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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-10-17 Nov. 29. 2018 8:58AM• • No. 0127 P. 2/3 f � ,� • r14109, SNAG Special Needs Advisory Council Nantucket, Massachusetts Jessica Douglas, Laura Steele— Co-Chairs SNAC Meeting Minutes- Draft October 17.2018 The meeting was called to order at approximately 6;03 PM, with fifteen people in attendance, The meeting was facilitated by co-chair Laura Steele. It was voted that the minutes from the Sept 19th meeting be accepted, Olivia McLean from the Family Resource Center(FRC) was introduced to share information about their services. Located at 2 Freedom Square (between Nantucket Office Products and the old Island Variety), the FRC provides free support to families and is funded as a method to help families and Children Requiring Assistance(CRA) before Dept of Children and Families (DCF)would need to get involved. For example, if a child is having trouble getting to school, they might get a referral to step in and help remediate the situation and support the family. Some of their services also include: • A Single Parent Support Group every 4th Tuesday of the month from 5-6:30 with childcare provided Kids Activities such as Lego Time every Wednesday from 3-4pm • Coffee Chat Wednesdays 10:30-11:30 to learn more about their services • A bilingual licensed master's level clinician who can meet with families to assist in identifying individual needs and help develop a family support plan to assist in completing goals, Olivia is the school liaison and can help parents navigate the way through the education and Special Education systems, IEPs and 504 Plans and advocacy, Robin Sherman, the new Assistant Special Education Director introduced herself. She will be focusing primarily on Middle and High School students. Robin has worked as a Special Education teacher and as a Team chair in various high schools. She also worked as the Disabilities Coordinator at Cape Cod Community College. She has experience in assisting High School students transitioning to college. Suzanne Fronzuto has volunteered to head up a Task Force to look into creating a residential program our kids who would like to stay on Nantucket, but are not able to five independently. She is going to attend a Transition Fair at Riverview this weekend and will bring back a lot of information and ideas. She would like to put it out to the community to invite people to participate in the Task Force, She also said that The Behavioral Health Task Force(BHTF)is doing a survey through Nantucket Data Platform to assess needs on the island for a variety of services. Cara Seal introduced herself and has been a SpEd teacher in the District for 20 years and is herself dyslexic so she has a great understanding of needs. She currently runs the Intensive Development Support Center(IDSC)for NIS, which is a substantially separate classroom for kids with more significant needs. She is working with various service providers such as the occupational therapist to create a resource binder and training guide for teachers, Nov. 29. 2018 8:58AM • .. No. 4121.— P. 3/3 . - ... . . Special Needs Advisory Council SNAC Meeting Minutes—October 17,2018 Page 2 Alexis Healy-Wurzburg is an Occupational Therapist(OT)who is working district wide, but mostly in the HS and NES. Ashley Reuss is the new OT for NIS and CPS and Cara Nielsen is the Certified OT Assistant, She works with kids who are referred for fine motor and sensory issues. Students are evaluated and the OT team may provide direct services in or outside the classroom and/or may assist and consult the teachers. Regretfully, Lora Kebatti has resigned from the Secretary position on the SNAC board due to work conflicts so volunteers were requested to step into this role, Suzanne Fronzuto volunteered, was nominated and a vote was unanimous to elect her to this role, Thank you Suzanne! The meeting adjourned at 7:03 PM. The next meeting of the SNAC will be held on November 281h, 2018-a week later than normal due to Thanksgiving. Respectfully submitted, Laura Steele, Co-Chair SNAG To be approved through a vote of SNAC members on Nov 28Th, • The SNACIs organized to empower parents,school staff and community professionals to collaborate in a positive decision making process to plan and implement educational programs for students with special needs. The SNAC will support,guide,advocate, advise and educate parents, Nantucket schools, and the community on the rights and needs of children with disabilities and their families,