March 23, 2020
Dear Parents and Guardians of students with Special Education Services,
First and foremost I hope that you and your families remain healthy. I suspect that you are feeling the stress of this difficult situation. The commissioner of education sent out a video message where she reminded everyone to BREATHE. I will repeat that message. Take care of yourselves first so that you can take care of your families. And please don’t hesitate to reach out to me if you need something that we are not providing.
The purpose of this letter is to assure you that we will do all we can to continue to provide your child with the special education services they need to make progress toward meeting their IEP goals. I realize that I am stating the obvious when I say that this will look very different than what was planned during your child’s IEP meeting.
Below is a list of some of the issues I have been focusing on and a brief statement of how it is being addressed:
Specialized Instruction: we will follow the same virtual learning model as the regular education instruction as much as is possible. Some of the unique learning needs may not be able to be met through this method so packets of materials, phone calls, and video conferencing with teacher & parents may be utilized.
Related Services: Our occupational therapists, speech therapists, physical therapist and social workers have set up Google classrooms of their own and are also collaborating with teachers on their Google classrooms. These providers have also been in touch with many parents to assist them in working with their child in the home setting.
Modifications and accommodations: All modifications and accommodations will be in place for your child. If you are finding there is something else they need to be successful, please let their case manager know.
Behavioral Assistance: Our BCBAs will continue to be involved in behavioral programming for our students. We suspect there may be some additional behavioral concerns for families, we will assist in any way we can. Reach out if you need our support.
IEP meetings:
We will hold as many meetings as we can virtually. If you are not comfortable having the meeting virtually, we will reschedule when school is back in session. Each student will be “invited” to the meeting through Google Calendar. Parents can go to this invitation and join the meeting. If you need assistance figuring this out, we will provide that assistance.
Annual Reviews: We hope to hold as many annual reviews as possible.
Three Year Reevaluations: If we have sufficient information to make an eligibility determination we will hold the meeting. If we don’t have the information we need, we will wait until we return to complete assessments and then have the meeting.
New Referrals: If assessments have been completed we will hold the meeting. If assessments are not completed we will reschedule. If a referral came into the office after March 12th, it will be addressed when we return to school.
20 day reviews will be held.
Due to limited access to the office, It is likely that paperwork will not be mailed in as timely a manner as usual. If you would like paperwork emailed to you, please email michelle.tache@msad60.org and she will email you the requested documents.
Please know that we are doing all that we can to continue to provide services during this difficult time. We recognize that this will look very different than planned and will likely change as we learn more about virtual learning and how it impacts our students. Once we are able to return to school, we will look at the impact the closure had on each of our students and determine what is necessary for each student.
By now, you should have heard from your child’s special education teacher (case manager) either by phone, email or video conference. If you have not, please get in touch with me so that I can follow up and make sure that you are contacted.
If you have any questions or need anything please do not hesitate to contact me by email (susan.macri@msad60.org).
Susan Macri
Director of Special Education