Special Education DAC 2012-13

The charge of the Special Education Care District Advisory Committee shall be to:

• Advise the Board of Education about attitudes, opinions, and issues significant to the Special Education community.
  a.    Hold monthly meetings open to the public, and provide Spanish translation when needed.
  b.    Act as a conduit for flow of information between the Special Education community at large and the Board of Education.
  c.    Provide a forum for District staff and other speakers to share information relevant to the Special Education community.
  d.    To enhance district-wide outreach to Special Education staff and parents, continue the practice of rotating meeting locations to include school sites.
  e.    To intensively address specific concerns, retain the practice of utilizing subcommittees, either Ad Hoc and/or Standing Committees, as defined by the Brown Act.
• Advise the Board of Education of relevant and unrealized goals of The Working Group Report on Special Education (March, 2009), An Independent Evaluation of Special Education Program by Lou Barber (March, 2008), and Special Education Strategic Plan (June, 2004).
• Produce revisions to the Special Education Parent Handbook (2009) based on changes in relevant law, District updates and feedback from community members.
  a.    For publication as an updated Handbook hardcopy, create new sections in the following areas:
                 i.    Preschool Program
                ii.    Post-Secondary Transition Program
               iii.    Preschool/Elementary/Middle School/High School/Post-Secondary transition process including IEP Individual Transition Plans (ITPs).
  b.    For updates to the website Handbook publication, collaborate quarterly with District staff to identify changes in law and other relevant information.
  
• To advise the Board of Education on the Special Education budget, collaborate with District’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and Financial
  Oversight Committee (FOC) utilizing the newly created Special Education specific reporting format.
  a.  To refine the internal system such that the financial reporting system relates back to the instructional needs of Special Educations    students.
  b.  Internal financing reporting instrument that serves as a management tool to ensure cost effective education of each and every Special Education student.  
• To advise the Board of Education in the District’s Special Education instructional    technology needs, working in collaboration with the District, CFO, Director of Purchasing, Warehouse from Business and Fiscal Services, and Department of Special Education, including analysis of educational, financial and equity impact.
• Review, analyze, and report to Board of Education upon the needs of Special Education instructional programs in Reading and Mathematics, and analyze strategies appropriate to the effective education of students with autism.