Minutes
Quincy School Committee, Special Education Subcommittee
May 11, 2011
On May 11, 2011, the Special Education subcommittee (SESC) met at Quincy High
Middle School with QPAC Board Members and interested parents. Present from the
School Committee were: Mrs. Emily Lebo, Chairperson, Ms Anne Mahoney and Mr.
David McCarthy. Also present representing the Quincy Public Schools (QPS) were: Dr.
DeCristofaro, Mr. Kevin Mulvey, Ms. Judy Todd, Ms. Erin Perkins, Mr. Richard Kelly,
Ms. Donna Cunningham as well as three teachers from the Parker Elementary Language
Development Program.. The following meeting opened at 7:00 P.M. with introduction of
all present. Agenda items were addressed.
CORI process: Mr. Mulvey went through the CORI process and its history in MA and
included how it is done in QPS (maximum 2 week turnaround). All staff, people working
with our students and any volunteers are CORI’d prior to having contact with students. It
is assumed that anyone who works for QPS may come into contact with students and they
are included. Schools systems get the entire history on a CORI and Mr. Mulvey holds
all to highest standards. He meets with anyone whom he has a question about. There is
no recourse for people not being hired because of a CORI. All School Bus drivers also
get CORI’d by State in order to get a bus driver’s license, If hired by outside
transportation company, they get CORI’d then but QPS still does a COR, because QPS
gets more information.
Confidentiality Mr. Mulvey went through the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act
(FERPA) last updated in 2008 and reviewed the process of how this information got to
school staff. Mr. Mulvey reviews it at his Personnel Team meetings annually and all
professional staff get this information with the required Civil Rights training annually.
Mr. Mulvey said only information in records is protected or information that was gotten
from a record. Mr. Mulvey will review how substitutes get this information. It was
unclear if all other appropriate staff got this training annually and would be checked into.
There was discussion that some staff have given parents and others information about
other students as explanation that should not have been disclosed. Mr. Mulvey requested
that when anyone had this happen they should call the principal so that FERPA could be
explained and upheld for all students. Mr. Mulvey asked that anyone who did not get the
response they felt was necessary should contact him.
QPAC Updates: QPAC has a new Executive Board: Jill Gichuhi, President, Maureen
Lynch, Vice President, Mia Hurld, Treasurer Laura Keeley, Public Relations Jen Keane,
Outreach •Secretary – needed. On May 24th, QPAC is having a workshop on
Collaborative Problem Solving and their last meeting of the year is May 14, 2011.
QPAC reviewed their goals from last year: Goal A Increase participation in QPAC,
QPAC established a resource center and evaluate the hours, they will be working on
making changes to the hours for next year. They also did explore some fundraising
opportunities and have made $220 and will be buying a computer for the center. Goal B
Advise the District on special education policies, procedures, and programs. QPAC
collaborated with Special Education Office on a disability characteristics booklet. This
is now in Ms. Todd’s hands for editing. QPAC also worked with the district to identify
transition related resources and best-practices. This is ongoing. QPAC also conducted a
Parents Needs Assessment (survey). Three was a 16% response rate. Many of the
responses were positive. QPAC has decided to focus next year’s goals on the areas of
concern: Behavior, Extracurricular, Communication and Progress, and Social Skills Ms.
Gichuhi will work with the superintendent and Ms. Todd on these.
Update on Substitute Teachers;
This will be an item on the May 18, 2011 School Committee meeting. Ms. Todd and Ms
Gichuhi have been working on the accommodation listing to give substitutes, This item
will stay in subcommittee until this is completed. It was clear that some teachers gave
more information to the substitute than others. Ms. Todd will review if there is a way to
insure that needed information is given by all teachers to subs. It was also discussed as to
how long term substitutes get information. They are treated as classroom teachers and
have to prepare for the classes and are given the information needed to conduct the class.
Inspire Project Update: Purpose is early identification of problems so remediation can
be started to decrease problems with reading. Special Education Staff gave an overview
of two programs Phonological Awareness and Developmental Reading Assessment and
the significant positive impact this has had on students in the one and a half years it has
been implemented. Three teachers from Parker explained how the programs work in
their classrooms and how they work collaboratively to support the needs of the students
in whole group, small group, and pull out sessions. They spoke of the continual
assessments, interventions, and progress monitoring that goes on to ensure that students
are improving their skills. The program has been well received by parents is having very
good success and the district is casting a wider net to bring students in who could benefit.
With continued data, the district and QPAC will start to spread the word on the good
effect this is having.
Calendar 2011-2012: School calendar, QPAC, and School Committee dates were
reviewed and dates for this subcommittee were established for next year:
October 26, 2011
February 1, 2012
March 28, 2012
May 23, 2012
Parental Concerns: There was a short discussion about program movement and if
students in substantially separate programs were being required to make too many school
site changes due to program movement. Specifically, CARES (Squantum has 2 K-2
classes but no 3-5, which is at Snug Harbor) vs LDC (which has the same schools fro all
years. Ms. Todd reported that the way CARES is structured was most beneficial to
students and that there is no space at Squantum for an additional classroom. No other
programs are planned to be moved.
Meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM