Please send ongoing communications to NACSA at COVID19@qualitycharters.org

Feel free to ask your questions in this chat box!

will we receive a copy of the power point?

yes, we will be sharing this

Do IEPs need to be amended if the services will change due to virtual delivery?

Schools were operating under the assumption that providing review materials to general ed students didn’t trigger the need to provide special ed. I now hear that this was inaccurate. What, if anything, should students make up for the review work sent out last week?

If IEP meetings are held virtually, should schools get written permission from parents/families that this is an acceptable way to hold the meeting due to privacy concerns? Would an email suffice as documentation?

It may be change of minutes as well as placement.

What if you are changing related services because they were group and will not be individual - does this require an amendment?

*will now be individual

We were working on delivering compensatory time before we were closed (our SE teacher left in November and was not accurately documenting her time with students). Is there any guidance on what we do with those needed hours now?

Any idea if services provided this way for students will be billable through Medicaid?

My school is experiencing a similar situation to Tia Doyle's

How/where can we access the slide deck and any other materials after this webinar?

We will have multiple approaches to access. It will be on the COVID 19 resource page and we will be emailing the PDF out to all who registered

So if there are technology barriers, what can schools do? You're talking computers but also internet access.

Can we define closed? If general ed aren't being required to do work, are services outside therapy required?

Hi, Brooke. The key is educational opportunities. It doesn’t matter if the work is required, recommended, graded, or “optional”. If gen ed students are being provided educational opportunities, kids with disabilities are entitled to FAPE, as it looks in this unique and unprecedented situation.

Does this all assume you are providing general education instruction? There are a variety of factors that determined this for our district, but we are not continuing to teach any of our students during our closure. We did provided four week's worth of work via packets and a list of resources as well as Google Voice numbers for teachers that allow kids to reach out when/if needed, but nothing will be graded.

Is Showbie FERPA compliant?

Is Ring Central FERPA/HIPAA compliant?

Tag to Tia... I draw similarities to this as the same as summer practice packets we send home at end of every school year. How is this different than that? We live in areas where there is no internet access/hotspots don't work. This is why they are not requiring work to be done.

We will add that link to resource page

What breaks my heart about all of this is the referral back to "distance learning models" that assume students have access to internet, devices, and parental support. Many of our parents don't have working telephone numbers. :(

I'm not speaking specifically to students with disabilities; I'm referring to our entire population. I understand what's being said about making sure students with SE goals receive support when general ed students are receiving instruction as well.

Agreed Tia.

I agree Tia. Potentially, schools then need to mail letters and resources home. We have to identify and and all barriers and try to find ways to break them down.

Tia- I totally get what you’re saying and appreciate the enormous challenge many schools are facing. As I mentioned during takeaways, some districts are allocating school devices. I know some are using funding to provide hot spots to families. I am hopeful that the relief bills being debated will include robust funding to do those things and others.

Susie...I love this way of looking at documenting----giving credit!

On the upside, SpEd in the virtual world has desperately needed attention. This is forcing the hand of educators across the board to try to problem solve the issues.

Good point, Brooke.

Agreed, Brooke. There are a lot of opportunities here.

Let's hope in the future that we don't need pandemics to give these areas the attention they deserve. :)

I would love to see best practices come out of this.... as a former admin of a virtual high school it is definitely needed.

Understood, Megan! We are doing this as well, but have not yet found a way to make 1:1 technology an option for our babes.

Agreed, Stephanie!!

Would you recommend joining the general ed teacher's virtual class or support the students with disability afterwards?

Will you also be sending this as a recording?

Yes we will share the recording!

I think we need to be really clear with definitions of educational instruction and educational opportunities..... they are VERY different.

Sorry if this was covered earlier- If the district has not required distance learning, but only optional to students, what, if any special educations must be provided?

special education services that is..

Hi Germaine, here's Wendy's response to that question: It doesn’t matter if the work is required, recommended, graded, or “optional”. If gen ed students are being provided educational opportunities, kids with disabilities are entitled to FAPE, as it looks in this unique and unprecedented situation.

Does that answer your question?

I have to jump to another meeting. Thank you!

Will there be a meeting like this for School Leaders to attend?

Do you have an exemplar for what data tracking should look like over this time? is name, date, time, objective/goal and outcome sufficient for students with ICT and related services?

We at the National Center are planning a webinar that is geared towards school leaders. Sign up for our newsletter to keep posted on this!