School for the Deaf.
Direct Itinerant Services:
Direct Services, which must be 45 minutes or more a week, provided by the Cyfair Co-Op itinerant. The Itinerant will attend meetings, provide data and give goal input. Completing the supplement and giving parent information regarding Texas School for the Deaf.
Site Based Services:
All services are located in public school settings in Cyfair.
Cyfair representatives are responsible for the IEP items. TISD sends district representative and provides transportation. Currently, Terri Dagostino is attending as our representative.
SLP's please start gathering students that will qualify for SELA as well. More information will follow on this with a new spreadsheet.
Other Resources:
Referral Process in Tomball ISD
Please review the Referral Process guidance document. We will discuss this more in upcoming department meetings. If your campus needs guidance or has questions, then refer to the following:
Administration - Contact Student Support Specialist
Assessment Staff- Leads and Audra Arnold (Diags)
Counselors- Steven Shiels
Academic Specialist- Brianne Carbery
Get logged in to Special Ed. Connection (LRP)
Special Ed Connection® is the premier on-line resource for information and guidance regarding all aspects of special education across the country. It is available 24/7/365, wherever you have internet access. We purchase it as a resource for all of Student Support Staff as well as TISD administrators. There is a how to guide for Special Ed Connection on our website HERE.
For the username and password please contact your Lead or Student Support Specialist.
You Be The Judge
An Indiana district notified a parent of an upcoming IEP meeting, which the parent asked to attend using an online meeting platform. The list of participants included a school psychologist and the district's special education director.
After informing the psychologist and the director that she did not want them in attendance, the parent sent the remaining team members a link for the virtual meeting through her preferred platform. Only the district representative signed onto the parent's virtual meeting the following day.
Subsequently, the parent claimed the district failed to ensure all mandatory team members attended the meeting. The district maintained that all mandatory team members intended to join the virtual IEP meeting as a group, but the parent denied their request. That request was sent from the school psychologist's computer because the psychologist and the special education director were present.
If the IEP team will discuss a mandatory team member's area of curriculum or related services, the district must obtain the parent's written consent to excuse the team member from attending. 34 CFR 300.321 (e)(2).
Did the district violate IDEA requirements for IEP meeting attendance?
Get your log on information for Special Ed. Connection (LRP) from your lead or Student Support Specialist and find out how the court ruled
Upcoming Events
Upcoming Dates:
- August 7 - All SLP's, Teachers for the Visually Impaired, Adapted PE Teachers, PEIMS clerks and Behavior Coaches report to work.
- August 7 - CONVOCATION - This is the day we will all gather together as a district for Convocation. It is a Hollywood STARS theme. It is the expectation that we ride the district buses to the convocation. More information on this will be coming soon. We will all sit together with Curriculum and Instruction. We will likely have buses take us from the Innovation Center on 2920 to the site for convocation early that morning (typically it has been BEFORE 8:00 am). We will have shirts to give you to wear. Be on the look out for an email with more details to you as soon as we receive them! This is always a FUN morning and a great start to the year!
- August 7 - TISD Board Meeting - Just for informational purposes
- August 8 - Special Services Cross Talk - Tomball Event Center 8:00 Breakfast, 8:30 Meeting
- August 9 - District Wide Professional Development 8-4. ALL staff is expected to attend the amazing professional development opportunities at Tomball High School on this day. Sign up for sessions in your professional area on Eduphoria. Dress is business casual.
How to Register for a Course in Eduphoria for August 9, 2023
Parking Options for district PD Day:
THS in the back between the school and the stadium
THS in the front of the building (fills up quickly)
TJHS parking lots (north, south, and east sides)
We recommend that you carpool with your campus team members if you can as the entire district will be attending the event.
Lunch selections:
Food truck options will be on site at the back of THS.
Cafeteria tables will be available for seating during Lunch.
You can bring your own lunch but microwaves are not available.
You can leave campus to eat lunch but please be back in time for your PM #1 session at 12:45 pm.
- Check HERE for the rest of the year meetings for Special Services
Shout Outs
Thank you to all the Diagnosticians and School Psychologists that have been mentoring our new staff!
Thank you Jeanette Guzman for coming back early to prepare for staff!
Social Media: Twitter
More Information
Be sure and check out and read the other Smore Newsletters being produced by Student Support Staff Soon (links are to end of year last year, but will update once school year starts):