Agenda

Monday, October 12, 2020

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

One of the main challenges faced by special education professionals, advocates and school attorneys is keeping up with the developing trends in special education litigation.  School attorney Karen Haase will highlight administrative complaints, due process decisions and judicial opinions from the previous 12 months that illustrate compliance issues with which school districts struggle.  This session will include practical steps that special education administrators and school attorneys can use to improve your school’s chances of being successful when you face the inevitable legal challenge in the special education context.

Students who are eligible under the IDEA are also entitled to the nondiscrimination protections of Section 504 and the ADA. In this session, veteran school attorney Dave Richards will provide insight into a troubling area where these laws intersect:  what happens when the student/parent choice under 504/ADA conflicts with the existing IEP created under IDEA? Can parents and students make unilateral decisions outside of the IDEA process through ADA/504 when those choices impact the IEP and IDEA FAPE? We’ll examine this dynamic in the context of service animals as equal access and the Supreme Court’s analysis in the Napoleon case highlighting the problem the 504 equal access and IDEA FAPE). We’ll also explore the problem in the application of the ADA’s effective communication regulations and subsequent U.S. Department of Education guidance.

Your paraeducators are your front line support providers, but often the least adept at providing rigorous, non – enabling, direct support to students.  A review of the national standards of Paraeducator Preparation, including how to train your staff to support learner independence, not dependence will be included. This session will include strategic guidelines for determining the level of paraeducator staffing that will best support student achievement and independence.  A data driven process for responding to parent demands for one to one aides, as well as guidelines for determining the level of aide support that is appropriate for classrooms and programs will be covered.  A checklist of competencies that are a must for effective paraeducator training as well as guidelines for fading plans will be included.  Use of paraeducators during distance learning will also be addressed.  Rubrics and forms that will assist in your ability to ensure fiscally responsible and program supportive levels of paraprofessional support will be given.

With the staggering increase in the number of students with mental health issues in schools, it goes without saying that it is extremely difficult for school personnel to understand what they can or cannot do when a student with a disability exhibits escalating behaviors that pose a threat to the physical safety of other students, adults or the student himself.  This session will provide an overview of statutory and regulatory provisions related to the management of dangerous and/or significantly disruptive students with disabilities.  Among other things, the IDEA’s 45-day interim alternative educational setting provision will be addressed, as well as other options available when “special circumstances” are not present.

The unprecedented long-term school closures resulting from the response to the COVID-19 pandemic have generated a host of novel legal issues and questions for public schools. This session will address those related to the concept of FAPE, related services, and compensatory services. On the issue of FAPE during school closures, the session will explore the possible application of the modern FAPE formulation of the Supreme Court, whether the Endrew “circumstances of the child” factor should consider the negative impact of forced school closures, and the proper standard for at-home special education services vis-a-is students’ existing IEPs. With respect to related services, the session will explore provision of services in the home by means of teletherapy, the possible need for secondary parent consent for such services, and FERPA considerations in at-home related services. Lastly, the session will explore the potential upcoming wave of compensatory services determinations, including different approaches to calculating compensatory services, assessing student skills lost during the closure, documenting the compensatory services decision-making, methods for implementing the services, and avoiding disputes over compensatory services.

When the graduating student with a disability throws her cap in the air to celebrate, the adult world of self-advocacy through Section 504/ADA replaces the more child-friendly elementary and secondary school IDEA and 504 rules that had previously protected her right to education. In the adult world, the team is gone, along with child-find, the duty to evaluate and the duty to provide FAPE. In this session, veteran school attorney Dave Richards will discuss the reality of the disability protections after high school whether the graduate’s path is to work or to further education. Included are a comparison/contrast of protections before and after graduation, thoughts on transition for Section 504 students (as the 504 regulations include no transition requirements), analysis of related issues like the public school’s duties when the high school student participates in dual enrollment courses, expectations for documentation of disability by the College Board to justify accommodations to college entrance exams, and the problems encountered by students with disabilities seeking enlistment into the armed forces.

Traditional Approaches to “self-care” for educators and mental health providers have been insufficient in many cases to address the emotional, physiological and cognitive depletion that can occur when serving students with significant trauma impacts or chronic challenging behaviors on a daily basis.

Based upon the most current research on coherence, energy management, resilience and trauma stewardship, this session is designed to provide actionable, simple and time-sensitive strategies that can be done by every educator, and can be supported on a school-wide or district-wide basis.

Overview will include:

• Comparisons of the effectiveness of reactive vs. proactive energy management approaches as this relates to personal and professional resilience & self-regulation
• Understanding of foundational principles of the physiology of coherence and impacts on the nervous, hormonal and immune systems, as well as cognitive function
• Processes to self-assess and plan for proactive management of energy and emotions in order to build capacity for resilience and self-regulation
• Strategies for educators/providers to take actionable steps to:
  • Prepare to adapt in challenging situations
  • Remain more self-regulated in-the-moment
  • Build & sustain a new internal “Baseline”

This session will discuss the rules and procedures that apply to determining whether a child is eligible to receive services under IDEA. The topics include child find, evaluation procedures, independent educational evaluations, eligibility evaluations, and specific learning disabilities. The audience will be provided with some examples from real cases to highlight how these concepts can be applied in practice.

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

This workshop will cover recent 9^th Circuit special education case law, including a discussion of recent court decisions and their impact on daily practices and district procedures.

A negative relationship between challenging behaviors and personal social adjustment develops through a series of reciprocal process involving parents, teachers and other children.  Although classroom teachers play a central role in identifying children’s needs and represent the primary agent for providing universal classroom interventions, their response to challenging behavior seems more reactive than reflective. While many teachers are creative and brilliant, they often feel so overwhelmed and resort to the most frustrating solutions. They seem stuck. This session will focus on a b.e.s.t  trend analysis that identifies 3 universal classroom based interventions that will reinforce their classroom practices and the children they help.

This session will show you ways to bring together the programs and services people with disabilities use every day so that they provide better, more consistent support.  Too often, programs operate in “silos” and don’t communicate or collaborate with each other. This can result in inefficient, redundant, or conflicting goals and services.  In the Culture of Coordinated Support Model (CCS), people with disabilities, families, and programs like Special Education, Vocational Rehabilitation, Independent Living supports, and others work together to develop and implement more effective, efficient, and unified goals and supports.  You’ll also learn practical ways to advocate for CCS in your community and about the successful CCS pilot projects in two states.

In this workshop, we will explore the key components of an IEP that can withstand legal challenges, as well as the most common areas where IEPs fail and how those areas can be proactively addressed in annual IEP meetings and daily practices.

It’s impossible to miss the ever-growing focus on mental health, schools, and national politics.  At the local level, schools and intermediate service agencies continue to struggle with the “or mental impairment” side of Section 504 and the ADA, all the while trying to write legally compliant IEPs for students eligible under the IDEA.  This presentation will focus on the IDEA’s obligations as they pertain to mental health, including child find, evaluation, and services teams must consider when serving students with mental health needs.  Karen will include practical tips from the school attorney perspective useful for all conference attendees.

When people use Supported Decision-Making (SDM) they work with people they trust, who help them understand their situations and choices, so they can make their own decisions and direct their lives. In this session, you’ll learn how SDM can help people live better, more independent lives and about state and national laws, policies, and practices that have increased knowledge about and access to SDM.  Finally, you’ll learn practical ways you can use SDM in your life or the life of someone you support.