1. Special Education Directors
Winter Area Meetings 2018

2. 01 02 Presentations 03 04 Presentations
Restraint Data Reporting 02
Educational Stability for Students in Foster Care
Presentations 03
Proposed Amendment: LEA Assignment Regulations 04
Autism Commission: Coordinating the Role of State Agencies; Resources for School Districts

3. 2016-17 Restraint Data Reporting
Anticipated Date: February 2018

4. Anticipated Data Release
Reported by:
School or program
Number of restraints
Number of students
Type of restraint (as percentage of total number of
restraints)

5. Suppressed Restraint Data
ESE will likely suppress data when:
Number of students restrained is less than six
Number of restraints is less than six

6. Lessons from Restraint Data
Provides relative understanding of frequency of restraint by school or program
Demonstrates progress to date at reducing or eliminating restraint

7. Educational Stability for Students in Foster Care

8. 01 02 Contents 03 04 Contents ESSA Foster Care Provisions / Definition
School of Origin / Transportation
Contents 03
Best Interest Determination 04
Immediate Enrollment

9. ESSA Foster Care Provisions01
ESSA Foster Care Provisions / Definition 01

10. ESSA Title I, Part A Provisions
Promote Educational Stability
Districts assign a Foster Care Point of Contact (POC)
Please update your district’s POC on ESE’s website
(with your directory administrator)

11. ESSA Definition – Students in Foster Care
Students who are in:
24-hour substitute care, placed away from their parents or guardians, and for whom the Department of Children and Families (DCF) has placement and care responsibilities
Includes students previously identified as “awaiting foster care” (in emergency, short term placements) under McKinney-Vento
Foster homes include, but are not limited to:
Group homes, foster homes, kinship foster homes, STARR, Transitional care units (TCUs)

12. Educational Rights of Students in Foster Care
School of Origin
Transportation
Best Interest Determination
Immediate Enrollment

13. School of Origin/Transportation02
School of Origin / Transportation 02

14. School of Origin
School the student was attending when placed in foster care, or at the time of a subsequent change in foster care placement.
To promote educational stability, students should remain enrolled in their school of origin, unless, after a best interest determination, it is decided to be in their best interest not to.

15. Transportation
Districts must collaborate with DCF to establish policies and procedures to ensure that students who need transportation to remain in their school of origin get it.
Absent another agreement, districts of origin are responsible for providing transportation to and from the school of origin.
Districts should document all costs associated with this transportation.

16. Best Interest Determination03 03
Best Interest Determination

17. Best Interest Determination
Decisions about which school a student will attend should be made collaboratively, and consider a wide variety of factors
Should include those in the best position to understand the student’s unique needs
Process should be collaborative…but doesn’t need to be one big meeting
Factors to consider include:
Age/grade level
Connections to school
Distance/time to school
Anticipated time in placement
Availability of services to meet students needs, etc.
Parties to include:
DCF, student (if appropriate), family/foster family, any educational decision makers
District of origin, school personnel, local school district (where student is placed in foster care, if appropriate)

18. Immediate Enrollment 04 04
Immediate Enrollment

19. Immediate Enrollment
If determined to be in a student’s best interest to attend school locally (where placed in foster care), district must enroll immediately*
With or without documentation, including:
Academic, health, discipline and/or special education records
Notice to LEA (from DCF), includes:
Emergency contact, residence, social worker, record release, transportation needs, etc.
District POCs should initiate records transfer, help facilitate transition
*Note: If there is no change in the school of origin, there should be no change in enrollment.
Factors to consider include:
Age/grade level
Connections to school
Distance/time to school
Anticipated time in placement
Availability of services to meet students needs, etc.
Parties to include:
DCF, student (if appropriate), family/foster family, any educational decision makers
District of origin, school personnel, local school district (where student is placed in foster care, if appropriate)

20. Proposed Amendment: LEA Assignment Regulations 603 CMR 28.10

21. 01 Contents 02 03 Contents LEA Assignment Regulation
Proposed Amendment 03
Public Comment/Board Approval

22. LEA Assignment Regulation01 01
LEA Assignment Regulation

23. 603 CMR 28.10 – Current Regulation
Addresses programmatic and fiscal responsibility for non- traditional living arrangements
Reason for amendment -
Align with ESSA broad definition of foster care
Align with ESSA goal of educational stability

24. Proposed Amendment 02 02
Proposed Amendment

25. Proposed Amendment: 28.10(5)(b)
Consolidate in a single regulation
General Rule
Accounts for students living in one district and attending school in another per ESSA best interest determination

26. Result of Proposed Amendment
Reconciles conflict with ESSA
Clarifies responsibility
Makes assignments simpler, more consistent, predictable

27. Proposed Changes

28. Public Comment/Board Approval03 03
Public Comment/Board Approval

29. Public Comment through 1/19 February Board meeting vote
Next Steps
Public Comment through 1/19
February Board meeting vote
Implementation in SY 18-19
Assignments during SY 17-18

30. THANK YOU
THANK YOU
Contact Information
Kristen McKinnon
Foster Care Point of Contact
Contact Information
Liz Keliher
Assistant Director
Special Education Policy and Planning