Special Education Directors Winter Area Meetings 2018

01 02 Presentations 03 04 Presentations 2016-17 Restraint Data Reporting 02 Educational Stability for Students in Foster Care Presentations 03 Proposed Amendment: LEA Assignment Regulations 04 Autism Commission: Coordinating the Role of State Agencies; Resources for School Districts

2016-17 Restraint Data Reporting Anticipated Date: February 2018

Anticipated Data Release Reported by: School or program Number of restraints Number of students Type of restraint (as percentage of total number of restraints)

Suppressed Restraint Data ESE will likely suppress data when: Number of students restrained is less than six Number of restraints is less than six

Lessons from Restraint Data Provides relative understanding of frequency of restraint by school or program Demonstrates progress to date at reducing or eliminating restraint

Educational Stability for Students in Foster Care

01 02 Contents 03 04 Contents ESSA Foster Care Provisions / Definition School of Origin / Transportation Contents 03 Best Interest Determination 04 Immediate Enrollment

ESSA Foster Care Provisions 01 ESSA Foster Care Provisions / Definition 01

ESSA Title I, Part A Provisions Promote Educational Stability Districts assign a Foster Care Point of Contact (POC) Please update your district’s POC on ESE’s website (with your directory administrator)

ESSA Definition – Students in Foster Care Students who are in: 24-hour substitute care, placed away from their parents or guardians, and for whom the Department of Children and Families (DCF) has placement and care responsibilities Includes students previously identified as “awaiting foster care” (in emergency, short term placements) under McKinney-Vento Foster homes include, but are not limited to: Group homes, foster homes, kinship foster homes, STARR, Transitional care units (TCUs)

Educational Rights of Students in Foster Care School of Origin Transportation Best Interest Determination Immediate Enrollment

School of Origin/Transportation 02 School of Origin / Transportation 02

School of Origin School the student was attending when placed in foster care, or at the time of a subsequent change in foster care placement. To promote educational stability, students should remain enrolled in their school of origin, unless, after a best interest determination, it is decided to be in their best interest not to.

Transportation Districts must collaborate with DCF to establish policies and procedures to ensure that students who need transportation to remain in their school of origin get it. Absent another agreement, districts of origin are responsible for providing transportation to and from the school of origin. Districts should document all costs associated with this transportation.

Best Interest Determination 03 03 Best Interest Determination

Best Interest Determination Decisions about which school a student will attend should be made collaboratively, and consider a wide variety of factors Should include those in the best position to understand the student’s unique needs Process should be collaborative…but doesn’t need to be one big meeting Factors to consider include: Age/grade level Connections to school Distance/time to school Anticipated time in placement Availability of services to meet students needs, etc. Parties to include: DCF, student (if appropriate), family/foster family, any educational decision makers District of origin, school personnel, local school district (where student is placed in foster care, if appropriate)

Immediate Enrollment 04 04 Immediate Enrollment

Immediate Enrollment If determined to be in a student’s best interest to attend school locally (where placed in foster care), district must enroll immediately* With or without documentation, including: Academic, health, discipline and/or special education records Notice to LEA (from DCF), includes: Emergency contact, residence, social worker, record release, transportation needs, etc. District POCs should initiate records transfer, help facilitate transition *Note: If there is no change in the school of origin, there should be no change in enrollment. Factors to consider include: Age/grade level Connections to school Distance/time to school Anticipated time in placement Availability of services to meet students needs, etc. Parties to include: DCF, student (if appropriate), family/foster family, any educational decision makers District of origin, school personnel, local school district (where student is placed in foster care, if appropriate)

Proposed Amendment: LEA Assignment Regulations 603 CMR 28.10

01 Contents 02 03 Contents LEA Assignment Regulation Proposed Amendment 03 Public Comment/Board Approval

LEA Assignment Regulation 01 01 LEA Assignment Regulation

603 CMR 28.10 – Current Regulation Addresses programmatic and fiscal responsibility for non- traditional living arrangements Reason for amendment - Align with ESSA broad definition of foster care Align with ESSA goal of educational stability

Proposed Amendment 02 02 Proposed Amendment

Proposed Amendment: 28.10(5)(b) Consolidate in a single regulation General Rule Accounts for students living in one district and attending school in another per ESSA best interest determination

Result of Proposed Amendment Reconciles conflict with ESSA Clarifies responsibility Makes assignments simpler, more consistent, predictable

Proposed Changes

Public Comment/Board Approval 03 03 Public Comment/Board Approval

Public Comment through 1/19 February Board meeting vote Next Steps Public Comment through 1/19 February Board meeting vote Implementation in SY 18-19 Assignments during SY 17-18

THANK YOU THANK YOU Contact Information Kristen McKinnon Foster Care Point of Contact kmckinnon@doe.mass.edu www.doe.mass.edu/sfs/foster Contact Information Liz Keliher Assistant Director Special Education Policy and Planning ekeliher@doe.mass.edu