Special education was board’s first leadership workshop topic

Fortunately, no one asked Associate Director of Secondary Services Tina Ross to cover every element of special education in Monday night’s 25-minute presentation.

Ross covered a lot of ground in 25 minutes, however, in a new workshop designed to detail specific topics before the final regular Newton Community School District board of education meeting of each month. Even though being asked to “explain” special education is sort of like having to explain all the steps to building and testing a space shuttle orbiter, Ross brought the board up to speed on a number of important facts regarding the special-ed realm of public education.

At its April 23 meeting, the board voted to have leadership workshops one half-hour before the final meeting of each month, on a specific public-education topic. Monday was the debut of that new workshop, with Ross chosen to speak about special education.

Ross stressed the importance of knowing how to include each student, help students feel valued as individuals and properly document each step of the educational process.

“There are a lot of acronyms in special education,” Ross said early in her presentation. “And we want children with disabilities in with all of their non-disabled friends. That’s what kids want, too.”

Special classes are considered to be far from the ideal, she said. Modern schools have moved much closer to inclusion, with ways and means to keep special-ed students in the same milieu with their peers, rather than setting them apart in special-ed classrooms.

Ross took the board and a handful of observers (the workshops are open to the public) through several steps of the special-ed process, including the creation of individualized educational plans. She stressed the importance of IEPs, as a multi-page document that not only addresses the complexity of a student’s needs, but also their skills. It’s updated on an annual basis.

There are several roles represented at the ideal IEP meeting: a parent, a special education teacher, a regular classroom teacher, a representative of any other applicable districts ( if the student has open-enrolled in another district), someone who can interpret evaluation results, and an administrator authorized to approve expenditures.

“Can you have a meeting without all of these roles at the meeting?” Ross asked. “It’s not best practice, but it can happen.”

Ross said if a parent misses three meeting appointments, the team is able to proceed, as long as it documents the missed appointments. Meeting notices are normally about 10 days out, and most educators try to meet at times that work for parents.

Once a student turn age 18, they are allowed to make their own educational decisions, Ross said. This is one of the many aspects Ross said educators start to remind parents about —even parents of the youngest children receiving special-ed services.

There are Level I, II and III special-ed students. District educators collect data and determine needs, and an outside agency, such as the Heartland Area Education Agency, completes matrixes and assigns weighting to help determine the level of assistance each student needs.

Ross said it’s important for staff working with each student to know as many of the limitations and special needs as possible, giving two clear examples.

“If a student can’t see well out of the right eye, you don’t want them on the far left-hand side of the room,” Ross said. “And some students can see contrast on a yellow sheet of paper better than on plain white. These things need to go into a plan, and the plan needs to be followed.”

The board’s next regular meeting is Aug. 10. A workshop topic for August has not yet been announced.

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com