North Dakota Interagency Coordinating Council ICC & IDEA Joint Meeting Minutes September 11 2003
ND Interagency Coordinating Committee (ICC) & ND IDEA Advisory
Committee
Joint Meeting Minutes
September 11, 2003 ND Heritage Center, Bismarck
ICC Members Present: Peggy Crane, Bernard Hoggarth, Tammy Gallup-Millner, Shawn Stettner, Angel Spottedhorse, ReNae Bearking, Roxane Romanick, Jeanette Kolberg.
ICC Members Absent: Paula Burkhard, Gene Hysjulien, Linda Rorman, Ramona Gunderson, Bill Lardy.
IDEA Members Present: Dena Larson, Carlotta McCleary, Kim Shereck, Leroy Shereck, Jeanine Brown, Jane Nelson, Dawn Olson, Brenda Morland, Garry Freier, Deb Balsdon, Linda Hartman, Jim Jacobson, Elaine Lindeman, Pat Brenden, Bernie Rodel, Cathy Haarstad.
IDEA Members Absent: Diann Aberle, Gwyn Marback-Tschosik, Robbin Hendrickson, Marj Bock, Michael O'Brien.
DHS/DPI Staff: Deb Balsdon, Jeanette Kolberg, Bob Rutten.
Linda Hartman, IDEA Committee Chairperson, called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. IDEA Committee member, Jeanine Brown, shared her family story. Jeanine's nineteen-year-old daughter, Chelsea, contracted a rare viral infection when she was five and a half years old, which caused significant disabilities. Chelsea currently resides at the Anne Carlsen Center for Children. Jeanine said it was a very difficult decision to have Chelsea move to a residential center, however, she knows that everyone there now loves and cares for her daughter. Chelsea has beautiful brown eyes and everyone who gets to know her, loves her. Jeanine knows that Chelsea does her best and, even though every progress step may be a small one, it means so much to the whole family. Her life is a blessing to them.
Minutes from the June 5, 2003 were reviewed. Bernie Rodel moved to approve the minutes with a second by Jeanine Brown and approval by all Committee members.
Roles and Responsibilities of IDEA Part B and Part C Advisory
Committees
Jeanette reviewed the roles and responsibilities of Committee members.
Committee members are viewed as key change agents in efforts to improve
educational opportunities for children and youth with disabilities from birth
through age 21. Committee representation consists of specific stakeholders.
Never before has there been such an emphasis and support for statewide advisory
committees, promoting the potential role that they can play in shaping the
future of special education and quality services for children with
disabilities. An annual planning meeting results in focused efforts and
priorities guiding the work of the committees through the year. It is critical
to keep in mind that the role of committee members is advisory and not
advocacy. The advisory committees are to provide advice, based on facts and
good judgement. By-laws established by the committees set the tone, ground
rules, and operating procedures for the groups. Copies of the by-laws for each
committee were distributed. (Handouts 1 and 2).
Updates on Priorities Established September 2002
Bob and Deb gave updates on shared priorities established by the ICC and IDEA
Advisory Committee members.
Recently published Autism Guidelines were a joint effort of Part C and Part B task force members. Training was held in early September in Grand Forks and a training package will be distributed when it is completed. Regional teams who attended the training will be surveyed to determine what additional training may be needed. The Early Intervention Library now contains many of the resources referred to in the Guidelines and can be accessed at ndearlyintervention.org.
Senator Kent Conrad's office announced that North Dakota has received a one-year grant in the amount of $283,000.00 from the U.S. Department of Education. Goals of the grant include a consolidated monitoring model for all federal school programs plus coordinated monitoring between Part C and Part B; a collaborative data collection system; and appropriate training components. The grant application was developed collaboratively by staff at the ND Center for Persons with Disabilities, DPI special education staff, and Deb Balsdon, representing Part C programs. Grant strategies have potential to incorporate several priority areas established by the ICC and IDEA Advisory Committees.
Bob and Deb reviewed the priorities setting process facilitated by John Copenhaver, Director of Mountain Plains Regional Resource Center (MPRRC), approximately one year ago. John recommended that the committees focus on two or three priority areas. Previously established areas included: transition from Part C to Part B; skills development; and a seamless data system.
Deb reported that the National Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center (NECTAC) continues to facilitate action steps for improving transition from Part C to Part B services for young children with disabilities. Larger stakeholder groups have provided input while smaller planning groups have started to develop joint guidelines.
IDEA/ICC Breakout Sessions
Each committee then met separately to discuss priority issues for the coming
year. For purposes of recording action from the IDEA Advisory Committee during
the breakout session, the following motion was made, seconded, and approved
following a lengthy discussion regarding Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) and
ramifications on the special education sub-group. The initial motion
was made by Leroy Shereck. The amended motion was stated as the
following:
Provide clarification to IEP teams on defining accommodations and/or use of alternate assessment for students with disabilities during district and statewide assessments, and Provide training to IEP teams on:
- a) accurately recording sub-group category information,
- b) decision-making process and determining the use of alternate assessment
- c) appropriate use of accommodations for district and statewide assessments.
Both committees met together again to identify common themes and set the
priorities for the coming year. Priorities are:
1) Skills development - collaborative structure and shared topics (e.g. PBS,
transition)
2) Funding - family friendly transparent funding, blended/braided funds
3) Transition from Part C to Part B services
4) Unified system including data collection, collaboration, monitoring
It was the consensus of the committee members that the four areas above will be the identified priority areas to focus on during the upcoming year.
Review Travel/Meeting Requirements
Bob shared information about recent DPI policy changes due to budget
restrictions for travel, meals, and lodging reimbursements. The Department will
continue to reimburse IDEA Committee members who must travel from out of town,
and meals will be reimbursed rather than being provided during the meeting
time. All meetings should be held in Bismarck and, whenever possible, meetings
should be held via Interactive Video Network (IVN) systems. In addition, all
trainings, conferences, and workshops for educators should be held in Bismarck.
Meals and other expenses for optional conferences and workshops will not be
paid for unless a registration fee is included to cover the costs. Deb noted
that the Department of Human Services will continue to reimburse expenses for
ICC Committee members. Deb is hopeful that the Department will be able to
purchase and install interactive video equipment at each of the eight Human
Service centers throughout the state. The ICC and IDEA Committees will be able
to utilize these meeting sites for future committee meetings. After discussion,
all committee members were in agreement that the December and March meetings
would be held via interactive video conferencing, and the June and September
meetings would be held in person at a location in Bismarck.
Interactive video meeting time could be scheduled to run from 10:00 a.m. to noon, and then 1:00 to 2:50 p.m., with small group discussion between the interactive meeting times. The June ICC meeting time may need to be extended by one half day. It was suggested that the ICC/IDEA chairpersons and vice-chairpersons meet with department staff to plan joint meeting time according to shared topics. Some meeting dates may have to be changed due to availability of interactive video sites.
Tentative meeting dates for the interactive video conferencing are:
December 3rd and 4th, 2003
March 3rd and 4th, 2004
Confirmed meeting dates for meetings in Bismarck are:
June 2, 3, and 4, 2004
September 8, 9, and 10, 2004
(Note: these dates would be structured to include a full-day IDEA Committee
meeting, then a morning joint IDEA/ICC Committee meeting, then an afternoon ICC
Committee meeting, and a morning ICC Committee meeting during those three
days.)
Bernie Rodel moved that the meeting be adjourned, seconded by Carlotta McCleary with all ICC/IDEA Committee members voting approval.
Listing of Handouts:
Bylaws of the North Dakota Interagency Coordinating Council
By-Laws - IDEA Advisory Committee (Rev. 6-13-02)
