MINUTES April 8, 2004

CAC members present : Jeanine Bishop, Gretchen Borg, Duane Chapman, Carmen Cruz, Jeannette Lambert, Kathy Roehl,

Staff members present: Steve Collins, Susan Keeffe

Guests present: none

The meeting started at 7:15 p.m.

Because attendance did not reach a quorum, voting was not possible this month. It was noted that the meeting coincided with Open House at the high schools. To the Agenda, two committee reports were added under Old Business: Medi-Cal and Oversight. To the February 12 th minutes, Carmen Cruz requested two changes: residential housing counselors was changed to staff , and under Outreach committee, parent.can go to city council members was switched to meetings .

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

•  California Dept. of CADDRE will be holding a STAR conference on Autism on April 17 th from 10 am to 4 pm at the Elihu Harris Building in Oakland. Representatives from the Spectrum Center will be there.

•  Ching Ho shared a draft of a letter to the City of Richmond regarding the closure of the Disabled People's Recreation Center (DPRC) due to budget issues. In a cover letter to the CAC, she explained that the center has an adult day program in the morning and an after school program for 6-22 years old in the afternoon. One hundred per cent of the afternoon program participants are from WCCUSD. She requested that the CAC send a letter to the City Council to protect the program. The DPRC has a waiting list and received a "You Make a Difference" Award in 2002.

•  There was an article in a Southern California paper on March 24 th by Assemblyman Ray Haynes who criticized the Regional Center.

•  East Bay Learning Disabilities Association will host its first workshop in Spanish on May 22, from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm at the San Lorenzo Library. It will be sponsored by the East Bay LDA, Protection and Advocacy, Inc. and the Alameda County Library. Steve Collins suggested that we send the announcement to Brookside Health Center, Richmond Kaiser and copies to schools in our District. Carmen Cruz said that one of our previous guest parents was involved in Spanish-speaking special education support groups. Kathy Roehl will look into getting additional copies.

•  April is Autism Awareness Month. The Northern California Chapter of the National Autism Association will host a parade on April 26 th around Cameron School. Several participants wondered why a more visible site was not selected. Jeanine Bishop explained that the more visible sites considered such as San Pablo Ave. or Arlington Blvd. did not seem safe.

SELPA DIRECTOR'S REPORT : Steve Collins

•  Personnel:

All classrooms are staffed. There are 2 OT openings and there is a need for additional speech therapists.

•  Budget Reductions:

The District is currently facing a $16.5 million deficit. The Director of Special Education position will be "downgraded" to an administrator position, and one administrator position will be eliminated, leaving a total of three administrators for elementary schools, secondary schools and nonpublic schools. The principal of the transition program will be eliminated, but the person who ran the Transition program in the past will continue in that role. The transition program will move as El Portal will be closed. One typist clerk position will be eliminated (12.5 FTE will be reduced to 10.8 FTE). There will be a reduction in psychologists from 26.7 FTE to 12.5. The most senior personnel will stay. Jeannette Lambert expressed concern about the reduction in psychologists, but Mr. Collins said we are still looking at the May revise of the State budget to get the final numbers. Finally, there will be a reduction in transportation money. Mr. Collins said they are looking into which children have used bussing in the past to transport them outside of their area of residency and continue to use it although they are now going to their neighborhood school. Children must then walk or make arrangements for private transportation unless their disability affects these options. The District has 2 children who take cabs, transporting them to San Francisco and Mt. Diablo because our District does not have a program to meet their special needs. Some of the nonpublic schools who have children from our District contract with bus companies; our District will evaluate these contracts.

3. Projects:

The full inclusion manual is done. The classroom support, aide manual is in draft form and the service plan is also in draft form because the budget portion has to be changed. The State said that the Board must approve the plan during the month of June but it must be presented to the CAC 30 days before being put before the Board. Fifteen days before the Board meeting, news of its review must be announced to all schools and a public hearing made possible. Duane Chapman requested that we have a chance to review the service plan before the next CAC meeting.

Regarding revised IEP's, there will be a change in a section on assessments for the CAPA. There will be a new State IEP and some Districts will be using it. Mr. Collins prefers to wait to see how the revised IEP does and he feels our District is dealing with enough changes this year.

4. 2004-2005 Planning:

The transition program will be moving to a new site.

The District has permission to hire an Autism Specialist. Dr. LeBlanc supported this plan because it would ultimately save the District money. The person will start July1.

5. Legislation Day:

Will take place on May 5 th . The Special Education Department pays $50 for each spot. So far, more administrators than parents are going. Mr. Collins' list included: Jeannette Lambert, Jeanine Bishop, Joy Deaver, Duane Chapman, Tom Florin (parents) and Darlene Jones, Ora Anderson, Barbara Chriss, Kathie Shores and Edwyna Elzie (staff). If more parents want to go, they can replace some of the staff. Jeanine Bishop will check with Victor Costa and Liz Jones.

PRESENTATION: Video "How Difficult Can This Be?" also know as F.A.T. City, by Rick LaVoie. CAC members and WCCUSD staff were invited to view this instructional video to comment on its usefulness as a tool for disability awareness. The film's goal is to walk in the shoes of a learning disabled child, someone who has significant difficulties in learning but has all modalities of hearing and seeing intact, who is not mentally retarded and not emotionally disturbed. Teachers and other professionals experienced a simulation of different aspects of LD, including slow processing, visual-perceptual difficulties, anxiety, distractibility versus short attention span, and risk taking fears.

Discussion about the video:

Because there are LD kids in general education, general education teachers need to see this video. Duane Chapman said Dr. LeBlanc, as Chief Academic Officer, should be asked to view it. Steve Collins said that when he meets with principals, he will show portions of the video and make it available to bring to schools. Mr. Collins also reported that he had heard the "Don't Laugh at Me" presentation at St. Mary's was excellent. Mr. Collins will be compiling a "Special Edition" newsletter for administrators that reviews special education for the year. He will devote a page to CAC news. The CAC needs to send their submission to his secretary.

Gretchen Borg stated that it would be nice if we could make the video mandatory viewing. How could this be done? Steve Collins stated that it can be considered part of literacy training and that the teachers have inservices and Wednesday afternoon meetings.

Kathy Roehl requested that the special education Department purchase two or more copies. Mr. Collins said that he would find the funds and he also had his own copy of the documentary "From Best to Worst", from PBS, which is a history of the public educational system in California and compares Helms Middle School to a middle school in Orinda. He also noted that the Special Education Department had been recently cut $30,000.

It was suggested that we have an August inservice of a "Don't Laugh at Me " workshop.

OLD BUSINESS:

YMAD ("You Make a Difference")

On our mail-out, we implied we would provide childcare. In the future, we will make these arrangements for childcare, and find a place with an adjacent room like at Fairmont or Lovonya DeJean.

Oversight Committee for Bond Measure Construction - Gretchen Borg

El Portal is for sale and Contra Costa will probably buy it tor use as a parking lot. It can no longer be used for students.

The District is spending $50,000 per month on security to protect buildings under construction. This is a huge unforeseen cost. There is also no budget to buy new furniture for the Jr. High Schools. The District is trying to find furniture and Special Education Department is looking at it to see if it is appropriate for their population.

The Kensington Elementary School's move to Portola will save the District $1 million.

Harding Elementary is due to be finished by January 30, 2005.

There will be a reduction in enrollment at Downer to 800, making it a smaller construction site. The school received funds originally designated for DeAnza.

There is a need for 2 more bonds to meet construction goals.

According to the Taxpayer Guide, Measure B will not pass. Mr. Collins pointed out that there is no history on a write-in ballot.

El Cerrito High is using WLC architects; they did Lovonya DeJean two years ago.

Seismic issues are what gets schools on the list for remodeling.

Medi-Cal Committee : Duane Chapman

Medi-Cal has hired a very knowledgeable contractor. She will work with groups to find out who can draw on medical money. A portion of the funds will be used for supplies and another portion will be used for health aides. Mr. Collins said money is used for Healthy Start at Dover, a Dental assistant at Peres and nurses. Support from the State in primary intervention is gone and county mental health programs are in bad shape.

Duane Chapman stated that federal money is coming in through SAMHA (substance abuse mental health) to help the homeless in particular. In terms of Medi-Cal money, the question is: how do we identify people who are eligible for Medi-Cal? Everyone in the State is in principle eligible for medical, mental health and disability services, although they may have to share the costs.

To follow-up on the announcement item #2 regarding the proposed closure of the DPRC (Disable People's Recreation Center), Mr. Chapman noted that he had attended the Richmond City Council meeting. Jeanine Bishop asked what the CAC could do actively to support DPRC? Mr. Chapman said to be quiet and watch because the money is gone for this year; the new budget starts July 1. Susan Keeffe said that everyone is cutting recreation. Steve Collins stated that the ones who need the most support are getting cut the most. Mr. Chapman suggests that CAC members read the charter for the City of Richmond and also the Public Information Act. He said he would make it available to all members who are interested.

NEW BUSINESS:

Parent Surveys:

These surveys will be sent out after Spring Break. There is a Spanish version. Responses will be collected by mid-May.

Current CAC Nominations:

Because there was not a quorum at the April meeting, nominations for new and renewing members will be presented at the May meeting.

PUBLIC COMMENT:

•  Carmen Cruz stated that her son has extreme behavior problems. He is very big- 6 ft. tall- and very strong. There are other older parents, and/or single parents with very problematic children. No one is helping them. Ms. Cruz described a psychiatric hospital in Martinez that sent her son home because they said he needed to be seen by a child psychiatrist. Her son was removed from his residential home because they said he was too difficult. These big kids need extra support on busses. Susan Keeffe stated that it is difficult to find good help for residential placements. The Regional Center is working on this. Dr. Keeffe also said that the Governor is re-evaluating the Regional Center. Without community support, more children will be sent back to institutions. The State needs to support the Regional Centers. Duane Chapman again urged members to read the Richmond City Charter at City Hall.

•  Jeanine Bishop wanted to know about the policy regarding the March deadline for completing all annual IEPs. What if an annual occurs in November? Steve Collins explained that this deadline was made for annual IEPs that are overdue. There were a large number of teachers who were not getting this done, so now they have a deadline to meet.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathy Roehl

CAC Secretary