December 11th Meeting Notes

Howard County SECAC Agenda

December 11, 2019 General Meeting 7:00pm-9:00pm

Wilde Lake Middle School Cafeteria

ORDER OF BUSINESS

Call to Order
Welcome and Introductions
1. Purpose and Vision

The Howard County Special Education Citizens Advisory Committee (SECAC) advises the school system on the needs of students with disabilities. We collaborate with other community disability advocacy groups to improve special education and the lives of our students in Howard County, MD.

Approval of Minutes
1. Action Required: Motion to approve minutes. See attached minutes
2. Meeting minutes approved.
Board Reports
1. Co-Chair- Parent Ambassador program
  1. Presented by Stephanie Carr and Jessica Hanauer
    1. This program is new to HCPSS. Created by Jessica Hanauer, teacher and HCPSS parent. Stephanie sees this as emotional support as well as nuts and bolts of the IEP process. Dr. Savage, Ann Scholz (Family Support Resource Center) and Jessica want to recruit parents from SECAC. The goal would be to have someone at every school that parents could reach out to for support. There is an application to file out. The program would include 3 free trainings on the IEP process and becoming a parent ambassador. Applications are available from Ann Scholz (ann_scholz@hcpss.org).
    2. Question - what if you are a new parent? Yes, new parents are welcome to be parent ambassadors.
    3. The purpose isn’t for this to replace a formal special education advocate and to know all the answers. This position would be more for emotional support. This fits with the wider SECAC mission to connect parents to one another and resources.
Committee Reports
1. Drugs, Alcohol and Prescriptions - Lori Scott. Going to the BOE in January.
  1. Mai - it’s important for special ed to have a voice on all these policies.
2. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion - Darria Wise. No meeting this month, will begin again in January. There will be two big sub-committees. Curriculum/Student Voice and Work Force/Professional Learning.
Department of Special Education Reports
1. Executive Director and staff - none
2. Family Support - Contact ann_scholz@hcpss.org if you are not receiving Family Support Resource emails.
Board of Education Reports
1. None
Next Meeting Dates
1. January 8, 2020 - Topic: IEP 101
2. February 12, 2020 - Speaker: Decoding Dyslexia Howard County and HCPSS Reading Staff
3. March 11, 2020, April 15, 2020 - SECAC Awards planning, May 13, 2020, June 10, 2020
Adjournment- 7:28pm

SECACChair@gmail.com