504/ Dyslexia Updates December 1, 2016

Forms Please know that we will be presented the following forms to the district for adoption purposes. At this point we still may not change the forms until we (superintendents and associates) have all agreed: Form 5 Notice and Consent for Initial Form 6 Notice of Procedural Rights Form 7 Teacher Input Form 8 Parent Input Form 9 Notice of 504 Meeting Form 10 Section 504 Initial Evaluation and Periodic Re-evaluation (Add to our major life activities ( we are missing some) ) Form 11 Notice of Section 504 Evaluation Results Form 12 Parent Consent Form 14 – Annual Review (short-form for annual, “as needed” and some periodic re evaluation Form 15 – Manifestation Determination Form 16 – Texas Dyslexia Law and Section 504 Initial Evaluation and Periodic Re- evaluation Form 18 – Accommodations for Extracurricular Athletics Form 19-Notice of Denial of Parent Request for students for section 504 Form 20- Sample Letter to Parent on Section 504 Snapshot for Annual Review

Major Life Activities Some of the major life activities that are not included in our forms are: Interacting with others Function of immune system Neurological function Respiratory function Normal cell growth Reproductive function Circulatory function Digestive function Endocrine function Writing Brain function Bladder bowel function

Child Find, Evaluation, and Placement under 504 Child – Find – Any student who needs or is believed to need 504 services must be “identified” by the school district for referral to 504 committee for evaluation. This is known as the child-find requirement of 504. The term and concept derived from the IDEA requirements, but are also discussed in the 504 regulations. Please read the 35 document entitled Students with ADHD and Section 504: A Resource Guide

Child Find

What processes do you have at your campuses to ensure you are identifying the students to meet the child find requirement? 2 minutes to discuss Share

Transitions Grade to Grade, School to School Who is suppose to help? Teachers, 504 committee members, and student Make students their own advocates: Students need to be able to describe their strengths and area of weakness, talk to others of their disability, ask for help, and verbalize need for appropriate supports and accommodations (Caution: have a parent meeting explaining your intentions )

Transition Start with the goal… Clarify the destination… College? Military? Workforce? Other? How early do you start? Since elementary. Invite students to their annuals and their feedback to work on their plan.

Transition- Roleplaying opportunities to practice being self advocates: What are you still struggling with? What accommodations have helped you? (grade level appropriate) What do you think you no longer may need? What concerns do you have?

Campus to Campus Transition Have general informational meetings among 504 campus contacts when students are transitioning (example LLA going to ALA-Brownsville, Wells Branch transferring to ALA-Austin) Transfer the folders campus to campus

How do you prepare students for postsecondary life? Have the students know their rights Continue self-advocacy skills so they are are better equipped to request Walk students through the process of deciding whether to disclose the disability Discuss the process of requesting accommodations for college entrance exams

Resources to check out on transitions and students rights http://www.imdetermined.org/ http://www.imdetrmined.org/resources/documents http://www.eyetoeyenational.org https://www.understood.org/en Self-advocacy: How Do I Ask for Help? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCziz9XGUNo Student Success: Self-Advocacy for Students with Learning Difficulties – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQyojkJtdIQ

Self Advocacy Skills https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsYX_ZqLhOI

Discipline of the Section 504 Student Identify the difference between short term disciplinary removals under 504. Identify short-term disciplinary removal under 504: A short term removal occurs when a campus administrator removes a child from his normal setting for less than 10 consecutive school days for disciplinary or behavior purposes. The most common example is a suspension. In school suspension should be considered a short tem removal unless the “smart ISS” criteria discussed below is met, in which case the removal days may not count as true short term removal days under 504. Identify long-term disciplinary removals under 504: A long term disciplinary removal is one of over 10 consecutive school days. In Texas, this is usually in the form of a removal to a disciplinary alternative education program or expulsion

Discipline of the Section 504 Student Smart ISS will not be considered short term removals if when pulled out they are : -being serviced -all accommodations are given -they continue to participate in general curriculum

Discipline of the Section 504 Student The school year starts with 10 “free days” What this means is that you can have short term removals up to 10 days without need to convene a 504 committee meeting, without a manifestation determination. Although schools may be able to exceed the 10 day removal, at a certain point, the accumulated short term removals will constitute to a “pattern of exclusion” that amounts to a change in placement and triggers manifestation determination requirement

Discipline of the Section 504 Student Recommendation: Before short term removals add up to 10 days, have a 504 meeting to address behavior For long term removals, proceed to a manifestation determination 504 meeting before removal reaches the 11th consecutive day. For Drug or alcohol offenses of a current user, MDR protection does not apply.

Dyslexia Updates Mr. Rios

Testing Kits Any questions? Are campuses missing kits or they in the process of purchasing?

Dyslexia Training All certificates were due on November 30th. Anyone that might have a student that might have dyslexia needs to do the training.

Campus Cases Discussion Time