Brookhaven School District's Policy Challenged

JACKSON, MS - A Brookhaven School District Board Policy was recently challenged and found to be in violation of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),the federal law that sets out policies and procedures for school districts to follow in providing services to students with disabilities.

Brookhaven had enacted a policy requiring any student in the District who was returning from an “institutional placement” such as Millcreek Rehabilitation Center, Brentwood Behavioral Healthcare or Oak Circle at Mississippi State Hospital to be transitioned through the District’s Alternative School prior to being allowed to attend classes back on a regular school campus.

Disabilities Rights Mississippi (DRMS) filed a systemic State Administrative Complaint with Mississippi Department of Education (MDE) on May 10, 2011. According to Sue Cannimore, Senior Advocate and Education Team Co-Leader with DRMS, the complaint was filed against a Board Policy that was in violation of IDEA and denied the rights of a class of students to placement decisions made by their Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) Committees. Cannimore said she and another DRMS advocate became aware of the violation when they had represented two separate students at IEP meetings in the District.

On June 7, MDE rendered its decision and prescribed a Corrective Action Plan that requires the District to officially amend its Board Policy to ensure compliance with the IDEA and submit the revised policy to MDE. They also are to amend the Alternative School Handbook to ensure consistency with the revised Board Policy and submit documentation of that. Finally, they must provide training to all District staff and administration on the provisions of IDEA for placement decisions. Documentation of training must also be submitted to MDE.

Ms. Cannimore said that MDE decisions are binding and failure to resolve deficiencies can adversely affect the accreditation status of the school district. Furthermore, the decision holds ramifications for other districts that may have similar policies and is important because it protects the class of students returning from institutional placements statewide.

White House Virtual Town Hall Hosted by Disability.gov - July 14

On Thursday, July 14th from 12:00 - 1:00 CST, Disability.gov will air a live "Virtual" Town Hall meeting to introduce the White House's top advisors on disability policy.

Please visit https://www.disability.gov/WHQuestion to learn how you can participate!

US Department of Education's Office of Special Education Programs Visiting MS - Parent Input Needed

The United States Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in Washington, D.C. will be visiting two Mississippi agencies September 12-16, 2011. OSEP staff will meet with First Steps/Early Intervention and the Mississippi Department of Education for a verification visit to learn how the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is working for families and children with disabilities in our state.

OSEP has asked the MSPTI to coordinate the distribution and collection of parent surveys that will capture data on family experiences. MSPTI staff are asking for help in distributing these surveys located on-line at:

Part C: Early Intervention Birth - 3
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZWJ3LWX

Part B: Preschool/School age 3-21
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/65ZHV75

REMINDERS:

Deadline for surveys to be returned to us is August 5, 2011

A Spanish version of the survey will be available soon.

Paper copies of the surveys are avaialble - send an email to jlee@mspti.org and indicate how many printed copies of which survey you need.
For families who would like to complete the survey over the phone, they may call MSPTI at 1-800-721-7255.

Personal Assistant Services Disaster/Emergency Survey

The Center on Disability the Public Health Institute along with the Center for Personal Assistance Services at UC San Francisco is conducting a research study to determine promising practices in preparing for emergencies among individuals with disabilities who use personal assistance services (PAS).

If you use PAS and have experienced disasters or emergencies we would like to hear about your experiences. Please go to http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZTXYZ69 to give your experiences.

If you complete the questions, which should take approximately ten – fifteen minutes, you will be entered into a drawing for which 5 individuals will each win a $50 gift card.

If you have questions, please contact Lewis Kraus, Project Director at deputy@adapacific.org.

If you need help completing the survey call 510 285 5600.

Planning for the Whole Community in Emergency and Disaster Planning

On June 22, 2011 St. Petersburg College's National Terrorism Preparedness Institute (NTPI), a division of the Center for Public Safety Innovation, hosted a Webcast/Satellite Broadcast on the FEMA/DHS initiative, Planning for the Whole Community. This broadcast can be viewed by visiting the Live Response website. The program highlighted FEMA’s Office of Disability Integration and Coordination (ODIC) and explained the importance of including people with access and functional needs in emergency and disaster planning. Guests included Marcie Roth, Director of the ODIC; Richard Devylder, Senior Advisor for Accessible Transportation at the U.S. Department of Transportation; and June Isaacson Kailes, Disability Policy Consultant/Associate Director at Western University in California.

The broadcast can also be found under ODIC News – 06/28/11 http://www.fema.gov/about/odic/