Call to Order
Introductions: Alison Elmer, Inae Hwang, Sarah Barton, Jessica Dombrosky, Alex, Cheryl Miller, Chris Carlson, Lauren Bellon, Liz Exton, Rebekah Lea, Sophie Prevost, Katrina Bernstein-Lewicke, Tracy Perneta, Eileen Coleman, Dror Wolff, Stephanie Trinkle, Rachel Katzman, Rachel Ostrow, and Beth Rapoza attended.
Approve minutes:
– Meeting minutes from March were approved
Officers/committee reports:
– We held our Basic Rights workshop last month, on Eligibility and Evaluation. We had a pretty good turnout and the presentation went well.
– We have talked about having an informal meet and greet with other parents on Zoom, just to chat and talk about how things are going during the pandemic. It would be more of a social and peer support event. Contemplating holding the social in the evening on the same day as our morning SEPAC meeting (May 11th, 2021)
Planning Workshops for the coming year:
– We are discussing having presenters in Assistive Technology/Assistive Augmentative Communication for presentations in the fall.
– Sarah Burd would address social-emotional needs of SpEd students in another presentation.
APS Staff reports:
– Full re-opening happened for elementary students last Monday, April 5th. We are continuing to conduct pool testing. Some students returned to full time from being remote, and students who were in opposite cohorts (AA/BB) were able to reunite.
– Extended School Year – DESE strongly recommends that students receive as much in-person learning as possible. That said, they are offering a remote option and an in-person option for ESY summer services as an extension of the accommodations offered this past school year. A survey was sent to parents, asking them to make their choice to attend in-person, remotely, or opt-out of ESY.
Programming is between July 12th through August 19th, from 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at Menotomy, Peirce School, Gibbs School, and AHS
ESY services are proposed in order to prevent substantial regression, so IEP services during ESY may differ from the services given during the regular school year. It is expected that families will know their child’s summer services schedule by the end of June.
– The next phase of re-opening happens after we return from Spring Break, with re-opening of the middle schools on the following Tuesday, and the high school will open the following week.
Public participation / New business / Open discussion:
– Melanie Jarbo – Did the dispute resolution talk at VCO conference. Has to figure out if there’s a conflict of interest doing something in-district, but if her law firm approves then she (or someone else from her law firm) can do the presentation for us next year.
– Stephanie Trinkle asked about the roles of different supports for social-emotional goals during unstructured times. The BCBA and social worker help teach adaptive and socially appropriate ways to interact with peers. The state has developed learning standards for social emotional learning, and most start in pre-K, but skills are taught in the curriculum moving up through the grades, with things such as Responsive Classroom and Second Step as part of the SEL curriculum. Other tiered services or lunch bunches are also offered.
– It might be a good idea to have Sarah Burd come back and give us an update on the implementation of the SEL plan.
Announcements:
– Next month we will take nominations for the SEPAC Board Elections, and in June there will be elections.
– The school committee will be hosting a coffee chat (bring your own coffee because these are done on Zoom 🙂 ) for parents of Special Education students on Saturday May 8th from 11am to 12pm
-Our next monthly business meeting is on Tuesday, May 11th, from 9am to 10am on Zoom
Adjourn
Arlington SEPAC 