Special Education Supervisor LEA Responsibilities Rachel Schuler Special Education Supervisor

LEA Representative qualified to provide or supervise the provision of special education services knowledgeable about the general education curriculum knowledgeable about and can commit the school district resources LEA stands for Local Education Agency We use the term LEA to refer to the person on the IEP team who represents Milwaukee Public Schools. This person must be: qualified to provide or supervise the provision of special education services knowledgeable about the general education curriculum knowledgeable about and can commit the school district resources

Who Can be LEA? Administrator appoints an LEA This can be any certified person that meets the requirements from the first slide Administrator Special Education Teacher Social Worker Psychologist Speech Pathologist The role of LEA can be filled by one of the other required school district IEP Team members (meaning they serve a dual role on the IEP team) as long as the individual can fulfill the LEA role as described. The parent/guardian should be made aware of the person who is serving as the LEA.

Before the Meeting Determine Resources Parent Notification Required Members Access to IEP Before the meeting, LEA representative must familiarize him or herself with the availability of MPS district and buildings If unsure about resources at the meeting, take a short break and obtain necessary information If LEA is unable to do so, stop the meeting and reconvene the meeting with the appropriate information or with an LEA that can address the issues Make sure the LEGAL parent has been adequately notified of the meeting (we will discuss this later) Documented on the cover page Must have 3 valid attempts if the parent isn’t in attendance Attempts can’t include disconnected phone, no answer on a phone; parent whereabouts unknown If the parent wasn’t notified adequately (3 attempts), then the meeting can’t be held Always call the parent if they are not present (if there is a working phone) Offer parent opportunity to participate via a conference call Make sure all required members are at the meeting Must have LEA, regular ed and special ed teacher Student should attend if they are 14 year or older If there are any related services, such as psychology, nursing, speech path, OT, PT: they MUST be in attendance or have written permission from the parent to miss the meeting (I-2 Agreement on IEP Participant Attendance at IEP meeting) If all members are not present, then the meeting can’t be held Ensure the IEP team members will have access to the written document during the meeting Most economical way is to have an in-Focus machine that can project on the wall; Can provide paper copies, but this can be expensive and a waste of resources Not necessarily the LEA’s responsibility to set it up or copy the IEP, but someone needs to make sure it happens

Parent Participation Definition of a parent People who accompany parents When parents are absent Parents include Biological parent Adoptive parents Parents do NOT include Foster parent, unless they have been appointed by the district as a surrogate parent (there’s a form for that) Bureau workers: NEVER, EVER allowed to act as the parent, even when a child has been placed in the legal custody or guardianship of the state or a county or a child welfare agency Parents whose rights have been terminated There are forms for foster parent to act as the parent (when rights have been terminated) and forms for surrogate parents (when parents can not be located, and this is documented by bureau, courts etc).These need to be completed and signed by administrator before the meeting begins; consult the SE supervisor for the building regarding this authorization Parent can bring anyone they want to a meeting without written consent If the parent isn’t at the meeting, anyone outside of the district must have provided a signed, written authorization allowing that individual to attend; this includes Bureau workers, therapists, advocates a parent/guardian cannot appoint another party to represent them as the parent or to make the decisions that are made by the parent

At the Meeting Facilitator Introductions Review purpose Parent Rights Review meeting “layout” As LEA, make sure everyone introduces themselves Identify yourself as LEA-person who makes sure the resources that are in the IEP are available to the student/teacher Review purpose of the meeting Initial evaluation, reevaluation, review/revise IEP, annual IEP Make sure parents received a copy of their rights Have a copy available just in case they didn’t or want another one; no need to review the rights Tell the parent they are part of the team, a participant, not an observer Remind them that they can stop people and ask questions when they are unsure of something This is their child, they know them better than anyone else

Meeting “layout” Initial and Revaluations Review/Revise and Annuals Initial and Reevaluation meetings have 3 potential parts: 1) background and interventions; talk about how the student is doing in the classroom; address eligibility criteria; Must explain that we follow state and federal defined criteria that often relies on numbers or very specific guidelines. We are determining whether or not the student has a DISABILITY, not just delays; if they qualify, it means that everything else we have tried to do has not been successful and we are determining that it is due to a disability; if they qualify for SE, we move to the next portion of the meeting: 2) IEP to address specific needs of the student taking into account the student’s strengths and weaknesses 3) Determine the placement-where will the services be offered Review/Revise and Annual-2 parts to the meeting IEP to address specific needs of the student taking into account the student’s strengths and weaknesses Determine the placement-where will the services be offered

Cautions Parent Friendly Terms Interventions Eligibility Need for Special Education LRE Transportation Make sure people are talking in terms that parent can understand; be careful of acronyms or tests that we give without a reference to how it relates to other children (e.g. don’t just state a MAP score without some sort of explanation of how it relates to how other students are doing) Make sure that interventions have been done with fidelity when looking at criteria; remember that we are saying that NOTHING else has worked with this student, so make sure it’s true! Make sure the criteria is followed and any discussions that occur are documented somewhere in the IEP. Don’t be afraid to ask to have an addendum added to document discussions that effect criteria. Sometimes it might look like a student will/won’t qualify based on the criteria page, but the decision doesn’t match the data---this type of thing needs to be documented If the student qualifies for a specific disability area (e.g. OHI, SLD), the second part of the discussion needs to be whether the student requires Special Education. The student can have an impairment, but not require SE; an example might be a student with ADHD that the teacher accommodates by reducing assignments and giving frequent breaks; another example might be a student with an orthopedic impairment that we can make physical accommodations in the school for, but they don’t require anything that is above and beyond When determining the amount of time, start with providing the services in the classroom as much as possible; start with the least amount of time the team determines that will meet the student’s needs. This can always be adjusted later via a review/revise meeting Remember that special education doesn’t automatically mean door to door transportation. The need for d/d transportation must be due to the student’s disability. What is it about the student’s disability that keeps them from getting to school like another child who lives in the same neighborhood? It can’t be that the student is too young to walk to school or that their attendance is poor because the parent doesn’t bring them….that’s not their disability

Hot Topics Contentious parents Request for HCA Request for technology If parents become angry or overly argumentative, you can stop the meeting and request that an administrator step into the room; if there is not administrator in the building and you don’t feel you can handle the situation, you can stop the meeting and reconvene it at a later date with an administrator as LEA If there are requests for services that you don’t feel comfortable committing to, such as a 1:1 HCA or the promise of technology that the principal would be obligated to provide, stop the meeting and request that an administrator step into the room; if there is not administrator in the building and you don’t feel you can handle the situation, you can stop the meeting and reconvene it at a later date with an administrator as LEA

End of Meeting Questions Copies of IEP Make sure to ask the parent and other participants if they have questions The parent may take a copy of the draft IEP with them if it is not able to be locked and printed at the meeting

LEA Responsibilities MPS Board of School Directors Michael Bonds, Ph.D., President, District 3 Meagan Holman, Vice President, District 8 Mark Sain, District 1 Jeff Spence, District 2 Annie Woodward, District 4 Larry Miller, District 5 Tatiana Joseph, Ph.D., District 6 Claire Zautke, District 7 Terrence Falk, At-Large Senior Team Gregory E. Thornton, Ed.D., Superintendent Naomi Gubernick, Chief of Staff Darienne Driver, Chief Innovation Officer Tina Flood, Chief Academic Officer Karen Jackson, Ph.D., Chief Human Capital Services Officer Michelle Nate, Chief Operations Officer Gerald Pace, Esq., Chief Financial Officer Keith Posley, Ed.D., Chief School Administration Officer Denise Callaway, Executive Director, Community Engagement Patricia Gill, Executive Director, Family Services Sue Saller, Executive Coordinator, Superintendent’s Initiatives