PALS Meeting Minutes
April 24, 2019 9:15 a.m.
Roots of Faith
800 Main Street Pittsburgh, PA 15215
Open Forum
Open Forum is an opportunity for participants to come together and discuss a variety of topics, offer resources, and ask questions related to special education.
ESY Concerns
We continued our conversation about ESY disqualifications for this coming summer break. Parents who have children who have received ESY services in the past are confused with the change and looking for answers. A few parents expressed they are waiting for another IEP meeting to continue the discussion.
FCASD Special Education Plan Report
A parent happened across a copy of the FCASD Special Education Plan Report while on a school website days before our meeting and asked if anyone else was aware of its existence. The sentiments were the same across the board, no one had seen the document and no one saw a public notice of the document. The latter was the group's first concern considering there is a 28 day public inspection and comment period required. No one knew what specific date the report was posted and therefore no one knew when the public inspection and comment period ended.
Upon a quick review of the document some immediate concerns were:
- the drastic differences in state and district percentages in certain disability groups
- the reliance on RtII to limit the percentage of students identified with a learning disability
- why the FCASD officers are not mentioned under referral to or relations with law enforcement.
- the lack of parent trainings
Mental Health Initiatives
Within the conversation about the Special Education Plan we hit on the topic of the importance of and in some cases lack of mental health initiatives. We discussed the use of Family Behavioral Resources and the role reduction of School Psychologists. The concern comes with the lack of communication about mental health in general.
Class Registration for High School
A parent received notification about her child's high school class registration after it happened. The parent is concerned that the transitioning middle schooler's schedule was not reviewed within an IEP Meeting to keep everyone on the same page.
Pre-K Program in FCASD
The lack of Special Education services in the district's new Pre-K program has some concerned. Specifically, what if a child is identified under Child Find while in the program. Will the child then be removed from the program? If there are no services to begin with, what prevision are in place to identify students with disabilities within this program? Are signs of disabilities ignored by hiding them within the RtII process?
Next Meeting: May 22, 2019 9:15 a.m. Eat'n Park Waterworks Mall Meeting Room 849 Freeport Road Pittsburgh, PA 15238
#504 #diagnosis #Pittsburgh #employability #employmentskill #IEPServices #Training #MedicalAssistance #Funding #LearningDisability #SpecialEduation #EducationalFunding #SpecialEducation #PAHealthLawProject #PEALCenter #SocialSecurityInsurance #Medicaid #ExecutiveFunction #SelfRegulation #SelfAwareness #HarvardUniversity #CenterontheDevelopingChild #OrganizationalSkills #TimeManagement #workingmemory #mentalflexibility #selfcontrol #focusattention #inhibition #RTII #ResponsetoInstructionandIntervention #QuestTherapeutic #SpecialEducationSupports #DisabilityCategories #504Plan #WritingGoals #Bullying #CyberBullying #BeingWellCenter #ADHD #ADHDAcrosstheLifespan #UPMC #WesternPsychiatricInstituteandClinic #supportservices #supportcoordinator #WesleySpectru #WesleySpectrum #Achieva #FamilyLink #FamilyLinks #AutismCenterofPittsburgh #BestBuddies #TheFriendshipCircle #WesleyFamilyServices #TransitionCoordinator #SpecialEducationTransition #HighSchoolTransition #communityawareness #disabilities #disability #SBAP #SchoolBasedAccessProgram #miss #MA #medicalassistance #nurses #nursing #diversitytraining #TopSoccer #UnifiedSports #sensorystrategies #bestbuddies #childfind #schoolresourceofficer #resolve #cactis #LEA #LocalEducationAgencies #localeducationagency #IEP #IEPGoals #IEPAccommodations #IEPProcess #IEPManagment #IndependentEducationEvaluation #privateschool #genesight #genetictesting #dnatesting #genetics #dna #medication #AWBeattieCareerCenter #BeattieTech #safety #firstresponder #emergencypersonnel #policeofficer #policeofficers #projectlifesaver #PremiseAlert #GeneSight #SummerLearningAcademy #SLA #ESY #ExtendedSchoolYear #CommunityAwareness