It is the responsibility of Norwell Public Schools to identify any child who is a resident of Norwell who may have a disability, regardless of the severity of the disability. Further it is the responsibility of Norwell Public Schools to evaluate these students to determine if any of these students are eligible for special education or related services under IDEA 2004 (Individual with Disabilities Education Act) or the Massachusetts Special Education Regulations.
Norwell Public Schools is committed to locating children before their third birthday in order to provide early intervention services to three and four year olds. If you have questions or concerns regarding your child’s development and would like to have him/her screened, you may call for an appointment at (781) 659-8800. If you or your pediatrician believes your child should be evaluated to determine eligibility for special education services, please either request verbally by calling the Office of Special Education at 781-659-8800 or by making the request in writing (include your child’s date of birth, name, address and telephone number and a brief description of your concerns) and send it to:
Suzan A. Theodorou, Administrator of Special Education, Norwell Public Schools, 328 Main St., Norwell MA, 02061.
Free Guide for Parents of Children with Autism
Student Discipline Laws in Massachusetts: Big Changes Are Coming
Massachusetts has some rather Draconian student discipline laws. The situation will be somewhat improved when a new set of recently passed laws go into effect on July 1, 2014 (yes, almost 2 years away). Over the coming days and weeks, I will break down and explain the changes in this blog. Before I dive into the changes, though, it’s probably worthwhile to explain the current law so that we have a baseline to appreciate the improvements.
The two discipline laws in Massachusetts that most directly affect students are known affectionately as 37H and 37H 1/2 (pronounced 37H and a half). These are both sections of Massachusetts Gen. Laws Chapter 71. 37H grants tremendous discretionary power to school principals. For example, school principals may (but are not required to):
- Expel any student “who is found on school premises or at school-sponsored or school-related events, including athletic games, in possession of a dangerous weapon, including, but not limited to, a gun or a knife; or a controlled substance… including, but not limited to, marijuana, cocaine, and heroin…” (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71 § 37H(a));
- Expel any student “who assaults a principal, assistant principal, teacher, teacher’s aide or other educational staff on school premises or at school-sponsored or school-related events, including athletic games…” (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71 § 37H(b)).
Any student charged with any of the above violations must be notified in writing of an opportunity for hearing, and be allowed to have legal representation, as well as the opportunity to present evidence and witnesses at a hearing with the principal. The principal does have discretion to suspend rather than expel a student. (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71 § 37H(c)). There is also the right to appeal to the superintendent within 10 days of the expulsion. (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71 § 37H(d)).
Although the above sections could be problematic, depending on how a principal wields his or her power, they are not what I find most troubling. Here is what makes the law so Draconian: “When a student is expelled under the provisions of this section, no school or school district within the commonwealth shall be required to admit such student or to provide educational services to said student. If said student does apply for admission to another school or school district, the superintendent of the school district to which the application is made may request and shall receive from the superintendent of the school expelling said student a written statement of the reasons for said expulsion.” (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 71 § 37H(e)). In other words, if a principal, in his or her sole discretion, expels a student from school because of one of the above violations, the student may not be able to attend public school anywhere else in Massachusetts. Even moving from one district to another might not help.
As we will see in coming blog entries, the new laws will drastically improve the current situation for students.
The Law Office of James M. Baron represents students and parents in special education and other school-related legal matters. Please visit http://www.lawbaron.com, or call 781-209-1166 for more information.
Tuition Rates for Private Schools
Have you ever wondered what private special education schools charge cities and towns when a school district has to pay tuition for a student placed at that school? In Massachusetts, there is a division of state government, called the Operational Services Division, that sets tuition rates that state-approved private special education schools may charge school districts. This is public information posted on the internet. Click here to check the details and to find the tuition rate for the program you are interested in.
The Law Office of James M. Baron represents students and parents in special education and other school-related legal matters. Please visit http://www.lawbaron.com, or call 781-209-1166 for more information.
Norwell Public Schools Trying to Identify Students With Disabilities
The following article, published today in Wicked Local Norwell, might be of interest to Norwell residents:
Read more: Norwell: Special education evaluations – Norwell, Massachusetts – Norwell Mariner http://www.wickedlocal.com/norwell/news/x1768343815/Norwell-Special-education-evaluations#ixzz1nJ8wWzLP
The Law Office of James M. Baron represents students and parents in special education and other school-related legal matters. Please visit http://www.lawbaron.com, or call 781-209-1166 for more information.
MA Senate Passes Transition Services Legislation for Students with Disabilities
The Massachusetts Senate has passed H. 3270, An Act to promote the successful transition of students with disabilities to post-secondary education, employment, and independent living. The Bill now goes back to the House for enactment, and will also need to be signed by the Governor before becoming law. The Bill directs the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to develop regulations that will allow special education teachers and rehabilitation counselors “to develop the competence necessary to serve as transition coordinators to facilitate provision of a coordinated set of activities to adequately prepare students with disabilities to achieve successful transition to post-school activities including further education, competitive employment, and independent living.”
What does all of this mean? Basically, Massachusetts is trying to put in place a framework and supports to allow special education teachers to obtain additional expertise in the area of transition planning. Through additional coursework and field experience, special educators will be able to earn an “endorsement” in transition planning from the state. The transition section of the IEP is the area where a student’s post-secondary goals are listed, as are the services and supports that will be utilized to help the student achieve post-secondary goals and independence. Unfortunately, transition planning is often an afterthought in IEP’s. Hopefully, this new law will help to fix that situation.
The Law Office of James M. Baron represents students and parents in special education and other school-related legal matters. Please visit http://www.lawbaron.com, or call 781-209-1166 for more information.
Norton Public Schools: DESE to Conduct Coordinated Program Review
The Norton Patch published the following online. The original article can be found here: http://preview.tinyurl.com/75f8jca.
Patricia H. Ansay, Ed.D., Superintendent of the Norton Public Schools was informed by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education of an upcoming Coordinated Program Review that will be taking place this school year.
As part of this review, department staff will visit the district during the week of March 5. Such visits are routinely conducted by the department to satisfy federal and state requirements for the periodic review of specific education programs and services in schools throughout the Commonwealth. The department is reviewing several programs during a single visit in order to use department and school staff’s time most efficiently and to encourage strong connections among the programs.
The review will address the following programs: Special Education, English Language Acquisition and Civil Rights. After reviewing school district procedures for these programs, a department team will make its onsite visit, during which it will review individual student records, interview administrators, teachers and paraprofessional staff, survey parents and observe instructional spaces. After the onsite visit, it will prepare a report for the superintendent and school committee with detailed findings for each program.
Using a scale of ratings ranging from “Commendable” to “Not Implemented,” the report will rate the implementation of each requirement reviewed by the department. Where requirements are found not implemented or only partially implemented, the district must propose to the department corrective action to bring those areas into compliance with statutes and regulations. Districts and schools are encouraged to incorporate the corrective action into their district and school improvement plans and professional development plan. The school district will be provided with technical assistance from the department in developing a corrective action plan.
Both the department’s report and the corrective action plan are public information and will be available to the public upon request. Program Review Final Reports are also available on the Department’s Internet website at http://www.doe.mass.edu/pqa/review/cpr/reports/.
Any member of the public may request to be interviewed by telephone by a member of the department’s visiting team. Those wishing to be interviewed should call the Superintendent’s office at 508-285-0100 no later than Feb. 22 to leave their name and phone number, or they may call the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at 781-338- 3722.
A member of the visiting team will contact each person desiring an interview within two weeks after the completion of the onsite visit. If an individual is not comfortable communicating in English or requires some other accommodation, the Department will make arrangements to communicate appropriately with the individual.
The Law Office of James M. Baron represents students and parents in special education and other school-related legal matters. Please visit http://www.lawbaron.com, or call 781-209-1166 for more information.
Hudson SEPAC to host ‘Asperger’s Syndrome vs. Autism vs. PDD-NOS’ workshop
The following information was published by Community Advocate. You can find the original article at: http://tinyurl.com/7ncytpb
Hudson– The Hudson Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) is hosting a workshop by Dr. Amy Shogren on autism spectrum disorders, “Asperger’s Syndrome vs. Autism vs. PDD-NOS.” The workshop will be held Tuesday, Feb. 7, from 7 to 9 p.m., in Room A-134 at Hudson High School.
Particpants will learn how the features of each of these diagnoses vary, as well as how children diagnosed with these developmental disabilities differ in their communicative competency, social functioning, behavioral presentation, and academic trajectory, and what interventions are important to address the challenges associated with these disabilities? The seminar will assist parents and school personnel in understanding these diagnostic categories and how to intervene at home and at school.
The workshop is free, and parents and teachers are encouraged to attend. To RSVP or for more information, call 978-212-9651 or visit www.hudsonsepac.com. Hudson High School is located at 69 Brigham St.
The Law Office of James M. Baron represents students and parents in special education and other school-related legal matters. Please visit http://www.lawbaron.com, or call 781-209-1166 for more information.
DESE Directs School Districts to Discontinue Use of “Procedures Lite”
Some advocates of Procedures Lite had tried to convince the public that the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education sanctioned its use (see my earlier blog post – “Procedures Lite = Rights Lite” – for more background information). I could find no evidence on the state’s web site sanctioning such use. On Friday, the state’s Director of Special Education, Marcia Mittnacht, hopefully put the final nail in the Procedures Lite coffin when she posted the following on the DESE web site: “[W]e have directed districts that have implemented the practice to discontinue it.” Her complete Procedures Lite statement is now online. Thank you to Dan Perlman from Massachusetts Advocates for Children for bringing this update to my attention.
The Law Office of James M. Baron represents students and parents in special education and other school-related legal matters. Please visit http://www.lawbaron.com, or call 781-209-1166 for more information.
Massachusetts Special Education Evaluation Timelines
The law regarding timelines for special education evaluations can be confusing. State law can vary from the federal IDEA requirement, and parents also need to be aware of whether the law refers to “days” or “school days.” The term “days” refers to calendar days, which includes weekends, holidays and vacations; the term “school days” refers to days in which school is in session.
Federal law states that evaluations must be conducted within 60 days of receipt of parental consent for the evaluation, but defers to state timelines if such timelines exist (34 C.F.R. 300.301(c)). Both Massachusetts and New Hampshire have implemented their own specific timelines. The remainder of this article will be specific to Massachusetts law; I will post a separate article specific to New Hampshire law.
In Massachusetts:
“Within 45 school working days after receipt of a parent’s written consent to an initial evaluation or reevaluation, the school district shall: provide an evaluation; convene a Team meeting to review the evaluation data, determine whether the student requires special education and, if required, develop an IEP in accordance with state and federal laws; … The evaluation assessments shall be completed within 30 school working days after receipt of parental consent for evaluation. Summaries of such assessments shall be completed so as to ensure their availability to parents at least two days prior to the Team meeting.” 603 C.M.R. 28.05(1).
In other words, in Massachusetts, once a parent provides consent, the school district has 30 school days to complete the evaluation. The entire process, including conducting the evaluation and convening the Team meeting to discuss the results, must be complete within 45 school days of parental consent. Furthermore, a summary of the evaluations must be provided to the parents at least 2 days prior to the Team meeting.
We can look at an example to better understand these timelines. Let’s assume that a parent provided consent for an evaluation on 09/12/11. Counting ahead 30 school days, including a day off for Columbus Day, brings us to 10/25/11, which in this example is the deadline for conducting the evaluation. Counting ahead 45 school days from 09/12/11, including days off for Columbus Day and Veteran’s Day, brings us to 11/16/11, which is the deadline for conducting the Team meeting and drafting the IEP.
But what happens if consent is provided at the end of the school year, and there is not enough time under the law as listed above to complete the evaluation and conduct the Team meeting? In Massachusetts, parents may still be in luck. Massachusetts has added the following protection:
“If consent is received within 30 to 45 school working days before the end of the school year, the school district shall ensure that a Team meeting is scheduled so as to allow for the provision of a proposed IEP or written notice of the finding that the student is not eligible no later than 14 days after the end of the school year.” 603 C.M.R. 28.05(1).
Again, let’s look at an example to better understand this law. Assume that the school year ends on Friday, June 22, 2012. 45 school days prior to June 22, 2012 brings us to April 12, 2012. 30 school days prior to June 22, 2012 brings us to May 10, 2012. Thus, we have three time frames to consider:
- Consent provided prior to April 12, 2012: the school district will be expected to complete the evaluation, Team meeting, and draft IEP before the end of the school year on June 22.
- Consent provided after May 10, 2012: the school district will not be required to complete the evaluation prior to the end of the school year, because there are fewer than 30 school days remaining.
- Consent provided between April 12, 2012 and May 10, 2012: the school district will be required to complete the evaluation prior to and of the school year. If the 45 day rule would go beyond June 22, then the school district will be required to convene the Team meeting no later than 14 calendar days following the end of the school year.
Special Education Blog 