Special Education Workgroup

Background/Issues Statement

AcademyDistrict 20 has used the Special Education Advisory Committee (SEAC) for approximately 20 years to ensure that the concerns and questions of special education stakeholders are being heard. The SEAC also serves in an advisory role to district administration. This committee is made up of parents, staff, members, and community stakeholders/partners. Recently, some parents of special education students have voiced concerns about both the special education programs and processes in ASD20, as well as about the role and function of the SEAC. In response, Mr. Gregory, Superintendent, has sought independent facilitation of a workgroup made up of a stakeholders as delineated below.

Goal Statement/Superintendent Charge

The Special Education Workgroup (SEW) is charged by the superintendent to study district needs and issue findings and recommendations related to serving special education students effectively and efficiently. The committee will use the collaborative input model to guide its work.

Product/Results Desired

The outcome is to provide a report with recommendations to the superintendent that includes:

A list of committee members
An executive summary of findings
The Superintendent charge to the workgroup
Meeting agendas and minutes
The recommendations to the Superintendent

Membership

Members were determined by application followed by selection of applicants based upon representation by programming. The following 26 members make up the membership of the Special Education Workgroup.

Name / Role / School

Arsenault, Risa / Special Education Teacher / AAHS
Bean, Tami / Parent / WRES, AAHS
Bolanos Montero, Alayna / Special Education Paraprofessional / DCCHS
Butler, Steven / Parent / EHES, CTMS
Cummins, Amy / Parent / WRES,AAHS,Bridges
Dahl, Cheryl / General Education Teacher / CTES
DeBois, Hannah / Parent / MRMS, AVHS, PCHS
Dimler, Kristen / Parent / EMS
Farley, Andrea / Special Education Teacher / HPES
Gross, Nicole / Parent / LHS
Haack, Rob / Middle School Administrator / CTMS
Hansen, Jackie / Elementary School Administrator / WRES
Hollingsworth, Delinda / Special Education Paraprofessional / PIES
Howell, Lani / General Education Teacher / LHS
Kerscher, Stephanie / Parent / CTMS/AAHS
Lund, Lila / Special Education Teacher / DCCMS
McLane, Angela / Parent / VHS
Mogey, Melanie / Parent / PIES. MRMS
Palmer, Marcy / Out-of-district SPED Professional / WPSD
Patino, Erika / General Education Teacher / EMS
Ruminski, Emily / Special Education Teacher / PHES
Thoman, Beverly / Special Education Paraprofessional / PHES
Underwood, Liisa / Parent / DCCHS
Waggener, Michelle / Parent / DCCES/DCCMS
Wahlstrom, Mark / High School Administrator / DCCHS
Zellmer, Sarah / Special Education Teacher / TdVA

In an effort to be inclusive of all stakeholders, membership includes the following:

Three school administrators (elementary, middle, and high);
Eleven parents of students identified as needing special education support (these is a diverse group based upon schooling level and programming support received);
Five special education educators (one elementary, one middle, and one high as well resource/severe needs diversity);
Three classified staff members/paraprofessionals who serve special education students;
Three regular education teachers (elementary, middle, and high school); and,
One out-of-district special education professional.

In addition to the above membership, the following ad-hoc members will be present to listen and to assist in answering questions of members of the SEW.

Name / Role

Allan, Becky / ASD20 Chief Financial Officer
Field, Susan / ASD20 Assistant Superintendent for Learning Services
Lindsey-Lujan, Belinda / ASD20 Executive Director for Special Education
Smart, Cameron / ASD20 Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources
Thompson, Tonya / ASD20 Legal Counsel
Tiernan, Hannah / Special Education Administrative Assistant

Timeline

Seven regularly scheduled meetings will be held from 5:00 – 8:00 PM on Tuesdays at the D20 Education and Administration Center in the Columbine/Larkspur conference room. The one exception to this is the first meeting that will be held from 5:00 – 7:00 PM.

May 20, 2022, Applications publicized via ASD20 Alerts
May 27, 2022, Membership selected by Superintendent and designees
June 7, 2022, Membership notified
June 14, 2022, Regularly scheduled meeting 5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
August 25th, Regularly scheduled meeting 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
September 8th, Regularly scheduled meeting 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
September 29th, Regularly scheduled meeting 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
October 13th, Regularly scheduled meeting 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
November 10th, Regularly scheduled meeting 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
December 1st, Regularly scheduled meeting 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
December 15th, Regularly scheduled meeting 5:00 – 8:00 p.m.
January 16 – 20, Recommendations to the Superintendent

Scope of Responsibility

The committee will limit their work to that which is outlined in the Goal Statement which represents the Superintendent Charge.

Communication Linkages

Minutes will be taken at each meeting and be posted on the ASD20 website. The committee (through the facilitator) will regularly inform the superintendent of the committee’s progress. The committee (through the facilitator) will provide one interim report to the superintendent. Stakeholder groups will be updated as the superintendent deems appropriate. These include but are not limited to the following:

Principals
Superintendent’s Cabinet
Parent Sounding Board
District Accountability Committee
Teacher Communication Council

Resources

The estimated financial resources for this committee are as follows:

Items / Cost

Facilitator Cost / Not to exceed $7000.00
Food for the committee / $2500.00 (approx.)
Supplies: notebooks, paper, etc. / $300 (approx.)
Printing / $100 (approx.)
Secretarial support for minutes, copying, Para participation, etc. / $1000 (approx.)
Classified staff members / $1000.00
Other / $500.00 (approx.)

Total: $11,900.00 (approx.)

Communication Plan

Updates to Superintendent throughout committee work during Fall 2022 semester.
Update to K-12 principals at completion of the Special Education Workgroup.
Cabinet updates
Update/s to the Board of Education
Update/s to the SEAC
Stakeholder meetings at completion of the Special Education Workgroup as applicable
Maintain current D-20 website with Special Education Workgroup meeting agendas and minutes

Implementation Schedule

The response to the Special Education Workgroup recommendations will be determined by the superintendent in the Spring semester of the 2022/2023 school year.

Evaluation Plan

The committee will evaluate itself on the following:

How well did the committee follow the charge?
How skilled was the facilitator at building consensus for the outcome?
How well did the committee members follow the Collaborative Input Model?
Did the committee successfully complete the task?

Appendix

The Collaborative Input Model as it Guides the Recommendation Procedure

Givens:

The collaborative group presents findings and/or recommendations to the Superintendent by a prescribed deadline.
The stakeholders will arrive at decisions through a consensus model.
There will be an opportunity for, and expectation of, ongoing dialogue/update sessions.
The Superintendent will assign a facilitator.
The Superintendent will approve group membership.
Membership will be based on stakeholders most directly impacted by the decision and/or people that have special expertise in the area of discussion.
The collaborative group will conduct an evaluation of its product and process.
The collaborative group will design a follow-up evaluation, to be conducted by the administration, on the implementation effects.
The collaborative group will define a back-up method for decision-making if consensus cannot be reached, but it should consider a sufficient majority vote (66-80%).

The recommendation to the staff and community should include, as appropriate: