Somerset School Committee Agrees to SPED Sub Committee

On Tuesday, August, 24th, the Somerset School Committee re-visited the possibility of creating a sub-committee consisting of two school committee members, Mr. Richard Medeiros, Superintendent, Ms. Susan Doe, Special Education Director and the Somerset PACE Executive Board.  Mr. Victor Machado, School Committee Vice Chair, said that he had done some research and found that there are existing sub-committees in other cities such as Quincy and Taunton that exist to address issues of special education policy.  He proposed that this group could meet three or four times per year to discuss matters concerning special education policy in Somerset.

Mr. Medieros said that because the Parents Advisory Council would be meeting with faculty and staff as well as administration in an upcoming focus group on October 12, he felt that it would be redundant to have a sub committee to address concerns of policy.  Ms. Anne Correira, School Committee Chair, agreed with Mr. Medeiros that the sub committee was unnecessary.

Ms. Melissa Terra and Ms. Krysten Callina, co-chairs of Somerset PACE clarified with the School Committee that the focus groups that will take place will be used as research tools to encourage collaboration and a coming-together of faculty and parents to address the “nuts and bolts” of how to bridge the gap and improve communication and relationships between parties.  The focus groups will be informal and any member will be allowed to present research on best practices for discussion, but the groups will have no decision making power beyond making recommendations to the administration on procedure, and to the School Committee on policy.  A reinstatement of regular PACE business meetings with open meeting format will also begin in October, 2010.

Mr. Don Rebello, School Committee member spoke in favor of the sub-committee saying that it would serve a different function than the focus group, and formalize the role of liaison to the PAC that he had taken on.  He said that he would be willing to participate in the sub-committee.  Mr. Jamison Sousa and Ms. Liz White also spoke in favor of the sub-committee to avoid future parent concerns reaching the level it had in June of 2010 when PACE presented a 12 page report of parent concerns.  Mr. Machado indicated that he would also be willing to serve on the sub committee.

The members of the Somerset School Committee reached a consensus and agreed that the Sub-Committee on special education should begin this school year.

Thanks to all the parents who have come to support this and other efforts made by PACE!  Don’t forget to join us on Thursday, September 9th to hear a decision on changes to the Special Education policy on Parent Observations, and to hear an updated report to the School Committee by the PACE Officers.

Press Release: SOMERSET PARENTS ADVISORY COUNCIL ADDRESSES SCHOOL COMMITTEE

PRESS RELEASE

Somerset Parents Advisory Council Addresses School Committee

June 17, 2010, Somerset, MA – The Somerset Parents Advisory Council (PACE), a member of MASSPAC, a state-wide network supporting children with special needs, addressed the Somerset School Committee and administration with questions about “observation policy and procedure,” and a lengthy report on systemic issues affecting families of children with special needs in the Somerset Public School District.

Dr. Steven Imber, Ph.D., Educational Specialist and Psychoeducational Consultant, was present in support of PACE, asking the District to consider best practices in working with parents on observation policy. Also present were approximately 20 parents and concerned citizens representing the many issues outlined in PACE’s 12 page report. The report included concerns about parent participation in the IEP process, inclusion, student assessment, extended school year and civil rights issues. The report suggested resolutions to collaborate with the District and to help them work toward compliance with State law. All letters and reports can be found on the PACE website at http://www.somersetpace.org .

The meeting turned emotional when several parents spoke out about their specific journeys in struggling to receive appropriate services for their children. Ms. Ann Correira, School Committee Chair, urged parents to be careful of confidentiality issues when sharing their stories. Ms. Liz White commended the Council on their extensive report, and initiated placing PACE on the agenda for July 1. Mr. Victor Machado, School Committee Vice-Chair and Mr. Jamison Souza both shared their sympathy with the parents, and Mr. Machado personally guaranteed that the issues would be addressed.

PACE requested that the Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Richard Medeiros, respond in writing to the report after consulting with the Special Education Director, Ms. Susan Vonitter-Doe. PACE further asked that Mr. Medeiros review a document on superintendent leadership and respond in writing. The Superintendent and School Committee committed to responding to the report in detail, and asked PACE to return to the School Committee on July 1 at 6pm for a response about changes to the observation policy and the formation of a subcommittee to address all concerns outlined in the report. For more information, or if you would like to be involved in the subcommittee, please contact PACE at somersetpace, or visit their website at http://www.somersetpace.org for contact information of the Officers.

Reading Disabilities: Free Chapter On Reading Evaluations.

In the last few weeks, several parents have asked us about reading evaluations. To help out, we’ve posted our chapter, Using Reading Evaluations, at www.reading2008.com. We encourage parents and teachers to download it, read it, discuss it, and share it with other parents and teachers. (The release is for private use only, not for commercial use or for making more than 3 copies.)

If you quote the chapter, please use this reference:

Office of Civil Rights Stepping Up

Article about Federal Office of Civil Rights crack-downs!  From disabilityscoop.com

Education Department To Step Up Enforcement Of Disability Rights

By Michelle Diament

!!! URGENT RE: Anti-Bullying Bill !!!

A MESSAGE FROM:
MASSACHUSETTS ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN

!!! URGENT RE: Anti-Bullying Bill !!!

Please send an email to the legislature AS SOON AS YOU GET THIS MESSAGE!

The Anti-Bullying Conference Committee is wrapping up its deliberations tomorrow and is still unresolved on whether
bullying should be defined as a series of repetitive actions or should include a single severe incident.

The Committee says it has not been receiving calls or emails from the community on this issue!!

All Children, particularly those with disabilities will be harmed by a definition that includes a single severe (though unintentional, disability-related) incident as bullying.

The most effective thing you can do at this point is to email the members of the conference committee.

Here is what to do:

Create an email to the six members of the Conference Committee and tell them you (and if possible) your organization supports the deletion of the word “severe” from the definition of bullying.

Rep. Martha Walz – Rep.MartyWalz@hou.state.ma.us,
Rep. John Scibak  - Rep.JohnScibak@hou.state.ma.us,
Rep. Elizabeth Poirier – Rep.ElizabethPoirier@hou.state.ma.us,
Sen. Robert O’Leary – Robert.O’Leary@state.ma.us,
Sen. James Eldridge – James.Eldridge@state.ma.us,
Sen. Michael Knapik – Michael.Knapik@state.ma.us

EXECUTIVE FUNCTION SKILLS SEMINAR

EXECUTIVE FUNCTION SKILLS SEMINAR

Presented by

Sarah Ward M.S.,CCC/SLP

April 13  7-9PM

NEW LOCATION:

THURSTON MIDDLE SCHOOL AUDITORIUM

850 High Street

Westwood

Free Admission

TO RESERVE MATERIALS

RSVP BY 4/12/10

781-326-0547

pams31@verizon.net

SYNOPSIS

§ Overview and functional explanation of behaviors associated with the various components of the executive system

§ How to improve student motivation and task initiation

§ Increasing a student’s ability to make decisions and prioritize tasks

§ Teaching students to pace and monitor their workload/tasks and to effectively manage distractions

§ Helping students to use prior experiences to guide future actions

§ Improve awareness and have forethought

§ Develop gray scale thinking

§ Successful self regulation through goals, objectives, self talk, rules, controlling impulses and emotions

§ Discomfort associated with unexpected changes

§ Sensing the passage of time, transitioning between tasks of different priority

§ Homework strategies: initiating, managing, completing

§ Organization strategies; material management

§ Practical suggestions on how to write IEP goals/benchmarks/objectives for kids with EF difficulties

Sponsored by Westwood SEPAC/Westwood Educational Foundation/Needham SEPAC

The teacher challenge – The Boston Globe

The teacher challenge – The Boston Globe

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School empathy first line against bullies – The Boston Globe

School empathy first line against bullies – The Boston Globe

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Not a race to the top for Massachusetts – The Boston Globe

Not a race to the top for Massachusetts – The Boston Globe

STATE EDUCATION secretary Paul Reville is about as calm a personality as you’ll find in state government — quick to listen and slow to anger. So it’s worth sitting up when he gets inflamed, as he did last week when the Obama administration passed over Massachusetts in the first round of the competition for $4.3 billion in Race to the Top education funds.

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Bullying-Death_ MA Legislature Approves Anti-Bullying Bill

SimplyLovely29

I just finished watching the today show about the teenager that committed suicide in South Hadley Ma because of being BULLIED! The Today show had experts on Bullying speaking, one solution is to hold the school officials responsible — even criminal charges if they know and do nothing. I could not agree more. The Today show spoke of this Massachusetts Legislature that approved this bill that School administrations are required to report Bullying under specific guidelines to authorities or be held responsible. All I could find was the article below, however I will be looking for the something more official and will send it out to you.
Many schools have a zero tolerance for Bullying Policy however there is no information on the process or consequence of the zero tolerance policy so is therefore very inconsistent and ineffective.
I have worked with a parent who has begun to work on defining the Anti-Bullying policy in Somerset, Please contact me if you would like to share your story and be part of helping with bringing some suggestions to work on anti-bullying. If you do not live in Somerset I encourage you to look up your schools policy and how they handle bullying. I believe we should not wait any further in protecting our children from Bullying. ~ Melissa @ www.somersetpace.org

9 teens charged with ‘unrelenting’ bullying – TODAY People

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Massachusetts Legislature Approves Anti-Bullying Legislation

Last week, the Massachusetts House of Representatives unanimously approved an anti-bullying bill in an effort to "secure our students from bullying, both during the school day and after school hours." The Senate previously approved the measure. According to an article in the Boston Globe, Governor Patrick has indicated that he will sign the bill after it has been reconciled in committee between the House and Senate. Also from the article, in the House’s version of the bill, bullying is defined as "the repeated use by a perpetrator of a written, verbal, or electronic expression, or physical act or gesture…directed at a victim that causes physical or emotional harm or damage to the victim’s property; places the victim in reasonable fear or harm to himself or of damage to his property; [or] creates a hostile environment at school."

The legislation requires school officials to report bullying to the school principal and that the principal must contact law enforcement if it is determined that the incident is a criminal act. The bill also includes funding for training school officials and teachers on how to identify and respond to bullying. You can also read about the legislation from an article in the Boston Herald.

Posted by BPS Internet Safety Blog at 10:27 AM