Arlington Special Education PTA
Monthly Meeting
May 14, 2020, 8-9:00 PM
Zoom Call
I. Welcome and Introductions
SEPTA President Janna Dressel welcomed attendees to the meeting via Zoom. Among APS leadership in attendance were Mr. Arron Gregory, Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer, and Dr. Kelly Krug and Ms. Heather Rothenbuescher, Interim Co-directors of Special Education.
Kathleen Donovan of the Parent Resource Center (PRC) encouraged families to contact them to let them know how best to provide support. PRC email blasts are sent on Mondays, Wednesdays (webinar announcements), and Fridays (responses to questions to the Office of Special Education).
II. Q&As with Arron Gregory, APS Chief Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Officer
Mr. Gregory started with APS in mid-January of this year, and the COVID-19 pandemic threw a bit of a wrench in his efforts to engage with the APS community. He is from Ohio and worked in the state department of education where he worked at many levels, including overseeing due process and diversity. He has experience in helping to reduce the achievement gap among students and has a personal connection with the special education community as a parent of a child with a learning disability. He considers equity to be about inclusion.
A number of attendees submitted questions to him via chat during the meeting, which he addressed as follows:
Q: Mr. Gregory, how will you interface with the Office of Special Education (OSE) and will you be involved in any individual IEP issues?
A. His position intersects with the Office of Teaching and Learning, where OSE is housed. He has a lot of interaction with Dr. Krug and Ms. Rothenbuescher.
Q: Thank you for joining us. I would be interested in hearing your priorities for APS, especially those that will directly impact special education.
A. Ms. Gregory has been meeting with the new superintendent, Dr. Francisco Duran. He is looking at APS’ strategic plan and School Board’s goals and is trying to establish procedures and strategies for closing gaps, including with those involving special education students. The first step is defining what equity is at APS and then drafting an equity policy that addresses the APS framework for closing gaps.
Q. Reactions to special ed report?
A. Mr. Gregory was not surprised by the findings. He has worked to close gaps in different school districts and will be working Ms. Rothenbuescher and Dr. Krug to address that at APS.
Q. Mr. Gregory – are you actively involved in how virtual instruction can be delivered to our diverse student groups? some of the unique challenges with our spec ed community?
A. He is involved. He referenced a recent podcast that he was on with Acting Superintendent Cintia Johnson, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Bridget Loft, and other teachers: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ep-31-distance-learning/id1292268941?i=1000471725315. Transcript: https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Ep.-31-Distance-Learningv2.pdf
Transcript Spanish:https://www.apsva.us/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Ep.-31-Distance-Learning-SP.pdf
He has been involved in the creation of learning plans to make sure that all students are receiving services and to try to keep gaps from widening. Summer slide is real and will expand even more due to the current situation, and he will continue to work to address this issue.
Q: Distance learning is supposed to be based on equity, but special ed students can’t do a lot of old material on their own. Is this equitable?
A: APS is trying to do its best to ensure all students have access and opportunity, but he recognizes that there are gaps – e.g., technology – and this is a nationwide problem. He is working with Dr. Krug and Ms. Rothenbuescher to try to address these situations. Dr. Krug reported that case carriers are working with families on accessing learning plans and accommodations. Ms. Rothenbuescher stated that the decision not to provide new learning was intended to work toward equity because some students would have difficulty accessing alternative means of instruction, and certain services not provided virtually. APS will work on remediation when students return. Mr. Gregory added that virtual learning is new learning for everyone. APS is trying to strengthen foundational and core skills so that there is less of a deficit when students start the next school year. He recognizes that teachers don’t have all the tools that they normally have, and he does not want gaps in learning to increase.
Follow-up Q: Are you also capturing student who thrive in this environment? Any way for the students who are thriving to take adv of that when they return?
A: Mr. Gregory wants to know how students are doing with respect to distance learning. He recognizes that it is possibly working better for some students than others.
Q: The current secondary summer school proposal seems to suggest only students failing D/E or with demonstrated no access to Canvas. Will there be Summer School availability/options for spec ed students who were not able to do well in the current delivery method?
A: Ms. Rothenbuescher stated that they are in the process of working on the summer school plan and ESY options. There will be opportunities for special education students for summer learning opportunities. The plan should be out soon.
Q: Are plans being developed to ensure equity for spec ed students in the event that distance learning has to continue in the fall, but with new material being taught?
A: Mr. Gregory stated that plans for the fall are still evolving – conversations are continuing from day to day; APS is considering different alternatives from remote to in-person to hybrid learning. The main focus right now is on summer school, as well as on core instruction to prevent gaps in future. Dr. Krug stated that they are considering a number of needs in their planning, and Ms. Rothenbuescher stated that they are also having to consider planning for multiple scenarios and having to switch between them.
Q: What are SOL plans for students who had to take mandatory SOLs?
A: SOLs have been canceled for this year; there has been no guidance from state as far as next year.
Mr. Gregory reiterated his interest in getting to know APS families and students; his door is always open.
III. February 2020 Minutes
The minutes from the February 2020 meeting were approved
IV. Treasurer Update
Treasurer Cara Abercrombie reported that SEPTA has a larger than anticipated balance of approximately $29,000. Prior to the pandemic, almost all of the funds for mini-grants were successfully distributed to the mini grant recipients prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since fundraising may prove more challenging next year, PTA’s are being encouraged to carry over larger than typical balances into the 2020-2021 school year.
V. Awards Process Update
VI. Current SEPTA Announcements
Janna reported that SEPTA award nominations were received, and the nominees will be announced at June meeting. At this time, we are planning to announce the winners and to have the awards ceremony in the fall.
Our next SEPTA Virtual Monthly Meeting scheduled for Thursday, June 11th from 8:00-9:00 pm.
SEPTA recently received the NOVA District PTA iSTEAM of the Year Award: Arlington County SEPTA and Fairfax County SEPTA. The award recognizes a local PTA unit for outstanding efforts in providing meaningful STEM/STEAM activities and programs to the students, parents, teachers, and community at large promoting student enrichment and community engagement. Thanks to everyone who helped with this joint iSTEAM event this past September.
Please don’t forget to mail in your ballots for Arlington School Board if you chose to request one from the Arlington Democratic Party. Ballots need to be physically received by May 30. SEPTA is a non-partisan organization and does not endorse any specific candidates. If you are still trying to decide on which candidates to support check out the blog post on the SEPTA website from April 23rd where all of the 6 candidates were asked the same 7 disability-related questions.
Some members have recently reported login issues on the website. For whatever reason it seems that our website has been working better when using Chrome as a browser instead of Internet Explorer. If you still experience difficulties after trying to login using Chrome you can reach out to us at info@arlingtonsepta.org
Questions for the Office of Special Education – OSE is accepting questions each week and replies once a week with answers via APS School Talk from the PRC. This form will be open until Friday, June 5th. You can submit the form as many times as you need. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtFHBw_Oepp9O5HF4AArOWQULrVYnGGoVbdVzsAcJBoqyilw/viewform
DISCLAIMER – Please only use this form for general questions. If you have an issue or concern directly involving a student, please reach out to your school team first, using the recommended communication paths. If these steps have been taken and your needs have not been met, please reach out directly to the Office of Special Education. https://www.apsva.us/special-education/
Virtual SEPTA Playdates/Meet-ups- The SEPTA Board is considering organizing some virtual playdates/meet-ups via Zoom for our students to connect with one another during this difficult time depending on interest. Specifics are still being discussed but the purpose of these virtual gatherings would be to provide social time and joy to our students during the ongoing Covid 19 Crisis. Each Zoom Playdate/Meet-up would have an adult volunteer host/facilitator, as well as recommendations around time, number of participants, age range, and parental attention. We have had limited interest so far and are trying to gauge if we should pursue this initiative. If you would be interested in having your student participate in a SEPTA virtual playdate please email: info@arlingtonsepta.org with the following information so that we can better gauge interest: your student’s age, school, and best days/times for a virtual playdate.
Speaking of resources and virtual offerings during Covid-19 times, Alison Cassels, our amazing VP is currently working on putting together a document to keep track of all of the resources (e.g., therapy), classes, and offerings right now – including both free activities and links for offerings from our local providers. Please send her any resources that you would like her to share on this document.
Our Nominating Committee was hoping to announce the slate of candidates for the SEPTA Board tonight for consideration so that our members can vote on the slate at our June Virtual meeting. SEPTA is incredibly grateful that there are a number of officers on the current board willing to stay on in their current positions or take on new leadership roles within the board. If you are interested in serving on the SEPTA Board for the upcoming school year, please let us know. SEPTA welcomes interest from all members regarding any of the officer positions and SEPTA is especially eager to identify new candidates for the following offices:
Vice President: Communications
Vice President: Events/Programming
Vice President: Fundraising
Secretary
Board members currently serving in these positions gave a brief overview of position responsibilities. Janna will be stepping down as President, and Kathleen Clark and Alison Cassel are currently on the slate as co-Presidents for the 2020-21 school year
Please reach out to members of the nominating committee as soon as possible: Nadia Facey – nncfacey@gmail.com, Kimiko Lighty – kimikolighty@gmail.com, and Kelly Mountain. Kelly.mountain@apsva.us or current SEPTA President, Janna Dressel, at president@arlingtonsepta.org if you are interested in a board position, volunteering, or have questions. Thank you for your thoughtful consideration and for continuing to support SEPTA.
VII. The meeting was adjourned.
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