6/6
MEETING AD HOC
First part of meeting
discussed what happened when Rep. Stiles spoke to Speaker regarding interim
study. It was decided that interim
study would not be appointed until October, will consist of "bare minimum"
of 3 legislators with the Speaker being Chairman, that Ad Hoc would continue
but would have to have all work completed by September (as opposed to november)
and Rep. Stiles would present our changes thru the interim committee.
The whole meeting was a
discussion of SAC (State Advisory Committee) and proposed changes - most
changes take it above IDEA 2004, which is fine by federal statute. A copy of the chart, as revised will be
posted. SAC is a committee that meets
quarterly, most everyone appointed by governor and, as you will see from chart,
has duties of preparing annual report to governor, advising DOE of corrective
action plans needed and in developing and implementing policies regarding
coordination of services, among other things.
The most noted changes
are:
under (f) - for teachers
to be appointed, suggested language will be 1 special ed teacher and 1 regular
teacher
under (j) reading two
individuals with diabilities who have benefitted from special education
services will be changed to read who may have received services
(this was brought about by a discussion started by Dick Cohen of DRC that
shouldn't just have children who have succeeded from services, may need input
from those who have received services but it hasn't helped so Committee can see
what needs to be changed within programs.
During discussion, Terry Brune made comment about not all kids will be
"fixed" by the services - not a very "endearing" comment
from someone working with SpEd - we don't "fix" SpEd kids)
under (p) one
representative from department of corrections - one representative of county
correctional system will be added
an (r) was added to read one
other individual with special knowledge or expertise in SpEd appointed by
governor
There was great discussion
as to whether a representative of homeschooling should be added as an (o) {the original (o) in chart is a repeat
of a previous representative and not needed} - i felt there was a need to have
someone on there. This committee is
generally an "overseer" of the programs, DOE and districts and as
there has been great problems with homeschoolers obtaining services they are
entitled to under IDEA and NCLB, i think we should have someone on there. Some points that were made against us is:
Dick Cohen (DRC) said
majority of kids covered by SpEd services are public schooled (90% according to
him) and they should have majority vote (and yet there are representatives from
private and charter schools on this committee)
Bonnie Dunham (PIC) stated
having homeschoolers on this committee caused great problems in that homeschoolers
have always been asked to be on this and have refused to
Terry Brune (DOE) stated
that homeschoolers have very "limited access" to services and
programs at public schools and shouldn't be included.
Rep. Stiles, as well as
Rep. Casey and Pritchard, actually
backed my proposal and one representative of homeschooling appointed by
governor is going to be (o)
Couple of additional
comments or thoughts - we may want to
look into exactly what needs to be covered for homeschoolers under IDEA and
NCLB (not just what DOE and NH districts say) - especially now after Terry
Brune's comment that we have limited access - also get a copy of NH Rules and
Regulations re: SpEd. Also, we should
check into whether district gets $$$ for SpEd if homeschooler receives IEP from
district (similar to district getting funding for student with dual
enrollment).
Last part of meeting was
discussing 186-C:5 Program Approval, Monitoring and Corrective Action. Much discussion ensued from members about
districts that have been found in non-compliance and yet, years later, had
still not rectified the situtation (one district had 48 violations!!). Dick Cohen prepared proposed language which,
he felt, gave the DOE more power and authority to step in when schools were
"deficient". A copy of the
proposed language, which will be discussed at the next meeting, has been posted
for review.