Minutes
Special Education Subcommittee Meeting
Thursday, May 16, 2013
A meeting of the Special Education Subcommittee was held on Thursday, May 16, 2013 at 7:00
pm at Quincy High School. Present were Mr. Paul Bregoli, Mr. David McCarthy, and Mrs. Anne
Mahoney, Chair. Also attending were Superintendent DeCristofaro, Mr. Richard Kelly, Mrs. Erin
Perkins, Ms. Judy Todd; Quincy Parent Advisory Council to Special Education (QPAC) Board
members Ms. Jill Gichuhi, Ms. Mia Hurld, Ms. Linda Perry, Ms. Cassandra Tucker; and Ms. Laura
Owens, Clerk.
The meeting was called to order at 7:00 pm by Mrs. Mahoney. The first item on the agenda
was a review of the Program Improvement Plan goals by Special Education Director Judy Todd.
The department goals included elementary resource room teachers progress monitoring
students three times over the course of the year; the SPED team convened and reviewed
results and produced recommendations in the fall and winter. The second goal was to
implement the Transition Resource guide: high school and middle school staffs were trained
and IEPs were monitored for adherence; this is an ongoing goal. The last goal was to monitor
discipline issues through SWIS; however there were issues with software installation and
training. This goal will be continued next year.
The CARES team focused on technology integration and completed multiple opportunities for
professional development. The Occupational Therapy team focused on creating a resource
inventory and central storage and successfully completed this goal. The Speech and Language
team developed evaluation tools for use with ELL students. For the GOALS team, their overall
goal was working with at-risk students and accurately assessing and supporting these students,
while providing one-to-one support to address the stresses that impact their academic success.
The team meets weekly to adapt instruction and other supports for individual students, refer
for outside services, and communicate with parents. The Middle School team focused on the
Keys to Literacy Comprehension course and developing and utilizing formative assessments to
drive instruction in the classroom. The Language Development team developed their own
mathematics needs assessment which will be implemented next fall.
Ms. Gichuhi reported on the QPAC goals contained in the Program Improvement Plan. The new
website has been successfully launched and the Parent Guide has been updated, along with a
number of resource sheets. The group published one newsletter and hosted a very successful
Resource Fair. QPAC also collaborated on IEP implementation and Transition Guide revision.
Ms. Gichuhi asked about assistive technology. Ms. Todd said a staff member just completed a
graduate program in technology and will be focusing on this in the next school year.
The next item on the agenda was proposed Special Education Subcommittee Meeting dates for
2013-2014. Dr. DeCristofaro asked the Special Education Subcommittee to consider changing
the time so that the meetings would be more in line with other Subcommittees and a 6:00 pm
start time was agreed to. The proposed meeting dates are October 16, 2013; January 15, 2014;
March 26, 2014; and May 14, 2014.
The next item on the agenda was a QPAC update by Ms. Gichuhi. She introduced the new
Executive Board: she will remain as President, Ms. Linda Perry is Vice President, Ms. Mia Hurld
is Treasurer, Ms. Karen Cobb is Outreach Coordinator, and Ms. Cassandra Tucker is Public
Relations. The Board is still seeking a Secretary.
QPAC recently completed an online survey of teachers and parents. Parents of 37 students
completed the survey. QPAC will follow up with back-to-basics awareness training on issues.
20 staff members responded, most from general education. Some teachers suggested more
time for planning with special education and intervention teachers. Ms. Perry suggested that
SPED work to make sure teachers are aware of the options and supports they have system
wide. Dr. DeCristofaro said that the QPAC website is a valuable resource for parents and QPAC
presence at open houses and community events is very helpful.
QPAC is holding a Planning Meeting for 2013-2014 goals, on May 28 at 6:00 pm. Agenda items
include the calendar for next year, including meetings and presentations and the Resource Fair.
Big picture goals include increasing visibility, including visiting PTOs over the course of the next
school year and providing resources for parents and staff. Ms. Perry asked about the Substitute
Forms; those will be used beginning in September 2013.
Ms. Gichuhi asked for suggestions to add to QPAC goals. Dr. DeCristofaro suggested that QPAC
presence at citywide curriculum events would be a good way to increase visibility. Mr.
McCarthy suggested that the survey should be narrowed; a shorter survey might generate more
parent response. QPAC recently met with the QEA stewards about helping general education
teachers understand the resources they can provide. Ms. Heald suggested that general
education teachers would attend QPAC workshops if they could get PDPs and Ms. Todd agreed
to look into that. Mrs. Mahoney said that parent are often overwhelmed by a SPED diagnosis
and if a parent is struggling, they may be feeling isolated with their child’s specific issues.
Meetings that are more socially focused may draw more parent participation.
Mr. Bregoli made a motion to adjourn the Special Education Subcommittee meeting at 7:55 pm.
Mr. McCarthy seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.