The REPORTER & WISH-TV
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Westfield Washington Schools (WWS) parents have created a Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC).
It’s a district-level parent group that provides input to the local school district on system-level challenges for special education-related services. It’s being touted as one of the first at a central Indiana school. The committee includes 12 to 15 parents and staff.
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990 requires each state to establish and maintain a statewide Special Education Advisory Council. This isn’t the same as a local special education parent advisory council.
Article 7 is the part of the Indiana Administrative Code that regulates the state’s compliance with the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
“This is an advocacy council. Something that Article 7 and the Individuals with Disabilities Act, the federal laws recommended, but it’s not mandated and it’s a parent-driven council,” said Mendi Cooley, a Westfield Washington parent and newly appointed parent lead for the district’s SEPAC. “There are other school districts in the country that have them and there’s actually one other really active one in Indiana in Plainfield.”
Cooley, along with WWS Student Services Director Chase Stinton and Superintendent Dr. Paul Kaiser, started early discussions about the council back in February. She started learning more about the national SEPAC from other parents in the community who wanted the council to exist, so they worked with all WWS principals to identify a parent in each school who would be great for the council, along with staff members. Although the Westfield SEPAC is parent-driven, the council also has school staff to create a collaborated group.
“For parents it’s a huge learning curve,” Cooley said. “I mean, my son is four. He transitioned out of early intervention into the school system last year and that’s when I started looking at what an IEP [Individualized Education Program] is and what Article 7 says, and there’s just so much to learn.”
If a child has a known disability that’s identified before they’re three years old, they qualify for early intervention that consists of different types of therapy (i.e., occupational, physical, developmental). Because her son Ian was identified with a disability, he was in intervention from birth to age 3. After age 3, the school system takes over to support his learning.
The Individualized Education Programs is a blueprint or a plan for a child’s special education experience at school designed by parents and educators in the district.
504 Plans are blueprints for how schools will provide support and remove barriers for a student with a disability. It’s under the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a federal civil rights law. Both can offer formal help for K-12 students.
Cooley calls an individualized program a passport to education because some students with disabilities have trouble accessing general education. It’s by the plan that students get to attain access through services and support for special designed instruction. Cooley’s been able to get that so far for her son.
Stinton says special education for Westfield students can start from age 3 and continue until they’re 22 years old.
Depending on a student’s pathway to graduation, WWS has programs that can help beyond graduation to set special needs students up for jobs and learning how to be actively independent.
“With SEPAC, it’s that parent relationship and having another layer to be transparent with services, celebrate our strengths, obviously talk more about things that we can have opportunities for improvement on,” Stinson said.
He said the SEPAC offers parents a better understanding of programs and services while teachers and the district can critically look at the strengths and weaknesses of what they offer special education students. He’s already seeing the benefits of the council with recent meetings.
“I think about waiver services, Medicaid, (and) Article 7 which is Indiana’s legislative language when you really think about how we provide services beginning at age three all the way to 22,” Stinson said.
The council will hold a community event with In*Source, a special education parent support effort for Indiana. The council will conduct training and introduction on Article 7. Parents within the school district are invited to take a survey if they have questions on what they need to learn.
For more information, or to find out how to register for the community event, email SEPACWestfield@gmail.com.