Special Ed Update meeting next Monday

Nothing like late notice but here you go:
Northwest Regional Special Education Meeting
Monday, May 11
6 – 7 p.m.
Ballard High School Library
1418 NW 65th St.

The Special Education Department is hosting Regional Meetings for families and the community to learn about changes that are happening in Special Education in Seattle Public Schools. We want to listen to you and hear your questions. Please join Wyeth Jessee, the Executive Director of Special Education; Michaela Clancy, Director of Special Education; Kari Hanson, Director of School Based Special Education Services; the Regional Supervisor for your area; the Special Education Ombudsperson and more Special Education staff.
Supervised children’s activities, light snack, and interpreters are provided.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Yawn. What a bunch of know nothings. Can't imagine anyone going to this.

Sped Parent.
Well, staff knows they can get away with it because the Board just does not pay attention (except for Peters and Patu who are voices in the wind).
Anonymous said…
These meetings are at a kind of high level, whereas, parents need to know how problems are going to be resolved. When there are no other opportunities for face time with decision makers, parents wind up feeling very frustrated with these infomercials.

Been there
Anonymous said…
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Anonymous said…
How much can be accomplished in the one hour this is scheduled for? Oh yeah, they can introduce themselves...
Sped Staffer
Anonymous said…
This is a check-box meeting. However with that said, I would like to see Michaela Clancy show up and maybe say something in her defense. Maybe she can explain the Stevens issue.

What out Michaela some of those CRAZY SPED parents you like to reference might be there.

--Michael
Anonymous said…
I think that Clancy's credibility with families and community partners is has plummeted, but another question about the Stevens situation is Kari Hanson who is supposed be one of these sped student services directors .... What did she do to earn her paycheck, in the eyes of families and staff at Stevens? What value did she add? I hope that somebody will be accountable, somewhere along the line.

reader
Anonymous said…
Mirmac1 and her/his fellow well-informed, diligent and thoughtful parents need to take this meeting over.

They should show up with their own mic + speaker, and inform the District what the meeting is going to be about. The District will run down the clock with a bunch of nothing unless a small group with big balls says no way, and presents specific question that require real answers, not just 'we are working on it' or 'we will get back to you'.

How about the use of restraints and isolation in the face of the recent legislation - have ALL teachers & IAs been told what they cannot do anymore?

Are the children at Stevens NOW getting their Specially Dedigned Instruction? Will the District mitigate their being robbed of their instruction by providing an optional summer program?

The rising 6th graders, is the District now going to serve them in appropriate builds and not shuffle students out of capacity hot-zones to make way for general Ed students first?

How about the abysmal way that dyslexic students are (not) instructed? What is the plan to implement appropriate best practises for those kids?

Stop the district in their tracks if they try and snooze you to death with a useless PowerPoint. Or a rehash of OSPI findings. And don't waste time beating up on them for the current state of affairs. Focus on the needs of the kids. Focus on getting their needs met NOW and going forward. Talk about the right now, the how we are serving kids with instruction, because that is the stuff that matters. Kids can't wait. Consultants can.

Remember, all those guys work for you. You pay their salary. This meeting should not be about what they want, it should be about what you need. Don't get suckered into their distract and diffuse gobble-dee-guck as they run down the clock. And don't throw any kid or community under a bus. Parents against parents only plays into their evading accountability.

Tell them to put their PPT on-line now, so you can focus the meeting on kids; on the most urgent problems that need real solutions now.

Tired optimist
mirmac1 said…
Tired Optimist,

I would so wish to be able to do that. These dog and pony shows are pretty useless. What SPS should hold is monthly "sounding boards" where parents can say what is REALLY happening to their kids, not what JSCEE thinks is happening. And where JSCEE commits to how they will fix it ASAP.

Yes, where was Hanson (oh yeah, knows little about SpEd, but got a promotion! and needs on-the-job training) and Sarah Pritchett when the children at Stevens were being denied a teacher, IAs and their specially-designed instruction. Rather than see JSCEE be humbled about this crime, they've taken it as yet another excuse because everything sooo haaard and we need transformational consultant$$ to help or we have to provide compensatory education. I know, how 'bout you provide SDI when you're supposed: from the start of school and through the school year.

For years SEAAC and SpEd PTSA have told superintendents and "Executive Leadership" that they wait too long to hire, that the Exec Dirs of Schools are NOT riding herds on their reports, that principals misuse SpEd $$ and gatekeep services. Then, when the district is caught red-handed (by an asleep at the switch OSPI who does not bother to look at the many schools besides Stevens), they blame it on not enough consultants, not enough bandwidth, Olympia, anyone but themselves.

I can't stomach these informational meetings.
Ann D said…
Where can I find out more about what happened at Stevens with the special education students?
Anonymous said…
Don't worry Mirmac. It's kinda like the SBAC. They gave a test and nobody showed up. They gave an infomercial and nobody showed up.

Reader
mirmac1 said…
Here is the OSPI Corrective Action. What you don't see is the sordid history of SPS building and central staff running away from their duty to struggling children.

Oops, I did it again!

These well-paid and supposedly trained managers know what IDEA mandates. Here is a similar complaint leading to a similar corrective action 2 years ago. I know these people do not have short-term memory loss. They place their bets on parents suffering from that, and just bide their time and wait until they're caught again.

Sorry, didn't mean it
Anonymous said…
Yes, Mirmac - the same thing has occurred in 2014-2015 at Graham Hill as in your 2012 complaint: SLP and OT services were not available for GH students until late October.

So far, the District has not offered compensatory services. Some families have asked.

Reader
mirmac1 said…
Wow, you should've heard W. Jessee warn the board that they needed the MOU approved because they have to start hiring right away or have to offer compensatory and that costs money.... right.

SEAAC and parents have faulted SPS for years that they hire too late and under hire to cage their bets. Now it's as if they've been trying soooooo hard and are really trying to give our kids SpEd educators.

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