October 2019 SEPTA Meeting Minutes

SEPTA Meeting

October 10, 2019

Syphax Education Center, Room 452/454

7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

I. Welcome – SEPTA President Janna Dressel welcomed everyone to the meeting.  She reminded everyone that for Halloween, families can use a teal pumpkin (or a picture of teal pumpkin) to indicate that they have non-food treats for kids with food allergies.

II. Overview of the Student Support Process for Parents/Families

Heather Rothenbuescher, Special Education Supervisor, also currently covering Director of Special Education duties at the secondary level, gave a presentation on the new Student Support Process that is being implemented in APS this year.  Her presentation slides can be found at https://www.arlingtonsepta.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Student-Support-Process-Parents-Read-Only.pdf.  Student support coordinators play an important role in this process, which attempts to streamline the student support process and increase consistency across all schools.  One Student Support Team at each school now handles interventions, 504 plans, and IEPs, whereas before, different teams handled each process. This helps to reduce the time that teachers are pulled out of class and that parents have to come into school for meetings.  

A number of parents had questions about the Student Support Process, and Ms. Rothenbuescher provided the following clarifications:

• One of the first steps is to try out appropriate interventions for a student without a 504 plan or IEP, but if a student demonstrates a need for a Functional Behavior Assessment, it is possible to move to that stage sooner rather than later.  Additionally, the 5-6 week timeframe for interventions isn’t binding; can always move faster
• It’s ok to bring in people from outside to the Student Support Team meetings.  
• Prior written notice, which shows what was discussed and what the next steps are, should be provided after every meeting.  However, one parent raised some concerns with receiving prior written notice in a timely manner and having required members at meeting (e.g., special ed teacher was not present)
• Student support coordinator contact information is listed on the APS website
• Ms. Rothenbuescher and Kelly Krug have taken over for Paul Jamelske, former APS Director or Special Education; Ms. Rothenbuescher deals primarily with secondary schools, and Ms. Krug deals with elementary schools.
• Case carrier would be coordinating services and monitoring progress for IEPs, and there would also be someone to do the same for 504 plans.  The student support coordinator will be in school building and be available to support the teachers.
• The only impact of this new process on the teachers is that it reduces meetings for them.  Implementation of interventions, 504 plans, and IEPs should remain the same.  
• Student support coordinators meet on a monthly basis but Ms. Rothenbuescher and Ms. Kelly are in contact on a daily basis to make adjustments as needed.  
• There is currently no audit of this new process.
• A parent raised problem of inconsistency from school to school; Ms. Rothenbuescher noted that this was what they are trying to fix with the Student Support Process.  
• A parent of a student who just began middles school asked how best to navigate the Student Support Process with all of her child’s teachers.  Ms. Rothenbuescher recommended starting with the case carrier and then moving on to the administrator for that grade level.    
• School health and safety plans would be captured by the tier 1 group.  
• There are no magic words to initiate the process.  Ms. Rothenbuescher advised that it is best to be direct and request an evaluation, preferably in writing. 

III. Standards Based Grading and Reporting

Sarah Putnam, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, also currently serving as the acting Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning with Tyrone Byrd and Wendy Pilch. gave a presentation on standards-based grading and reporting.  The slides from her presentation can be found at https://www.arlingtonsepta.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/SEPTA-SBG-Session-October-2019-1.pdf.  11 elementary schools have switched over to standards-based grading and reporting. Ms. Putnam was first asked to update the elementary school report card a few years ago, and she wanted the report card to be a better communication tool between parents and teacher.  The main benefits of standards-based grading and reporting is that it provides: more specialized reporting; a meaningful, consistent and accurate picture of student proficiency (uniform across all schools); and helps answer the question of where am I going, where am I now, and how will I get there?  By contrast, letter grades don’t tell you much about whether student has mastered the subject. The specificity of standards-based reporting allows parents to know what standards their child have mastered and what they are still working on. It also provides better preparation for the real world since most jobs are standards-based.  The comment section is used to address approaching/developing mastery of the standard – it should speak to where student is in their development. For instance, if mastered, how did teacher take the student further? The comment section also should provide more detail on standard – e.g., the student can summarize (meet standard) but reads below grading level.  Progress reports will be viewable on ParentVue. Ms. Putnam has been trying to get the word out to parents to get them acquainted now with this reporting system and will conducting a follow-up survey in winter.  

A number of parents had questions about standards-based grading and reporting, and Ms. Putman provided the following clarifications:

• A parent expressed concern about standards changing from quarter to quarter and how it would not necessarily be clear as to whether the student ever mastered the standard.  Ms. Putnam acknowledged that standards will change from quarter to quarter (based on what was taught), but in the comment section, the teacher can address progress student has made on previous standard.  
• Regarding teacher accountability, if a child still is at the developing level, the teacher is supposed to make sure that they continue to work on that skill.  Ms. Putnam noted that there are other ways to show progress – the quarterly report is not the only way.
• Although standards-based reporting results in consistency across APS, this system does not necessarily translate easily to another school district; however, a student going to another district may still face the same problem even with letter grades grading/reporting systems differ from district to district.  
•  Standards-based reporting is only being implemented in elementary schools for now; some teachers trying a form of this in middle school and high school but still need to stick to letter grades on report cards.   APS is not moving to implement this at secondary level, but while schools can opt to do alternative forms of reporting, they still need to use letter grades.  
•  If student is taking SOL, then the student will be held to grade level standard.  Non-grade level standards would apply to students who are subject to an alternative assessment.  
• “Meets” standard covers large range.  It was a conscious decision not to include “exceeds” because that is hard to define, and the goal for student is to meet the standard.  Comment section should address degree of “meets.”
• A PDF of the progress report will be in English (via ParentVue).  If the language spoken at home is not English, the parent will be provided list of standards translated in that language.  Under the settlement agreement with the Department of Justice, translations are provided in the following 4 languages: Spanish, Mongolian, Amharic, and Arabic.  
• Even if a teacher does not get to a standard during the quarter, it still needs to be reported for accountability purposes.  

IV. Arlington Special Education Advisory Committee (ASEAC)

Nadia Facey, Chair of ASEAC, gave a presentation on ASEAC.  The slides for her presentation can be found at https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1H_Q5LI8pjaA0k5TAyWP-CT5Fv9-banP4WCUYq3IFOgo/edit?ts=5daa20b4#slide=id.g63f8238fd6_0_3.  This committee is required under state regulations to advise the School Board of the needs of special education students. There is an opportunity for public comment at every ASEAC meeting (comments can be sent via email as well).  ASEAC also has a number working groups, and its newest one addresses program evaluation accountability. ASEAC is currently seeking for student members; while it is open to anyone, older students are preferable. Please consider attending monthly ASEAC meetings, which are open to all.  

V. Business Updates 

• Janna thanked members for their participation in September’s iSTEAM event and promoted upcoming events in honor of AAC month.  She also introduced the 2019-20 SEPTA Board Members. She reminded everyone to make sure that join or renew their SEPTA Membership and to take advantage of the opportunity to sponsor teachers for membership as well.  SEPTA was presented with a membership award last month for increasing its membership by 17% during the past year.   
• Anyone experiencing problems with listserv is requested to let Alison Cassels or Kathleen Clark know.  
• Upcoming fundraising events include the Phantom Ball at the end of October and SEPTA’s online auction at the end of November – December.  SEPTA is seeking volunteers with the auction, so please let Janna know if you are interested.
• Monday was the deadline for SEPTA’s mini grants.  43 applications were received, and SEPTA has $10,000 budgeted for these grants.  Mini grant chair Melissa Wadman is seeking volunteers for additional committee members to evaluate the grant applications.  
• Special education parent liaison trainings are scheduled for October 29 at 7 and October 30 at 10. Almost all schools have a special education parent liaison.  Please contact Kelly Mountain, Kathleen Donovan, or Janna if you are interested.
• The SEPTA 2019-2020 budget was approved. Treasurer Cara Abercrombie explained that SEPTA had a $26,000 starting cash balance.  Expenditures for this year are greater than last year because of successful fundraising. There was an increase primarily for mini grants, awards, scholarships, and Espacio Hispano.  The speaker budget was reduced, as we are looking to get more speakers in-house. A portion of SEPTA dues are allocated to national/district/state PTA organizations, with the remainder staying with SEPTA.