MEMBERS PRESENT:  Cheryl Harshman (President), Patti Kem (President-elect), Steve Wornoff (Treasurer-June 2012), Jan Dunham (Secretary-June 2011), Lisa Waber (E–June 2013), Saundra Lange  (SW-June 2012), Bev Garrison (SE-June 2011), Jane Sanderson-Winkoff (NW-June 2010), Tom Barth (NC-June 2011), Tom Bell (C-June 2013), Jada Conner (NE 2012), Tom Adams and Joan McCormick (Co-Chairs Legislative and Research-June 2011), Dave Chastain (Chair Membership and Fiscal Management-June 2012)

ABSENT:  Denise Bashore (Deputy Treasurer), Kathy Hensley (Chair Professional Development-June 2013), Vendetta Gutshall (Past-President)

OTHERS PRESENT:  John Hill (IDOE), Nicole Norvell (IDOE), Fran Wood-Osborne (Legislative Committee Representative)

 

I.          APPROVALS

A.        Minutes – Cheryl Harshman called the meeting to order at 10:10 a.m. and asked for a motion to approve the October 14, 2010 minutes.  MOTION:  Bev Garrison moved to approve the October 14, 2010 minutes as presented. After a second by Saundra Lange, the motion was unanimously approved.  

B.         Treasurer’s Report and Claim Docket –Steve Wornoff distributed the treasurer’s report.  As of October 31, 2010, the ICASE cash balance was $267,946.80, and the ICASE docket of expenditures totaled $45,536.48.  Roundtable balances totaled $25,009.89, and the ICASE Scholarship Fund reflected a balance of $3,688.86.  It was noted that the golf outing profits would be transferred to the Scholarship Fund once all profits were received. Steve shared that the anticipated profit from the fall conference may be in excess of $30,000.  He also confirmed that the SW roundtable balance reported at the last meeting reflected the money collected during the Dr. Alexa Posny presentation.  Per SW roundtable’s intent, that money was transferred to the Scholarship Fund. MOTION:  Joan McCormick moved to accept the treasurer’s report and approve the October docket of expenses as presented.  After a second by Dave Chastain, the motion was unanimously approved. 

Steve shared that the tax form has been filed; however, this is the last year ICASE can file the EZ form.  He also informed the committee that Denise Bashore has found an accountant, Joe Harris, to do the formal audit for $500.  Steve requested approval to secure Mr. Harris’ services for the purpose of conducting the audit.  MOTION:  Joan McCormick moved to approve the request to hire Mr. Harris at a cost of $500 for the purpose of conducting the formal audit.  After a second by Tom Bell, the motion was unanimously approved.

Steve requested the Executive Committee consider a nominal charge for honorary members to attend conferences.  Saundra asked how many honorary members attend.  The numbers were not available; however, Joan suggested that honorary members be charged if they intend to eat at ICASE conferences.  Consensus was that setting a nominal fee, regardless of whether the honorary member ate or not, would be best. Patti explained that Kathy must know soon due to planning for the February conference.  It was decided that only the spring conference would be addressed at this time, and the topic would be revisited for future ICASE conferences.  MOTION:  Joan McCormick moved that a $50 fee be charged to honorary members attending the 2011 spring conference.  After a second by Patti Kem, the motion was unanimously approved.

II.        IDOE REPORT – John Hill introduced Nicole Norvell, an IDOE educational specialist.  He and Ms. Norvell discussed the following topics with the committee.

            LRE Codes for Early Childhood:  John explained that there is additional information that must be collected for federal purposes.  Anne and Ryan wanted everyone to know that after the December 1 count is turned in, there will be a two-week verification period for corporations to check the STNs against the IDOE report.  Cheryl shared that most questions seem to be about the 5A and 5B students.  Nicole directed everyone to pay close attention to the LRE federal reporting box within the chart (Early Childhood Coding Help Sheet, draft as of 11/18/10) John and Nicole passed out.  If a child is still in preschool, corporations should use the preschool code showing what the child’s environment is.  The child’s age as of August 1 determines if the child is kindergarten age. IDOE is asking for more clarification for the PK and the KG codes.  This is similar to the 05/06 ED codes in addition to the LRE code.  ISTART7 is not yet set up for the codes.  Nicole and John said IDOE is aware of this.  Jada asked about the district of residence claiming the preschooler.  John stated that the information would be clarified at today’s webinar.  Bev shared an example of a child who is five and in kindergarten receiving speech.  She wanted to know how to code that child.  Jane asked about general education settings for preschools, giving an example of what is considered a general education preschool in her district.  She clarified that this chart’s referral to general education does not include the private day care setting in which a child is served.  John explained that unless the private preschool parent is also home schooling two other non-disabled children, it is not considered a general education setting.  Tom Bell shared that we don’t consider older children that are home-schooled by themselves as being in a special education setting; therefore, he questioned why we would consider that the LRE for a preschool child receiving home schooling.  John asked that specific questions be sent to Ryan.

            Indicator 13:  IDOE has sent letters to superintendents regarding Indicator 13 and the corrections that need to occur.  Nicole will be the contact for any questions regarding Indicator 13.  Nicole will be contacting directors and giving specific information about what needs to be corrected.  For those students that moved and no correction could be made, additional TIEPs were selected.  If the new STNs that were selected have issues, Nicole will discuss those with individual directors.   Cheryl asked how we can make the information more accessible.  John shared that he would discuss this with IDOE since some directors did not check the posting on the Learning Connection prior to their superintendents receiving it.  John reported that the federal regulations state corporations must be 100% compliant; therefore, though not required to do so, IDOE wanted to provide a verification period to allow schools to make corrections before findings were issued.  For those receiving a non-compliant finding, Nicole has 30 days to get in touch with those directors, and compliance must be attained within one year.  Correcting TIEPs will be sufficient for some, but additional training may be required for others.  Jane asked if SLPs will be included in Indicator 13.  John indicated they would.  Jane and Dave asked that regional training be offered prior to any new requirement for monitoring.

            Indicators 9/10:  Corporations must call WestEd within ten days to arrange an interview if they are found to be non-compliant with Indicators 9 and/or 10.  Scheduling a conference with WestEd has been an issue for some districts.  Cheryl asked about the interview process.  Would the interview be over the information sent earlier? Having conducted her interview with WestEd, Joan shared that it was a general conversation, but he did not require her to go through every question.  John shared that there are 29 school corporations required to go through the process with WestEd.

            Jane shared that when you have a cooperative and each corporation is on a different monitoring cycle, it makes it difficult.  Anne Davis has asked that IDOE consider placing cooperative schools within the same 88 corporation cohort.  

            After the discussion on monitoring was completed, the following issues were discussed.

            IDOE has been instructed by the federal government to carry the current five year plan out for another two years since IDEA is being reauthorized.

            Cheryl asked about the length of time it is taking to get modifications approved.  John shared that Jennifer Thompson’s (Michael Craciunoiu’s replacement) goal is to approve and return modification requests within 48-72 hours.  Directors are asked to keep in mind that should she be absent or if there is some issue with the modification, turnaround time may be longer.

            Jada Conner asked about ADM and APC reporting of foster children.  It is conceivable that a foster child would be counted by the corporation of legal settlement for the ADM count and the corporation of service for the December 1 APC.  Jada was concerned about the consistency with which children in foster care are being counted.

            John said questions over the DOE-CE and DOE-CP reports should be emailed to Ryan Brown.

            Jada asked if IMAST would be online this spring.  John and Nicole will get the answer to Cheryl.

            It was shared that directors have a concern about the growth model and those children for whom it may be unreasonable to expect a year’s growth.   

            Patti Kem shared that there is some concern about the turnaround of the reimbursement of funds.  Nicole will take this back to IDOE as a concern.

            Public Consulting Group’s (PCG) work on ISTART7 has begun.  ISTART7 v 2.0 should be ready for launch May 1 with training through the summer.  Cheryl Hartman is the IDOE leader for the new IEP project, and she will be coordinating the pilot school sites.  The number of pilot sites has not yet been determined.  Currently, IDOE is keeping a log of schools expressing interest.  John shared that schools billing for Medicaid will find that paperwork will be reduced significantly with ISTART7 v 2.0.  IDOE staff is pleased with PCG’s work so far.  John shared that he had received confirmation from Chicago Public Schools that they were very pleased with the product they received from PCG. 

            John shared that Medicaid reimbursement for nursing care is coming.  Only 75% of the hourly cost will be reimbursed, and the nurse must be an RN.  

            John received a call from OSEP last week expressing appreciation for the two letters OSEP received from Indiana parents stating their concern over the potential requirement to sign every time a Medicaid eligible service is provided to their children.  OSEP assured him that those letters will be shared. 

            Cheryl requested IDOE attend the January 20 Executive Committee meeting.

III.       EXECUTIVE STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

A.                 Legislative and Research –Joan distributed draft federal seclusion/restraint information.  Joan pointed out that everyone should pay attention to the parent notification piece within federal legislation.   Representative Porter is willing to work with ICASE on seclusion/restraint legislation.

A legislative reception will be held on February 16 at the State House from 4:00-6:00 p.m.  Kelly from KWK will provide ICASE members with a list of all legislators and their administrative assistants, and Joan encouraged everyone to contact his/her legislators prior to the February 16 date inviting them to attend the reception. KWK will also send an invitation to each legislator.  Joan would like for Kathy Hensley to arrange busses or work with the hotel to get ICASE members to the State House, making it convenient for all ICASE members to participate. There will be a raffle for those ICASE members attending the legislative reception, but members must be present at the reception to win.  ICASE members will be asked to let the Legislative Committee know if they are or are not planning to attend the reception.  Legislative Committee members will call and encourage ICASE members to attend.

The language impaired license is moving along.  The interpreter’s rule did go through.  A hearing date should be coming up, with notification probably around December 1.  The legislative committee members will be at the hearing in support of it.  The DOE budget will be taken to hearing on December 7.  Legislative Committee members will get a copy of the budget to make sure the alternative residential line item is still in the budget. January 5 is opening day for the legislature.  Anyone is welcome to come.  The Legislative Committee will probably be at the State House from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The Legislative Committee met to begin a watch list or talking points for the legislative session.  Joan shared that budgets (DOE, BDDS, FSSA, DFC/DOC, and First Steps) are a part of that list along with charters and vouchers.  If there are other ideas to help the membership, Joan asked that those ideas be sent to her or any Legislative Committee representative.  Any areas that members wish for KWK to watch should also be given to legislative representatives.  Tom Bell asked for the talking points list to share with members of the Funding Committee.  Joan shared that they just started the list and legislative representatives will be talking with the membership for their ideas.  Jada asked if the end product will be a concrete list with ICASE’s stand.  Joan and Tom shared that the members would have such a document.  Cheryl asked how the Funding Committee can assist the Legislative Committee, and Tom Bell requested direction as co-chair of the Funding Committee.  For example, what does the Legislative Committee need from the Funding Committee?   Joan responded that providing research/facts (e.g., what other states do, CASE research) is how the Funding Committee may assist the Legislative Committee in the areas of alternative residential, preschool, school funding, and the fiscal impact of RtI.  The Funding Committee representatives will meet with their roundtables in December and information from roundtables will be given to the Legislative Committee for consideration for the talking points/watch list.  Cheryl said that NW and SW still need representation on the Funding Committee.  NW and SW representatives should send an email to Tom Bell to get the meeting date/s from him.

KWK’s contract was presented to the Executive Committee.  KWK is asking for a $500 increase in the yearly fee from $24,000 to $24,500 and inclusion of the Conflicts in Interest section, a requirement of Indiana’s last session’s lobbying laws that must be included in the contract.  Tom Barth asked if KWK had ever invoked additional expenses on ICASE.  Joan answered they had for things we’ve asked them to do, for example, running copies.  MOTION:  Patti Kem made a motion to accept the KWK contract.  After a second by Fran Wood-Osborne, the motion was unanimously approved.

Cheryl asked if a motion was needed for the Legislative Committee to purchase the pocket sticky notes for legislators.  Since the Legislative Committee has a budget, it was determined that a motion was not necessary to approve the purchase. 

B.                 Membership and Fiscal Management Committee Report-Dave contacted a few universities about the ICASE website.  He is working on scheduling a meeting with Ball State University to see if BSU can design and maintain the website.  Discussion regarding extending Cinda Long’s contract took place.  MOTION:  Jada Conner moved that Cinda Long’s contract be extended to June 30, 2011.  After a second by Saundra Lange, the motion was unanimously approved.

C.                 Professional Development Committee Report –No report. 

IV.       SPECIAL COMMITTEE REPORTS

A.              Nominations –Vendetta has received all committee members’ names and is planning a meeting in January to discuss nominations.  Joan asked if a slate will be brought back to the Executive Committee in January.  That was confirmed.  Joan also referenced a form that must be completed.  Saundra explained that the form referenced by Joan was for those interested in running for office.

B.         President’s Appointments       

1.         Licensing Focus Group – No report.

2.         IASP/ISHA Best Practices Task Force –No report.

V.        SUPPORTING the MEMBERSHIP –

A.        Identifying and Addressing Membership Needs

1.               IAPSS Coalition of Organizations –Margie Labelle will no longer be able to serve as the IAPSS liaison.  

B.                 Improving/Facilitating Communication

1.                                       Roundtable Topical Proposals –None submitted. 

2.        Roundtable Reports-E-Naomi Swiezy presented a report on Hands in Autism.  Due to the ISBA conference, East canceled its December meeting.  NE-Topical on Minds in Motion will be held November 19.  C-Central discussed non-directors being on the directors’ listserv. Steve explained that there is an ICASE members’ and an ICASE directors’ listserv.  If directors wish to only share information with other directors, they should send that information to the ICASE directors’ listserv.  Central has invited PATINS to attend a future roundtable meeting to discuss NIMAS and the issues some have encountered in using it. NC-Sharon Schultz made a presentation on PBIS, FBAs, and BIPs. NW-Anne Davis met with the NW roundtable.  NW continues to work on plans for an in-service for local principals on how to deal with discipline and children on the autism spectrum. SW-Patti and Cheryl will be visiting SW roundtable this month.  SE-SE continues to work on the April topical.  SE will not be meeting in December.

VI.       PROMOTING/ADVANCING the ORGANIZATION

A.                 Examining Organizational Structure

1.      Future Revision of Strategic Plan –Upon adjournment, work on the strategic plan took place.

2.      Constitutional Revisions-Upon adjournment, work on Constitution revisions took place.  

3.   Executive Committee Handbook-No report.

B.              Strengthening National Connections- Tom shared that CASE has a membership drive now that will save members money.  The drive ends November 30, 2010.  CASECEC.org has the membership forms.

C.              Promoting State Partnerships-The Effective Evaluation Resource Center and the Effective and Compliant IEP Resource Center invited ICASE to send a representative to serve on a statewide Advisory Committee.  Bev Garrison has been assigned to serve as ICASE’s representative to this committee.   

In a recent email, Patti Kem asked if anyone had training modules for conducting IEP meetings.  Effective and Compliant IEPs project director Jolly Piersall expressed interest in assisting Patti in developing DVDs. A meeting has been scheduled for November 29 with Jolly Piersall, Patti Kem, and IN*SOURCE to determine how to develop mock IEP DVDs for training purposes.  Jolly asked Patti if ICASE could provide any financial support for this project.  Though there is no line item for such expenditure, Steve felt this project could be supported by ICASE should the Executive Committee deem it beneficial for the membership.  Tom Bell asked if more information could be provided about the cost.  It was decided that Patti would provide a report to the Executive Committee after she attends the November 29 meeting.    

VII.           OTHER BUSINESS-Pat Pierce has worked on interpretations of federal law on AYP and graduation rates.  Jane handed out three documents that Pat has located, USDOE No Child Left Behind High School Graduation Rate Non-Regulatory Guidance, December 22, 2008, Discussion of Multi-District Cluster Classes November 15, 2010, and USDOE No Child Left Behind Modified Academic Achievement Standards Non-Regulatory Guidance, July 20, 2007.

VIII.        MOTION TO ADJOURN by Jada Conner and a second by Saundra Lange.

IX.              NEXT MEETING:  January 20, 2011, Hamilton-Boone-Madison, 10:00 a.m.