2024 Monday Mini-Courses
Monday, September 16, 2024
| 9:00 - 11:00 AM | Morning Mini-Courses |
| MC A | Special Education Administrator Bootcamp – Handling Rigorous Demands and Challenging Issues |
| Mary Schillinger, Educational Consultant/Former Assistant Superintendent of Education, Collaboration for Success, Simi Valley, California Special Education Administrators, whether new or experienced, face a myriad of challenges, including litigation demands, student mental health concerns, overwhelming issues of hiring and retaining highly qualified special education staff, to name a few, which can be overwhelming and daunting. Mary Schillinger, former Deputy Superintendent, and Special Education Director, author / consultant, will provide guidance, tips, strategies, and sage advice for handling the daily tsunami of issues that cross a Special Education Administrator’s desk. Author of Special Education publications, Mary will provide strategies, checklists, and helpful hints to help you stay focused on the priorities for your district program. From managing due process filings, maintaining and obtaining full compliance, making critical decisions relating to litigation, to planning the professional development necessary to prepare staff for ensuring Special Education student achievement in the rigor of the core state standards, this session will provide you with a renewed ability to strategically address challenging issues. | |
| MC B | Redondo Beach Decision and LRE Implications |
| Jan Tomsky, Attorney at Law/Partner, Fagen Friedman & Fulfrost, LLP, Oakland, California In December 2022, the Ninth Circuit decided D.R. v. Redondo Beach Unified School District, in which the court reexamined and, to some extent, redefined a school district’s obligations to serve students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. In this session, Jan Tomsky will examine the Redondo Beach decision in detail in the context of the rules governing LRE and a district’s obligation to consider a continuum of placements. The session also will impart practical tips in the LRE decision-making process to enable IEP teams to best meet the needs of students with disabilities, striking a balance between access to typical peers and designing an appropriately ambitious program. | |
| MC C | Legal Issues in Providing FAPE under IDEA in Virtual/Online Programs |
| Jose Martín, Attorney at Law, Richards Lindsay & Martín, Austin, Texas While virtual education programs have proliferated and serve increasing numbers of students with disabilities, significant legal questions exist with respect to how IDEA norms and requirements are intended to apply in a virtual education context. A fundamental problem is that the present version of IDEA—nearly 20 years old—is framed from the standpoint of only bricks and mortar school settings. This session will explore the problem areas and how courts and hearing officers have dealt with these novel legal questions. Subtopics include the application of child-find to virtual environments, how equity and equal access balances against appropriateness of placement, non-discriminatory admission criteria and inquiries relevant to determining whether a virtual program is capable of conferring FAPE to particular students, virtual programs as part of the continuum of placements, the inherent dilemma of open enrollment virtual schools, how the round Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) requirement “fits” into the square of virtual settings, related services and live services as a supplement to virtual settings, the reasonable role of parents in the programs, accommodations expectations for students with disabilities, and other related issues. | |
| 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM | Break for Lunch |
| 12:30 - 2:30 PM | Afternoon Mini-Courses |
| MC D | Obtaining Restraining Orders and Federal Injunctions to Remove Dangerous Students – When All Else Fails, We Get a Court Order to Override Stay Put |
| Geneva Jones, Founder/Managing Director, Geneva Jones & Associates, Sugar Land, Texas Schools have long since felt the standards for removal to an Interim Alternative Education Setting under the IDEA are too high but often feel that they are left without alternatives to unilaterally remove dangerous students. While the IDEA may limit a district’s options, schools throughout the country are going to Federal Court using old-case law to override Stay-Put and remove students when they can prove that maintaining the student's current placement is substantially likely to result in injury to the student or others. Attorney Geneva Jones, the first to reargue the “Honig Injunction,” will explain the legal criteria for seeking the federal injunction and other state options for restraining orders against students who pose an immediate danger to themselves and others. | |
| MC E | The IDEA or 504 Student In High School and Beyond: Disability Issues in Dual Enrollment, Accommodations on College Testing & Military Service |
| Dave Richards, Attorney at Law, Richards Lindsay & Martín, LLP, Austin, Texas When the IDEA or Section 504-eligible high school student graduates, she leaves behind the protections of IDEA and the K-12 504 regulations. Gone are child find, the school’s duty to evaluate, the IEP or 504 Plan providing for FAPE and the committee structure designed to create, maintain and implement that FAPE. In this lively session, veteran school attorney Dave Richards will look at select issues affecting the student as she pursues dual enrollment classes in high school or seeks accommodations on college entrance exams at the college or university. Dave will address some important questions: What obligations does the high school have under federal disability law to serve the high school student in a dual enrollment class where the college and high school regulations create very different duties? How does the school address demands for accommodations late in a student’s high school career that seem more calculated to address college-level needs or accommodations on college entrance exams? Should the high school dismiss the student from special education during the student’s senior year and utilize a 504 Plan instead? We’ll discuss these issues and other related concerns, and provide some helpful tips to make the transition to adult life and self-advocacy easier for the student. | |
| MC F | The Non-FAPE Requirements of IDEA and Section 504: Extracurricular Activities and Nonacademic Services Issues |
| Jose Martín, Attorney, Richards Lindsay & Martín, LLP, Austin, Texas While public schools focus on providing FAPE to their students with disabilities, they cannot ignore the legal requirements that apply to their voluntary non-FAPE programs, such as extracurricular activities, athletics, and nonacademic services. Both IDEA and Section 504 require that schools administer these programs in a manner that affords students with disabilities an equal opportunity for access. This session delves into the details and legal issues within that requirement, including the substance of the key guidance document issued by the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the reasonable accommodation requirement, the limiting concept of fundamental alteration, the IEP team’s role with respect to IDEA students, the issue of skills standards in competitive athletics, application of regular standards to students with disabilities, enhanced behavioral expectations of extracurricular programs, the need to avoid using disability stereotypes in making decisions on the participation of students with disabilities, potential need for health-related services, and other issues, all illustrated with caselaw examples. | |
| 2:30 - 3:00 PM | Break |
| 3:00 - 5:00 PM | Late Afternoon Mini-Courses |
| MC G | Ethics and Professional Responsibility in the Practice of Special Education Law |
| Garrett Williams, Attorney, Stevens Clay, Spokane, WA "Ethics and Professional Responsibility in the Practice of Special Education Law," delves into the many ethical considerations inherent in the special education field. With a focus on making the topics light-hearted and fun, attendees will explore the ethical implications of utilizing advanced technologies, including ChatGPT, in special education law practice. The session will also cover critical aspects such as ensuring informed consent, maintaining confidentiality, managing potential biases, making placement decisions, and transitioning between parent representation and school representation. Attendees will gain a comprehensive understanding of the ethical landscape in special education law and practical strategies to uphold their professional responsibilities, and they will do so in a collaborative and audience-forward presentation using timeless fables and parables as learning devices. | |
| MC H | Paraeducators – Supporting Student Independence in Learning – Guidelines for Effectiveness in the Assignment of, Training for, and Support of your district’s Paraeducator Team! |
Mary Schillinger, Educational Consultant/Former Assistant Superintendent of Education, Collaboration for Success, Simi Valley, California Your paraeducators are frequently your front-line support staff, but often the least adept at providing rigorous, non – enabling, direct services to students. Presenter Mary Schillinger has years of experience as a Special Education Director and University Instructor. Mary has coached multiple districts in successfully reducing the need for intensive one to one paraeducator support, while increasing student independence, and will share key strategies in this in-depth workshop; including guidelines for determining the level of paraeducator staffing that will best support student achievement and independence. A data driven process for responding to parent / staff demands for one- to- one aides, as well as guidelines for development of targeted IEP goals and a clear fading plan will be covered. Examples from preschool through high school will be discussed. Rubrics and forms that will assist in your ability to ensure fiscally responsible and program supportive levels of paraprofessional support will be given. Tips, guidelines, procedures, and more will help you develop and sustain an effective Paraeducator team, while building student independent functioning. A win – win for all! | |
| MC I | Issues in the Intersection of Dyslexia and IDEA: Evaluations, SLD Eligibility Questions, IEP and Reading Programs |
Jose Martín, Attorney, Richards Lindsay & Martín, LLP, Austin, Texas Although Dyslexia is not an eligibility category under IDEA, students with the condition can certainly qualify under IDEA. Confusion and questions arise, however, regarding the relationship between Dyslexia and Specific Learning Disability (SLD) under IDEA, and how a determination that a student has Dyslexia can be important in meeting their reading needs in an IEP. This session will address the intersection between Dyslexia findings and SLD evaluations, the value of knowing the condition is the basis of the student’s learning disability, US Department of Education letters on dyslexia, issues involving IDEA eligibility in cases where effective regular reading interventions are being provided to the student, and questions about how knowing a student has dyslexia should impact their reading services and IEP goals. Moreover, the session will also address the state of reading science with respect to appropriate reading services for students with dyslexia, as well as how courts have dealt with dyslexia-related special education disputes. |