The Scoop
Special Services Update - September 18, 2023
Communication, The Scoop & You!
Hello TISD #StarsofSpecialServices!! We have the roles of a lifetime to make a difference in so many lives...it's exciting to see your stories play out and and to see you #shine in your roles!
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.
~Keri
Recap of last weeks SCOOP - See last weeks SCOOP for full details...
- Tomball Education Foundation Grant is Open... To locate the grant application, go to https://tomball.schoolobjects.com/forms/ and click on 2024 Innovative Grant Application.
- The STAAR ALT2 Updated participation requirements are posted on the STAAR Alternate 2 Resources webpage.
- Initial Snapshot & Timeline Reminders
- HouseBill 3928... All staff has been provided information. Video and FAQ for Tomball ISD's procedure is on the Student Support Website under Dyslexia Tab.
- Properly Constituted ARD Meetings. - Ensure all required members remain in attendance for the entirety of the meeting. Administrators, Special Education and General Education Representatives are not able to be excused early.
Congratulations to the cast of "Friends" for winning the Special Services All Star Team Award this Month!
FREE Sign Language Classes
Standards-Based Individual Education Plan (IEP) Process Training
The intent of this training is to provide participants with an understanding of the SB IEP process for gathering student data, including the full and individual evaluation (FIE), to write the student’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance (PLAAFP) statement, to draft measurable annual goals with short-term objectives/benchmarks, if appropriate, and to create a data collection system for monitoring progress of the annual goals.
The intended audience for this training is special education teachers, related service providers, and any other professional staff responsible for drafting a student’s IEP, including the PLAAFP and measurable annual goals.
September 26 project
Bookmark our Student Support Website for quick reference
Please see our Student Support Website for procedural and office forms and questions. The updated travel forms/mileage form can be found there now.
CASE FILE: Ind. district illustrates proper way to shorten student's school day
Case name: East Porter County Sch. Corp., 123 LRP 14101 (SEA IN 04/03/23).
Ruling: The Indiana Department of Education found that a district properly shortened the school day of a student with an undisclosed disability. Accordingly, it found no violation of the IDEA or state law.
What it means: The only time it's appropriate to shorten the school day for a student with a disability is when his IEP team determines a shortened day is required to address his unique disability-related needs. This district appropriately relied on the IEP team's documented explanation of why the student required a shortened day, his unique needs prohibiting him from attending a full day, the team's discussion of placement alternatives, and positive behavioral strategies calculated to enable his return to a full day. It helped that it began implementing the plan for his return.
See the Summary Here: Special Ed ConnectionUpcoming Events
Upcoming Dates:
- Snapshot is Friday, October 27, 2023.
- Eric Paddy Memorial Disc Golf Course Grand Opening - October 14, 2023
- Check HERE for the rest of the year meetings for Special Services
Shout Outs
The Early Childhood Evaluation team, consisting of Pooja Kelm, Tina Powell, and Shannen Utley, received an amazing compliment from a parent in an initial IEP meeting. The parent stated in the meeting that the evaluation completed by the team really helped parents to understand their child's abilities. Great job EE team!!
Thad Green – Shout out to Thad for your awesome explanation of the Procedural Safeguards and ARD / IEP information to a parent during a SIT meeting. The parent was very pleased and was very thankful. She walked out of that meeting feeling very supported! I just wish I recorded it for future meetings!
Dawn Turner – She has been a wonderful addition to TISD and has hit the ground running with her I CAN DO THIS attitude!
to Ms. Baldwin and Ms. Bonds. They attended one of our faculty meetings last week to discuss accommodations with our staff. It was incredibly meaningful for teachers K-5 to see how accommodations can look during day-to-day instruction and how those translate to support on STAAR. We’ve never had better engagement or questions asked during this training and I believe it was the approach they took that made the content meaningful to everyone in attendance. Thank you for allowing them the opportunity to get out to our campuses to do this. It made a big difference! (from a campus principal)
Shawna Living is so knowledgeable and always quick to support her team! We are so blessed to have her on team Tomball!
Angela Hodge took the initiative to facilitate a team lunch with diagnosticians! The lunch was a great way to bond and learn tips and tricks from other diagnosticians!
I wanted to take a quick moment to appreciate the folks involved – especially Audra – for the Referral Process information presented at this morning’s CrossTalk meeting. The Process Guidance documents, the hyperlinks to the actual forms, the way the forms are organized and paired with how-to guides, and the walkthrough of the process itself in the meeting are all hugely useful. I suspect that putting all of these layers together in a coherent fashion involved rather a lot of work, and I wanted to make sure you knew that the value of that work is recognized by those of us who benefit from it downstream.
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):
The LIP Ledger - new
The Specialized Support Snippits
PASSionate about Kids - new
PLEASE remember to contact your student support specialist for all questions, concerns, or needs. Thank you in advance.
Student Support Personnel by Campus
Our Student Support Personnel are listed by campus on the link above. This will help ensure you know your student support specialist as well as other campus contacts.