1. Students’ Rights Advocates
Overview and Description
Perkins School
2014

2. What is a Students’ Rights Advocate?
New positions created when the School Wide Safety Committee was restructured
They act as a liaison between staff in a program (Deafblind, Lower School/ELC, and Secondary) and the SRC
They are the contact person for staff who are concerned about a student not having his/her rights met

3. Student’s Rights Committee (SRC)
Approves and reviews the use of restrictive procedures in behavior plans
Insures compliance with regulations
Provides advice to manage challenging behaviors
Previously, the Students’ Rights Committee was know as PRT (Program Review Team)

4. Who are the Student Rights Advocates?
Jim Witmer
Deafblind
X 7255
Betsey Porter
Lower School & ELC
X 7287
To Be Determined
Secondary

5. What responsibilities do they have?
Advocates are expected to:
Attend monthly SRC meetings
Receive staff concerns related to student rights
Address concerns in a timely manner
Report the concerns and outcomes to the SRC

6. The Process
Advocate will facilitate bringing concern to the appropriate supervisor (i.e. Education Director, clinical supervisor, CRL, etc…)
If concern is not resolved, the Advocate will meet with the Education Director of the program.
If needed, the Advocate will bring the concern to the SRC meeting for recommendations

7. The Process (continued)
4. Advocate will bring the recommendations from the SRC back to the Education Director. 5. Advocate and Educational Director may bring concerns to the Superintendent of Educational Programs

8. Notes about The Process
The process should be non-threatening and not intimidating
Supervisors know staff may go to Advocate for help
Generally recommended to go to your supervisor first, before approaching the Advocate

9. What are the students’ rights?
Examples of Student’s Rights are:
Access to daily recreation
Access to social contact
Right to privacy
When appropriate- participate in making rules
When appropriate- participate in design of own behavior support plan
Access to telephone

10. In Summary…
The Advocate will help resolve student rights issues, possibly with Student Rights Committee (SRC) help
If you have a concern about a students’ rights, speak to the Advocate in your program
Deafblind: Jim Witmer (x 7255)
Lower School/ELC: Betsey Porter (x 7278)
Secondary: To Be Determined