MEMBERS PRESENT:  Cheryl Harshman (President), Vendetta Gutshall (Past-President), Patti Kem (President-elect), Steve Wornhoff (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 Committee June 2011), Kathy Hensley (Chair Professional Development Committee-June 2013); Dave Chastain (Chair Membership and Fiscal Management Committee-June 2012)

ABSENT:  Denise Bashore (Deputy Treasurer)

OTHERS PRESENT:   Anne Davis (IDOE), Jeff Young (Chair of 50^th Anniversary Committee)

 

I.     APPROVALS

            A.        Minutes – Cheryl Harshman called the meeting to order and asked for a motion to approve the January 20, 2011 minutes.  MOTION:   Jada Conner moved to approve the January 20, 2011 minutes as presented. After a second by Joan McCormick, the motion was unanimously approved.   

            B.         Treasurer’s Report and Claim Docket –Steve Wornhoff presented a mid-year report.  Income is on track to exceed expectations, and expenditures are well below what was budgeted.  Due to conference expense, Steve shared that the second half of the year will not show as much growth, but ICASE is in good fiscal shape.  ICASE balance as of January 31, 2011 was $274,617.60, and the roundtable balance was $23,738.59.  The ICASE docket of expenditures for January ($7,505.17) was presented for approval.  MOTION:   Tom Barth moved to approve the January docket of expenses as presented.  After a second by Jane Sanderson-Winkoff, the motion was unanimously approved.             

            C.         ICASE Calendar 2011-2012-Dates were discussed.  Cheryl asked that dates be perused for conflicts, and she noted that typically Executive Committee meetings have taken place on the third Thursday of the month.  She asked if Committee members wished to continue with that meeting schedule.  All members indicated they did.  It was also determined that meetings would continue to be held at Hamilton-Boone-Madison.  Members were asked to send dates to Cheryl, Patti, or Jan if there are any changes/corrections.  There was discussion about eliminating the May meeting due to having one so quickly in June; however, it was decided to leave it on the schedule. The calendar will again be discussed at the March meeting.

II.    IDOE REPORT

            Anne Davis gave the following IDOE report.

·                     Director of OSEP has informed IDOE that FY 2012 funding will show a $200 million dollar increase.

·                     The state’s discretionary dollars will support IMAST, the six centers, and the electronic IEP.  It is not the Office of Special Education’s vision that the electronic IEP will have to be supported by local districts.

·                     Indiana IEP is the name of the new electronic IEP.  IDOE chose this name because the IEP will look different from ISTART7, and the name will also eliminate the confusion between ISTART7 and ISTAR.  Anne acknowledges that the IEP is a huge project; therefore, IDOE wants the presentation to ICASE members to be transparent.

·                     Fiscal Audits-Anne stressed that cooperatives are not audited, districts are audited.  Cooperatives will never receive the findings, only the corporation.  Vendetta asked if there might be an opportunity to discuss how cooperatives differ with state auditors.  Anne acknowledged that this is also an internal issue for IDOE.  Committee members suggested a willingness to assist auditors in understanding how special education cooperatives are structured

·                     Clarifying Audits-Anne asked if there is anything IDOE can do to clarify audits.  Crowe Horvath was very responsive to sitting down with IDOE and looking at any questions directors might have from the audit.  Anne explained that this was the first time for the fiscal audit and 20 districts were selected.  IDOE has revamped the rotation so that all corporations within a cooperative are involved in an audit at the same time.  Steve asked how ICASE can help those who haven’t been through an audit. Within the next month, the IDOE website will have under “general supervision” a tab for fiscal audit.  Procedural audit guidance documents, including checklists, will be posted.

·                     Alternative Residential-IDOE does not plan on changing alternative residential, but Anne pointed out it is dependent on what the legislature does with the budget.  Susan Reimlinger and Anne would like to find a way for the state to be only the fiscal agent, no contract writing, Schools would work directly with the vendor to enter into a contract.  There is no intent to restructure so that each district receives a set dollar amount.  David Chastain expressed concern about a corporation entering into a contract with a vendor and the possibility that the state will tell a district they won’t be getting the money.  Tom Bell informed Anne that the ICASE membership would be willing to provide input to IDOE for alternative residential.  Anne agreed that it is important to involve roundtables.   

·                     Attendance-David asked about the issue of attendance.  Bev Garrison suggested a certificate of incapacity might be an avenue for medically fragile students.  Anne informed members that Gary Green or Kathy Danyuluk would be the IDOE staff to discuss attendance issues.      

III.       EXECUTIVE STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

A.                 Legislative and Research Committee Report–Joan McCormick reported that Dr. Bennett has heard from the legislative committee about the accountability piece ICASE feels schools taking voucher dollars should shoulder.  Joan warned there will be a voucher bill.  ICASE needs to think about what it wants this bill to look like.  One option to ensure the money follows students might be to do child count four times per year.  

The teacher performance bill doesn’t talk about special education teachers or children. 

Charters have expressed a desire to work with the Legislative and Research Committee, but Joan shared that when self-contained charters for students with learning disabilities have been approved, collaboration between the two might be an issue. 

ICASE declined to get involved with collective bargaining with ISTA.

Joan will talk with those riding the bus on the ride to the State House to talk about the legislative agenda. The most important message is accountability for all schools, including vouchers and charters.  Tom said it is important to invite them to our schools, give them our cards, and offer to find data for them.  It is fair to assume they don’t know a great deal about special education.

Bookmarks and pamphlets are available for today’s work with legislators.  The sticky pads for the legislators were ordered but were not of good quality, so they will be returned.  Joan ordered pens for the legislators instead at $5.25 per pen.  Cheryl asked for a motion to reimburse Joan for 160 pens, approximately $900.  Steve asked if ICASE would be reimbursed for the sticky pads.  Tom talked with the company, and the gentleman to whom he spoke works for CASE too.  He assured Tom that he would investigate the order, but no confirmation that the company would refund was received.

MOTION:  Kathy Hensley moved to approve the reimbursement to Joan McCormick for the pens.  After a second by Patti Kem, the motion was unanimously approved.                                     

B.                 Membership and Fiscal Management Committee Report- The website committee timeline was given to the Executive Committee.  David proposed having a focus group work on the website, for example, someone from product development, membership, and patron.  Vendetta shared that it is up to the membership committee to determine how they wish to function.  David and the membership committee may restructure it how they want.  Patti Kem shared that she feels a quarterly communication is needed.  Vendetta seconded that and encouraged various points of communication.  It was suggested to ask the roundtables what they want in a newsletter.  Vendetta suggested that when officers go to a national meeting they report on that meeting in the newsletter.  Cheryl encouraged that a format be established for the newsletter. 

David asked for updates to the director’s list.  Tom Bell suggested an email be sent to ICASE membership requesting updates.  Cheryl will give David what she has collected first.  David can then cross reference her list.  Kathy suggested the membership list also be used.  Vendetta reminded members that the list on the website is ours forever.  David may contact Gary or Susie to see how to access it.   

Forms for patrons and vendors will be revamped to eliminate confusion.  Jada pointed out that we want patron to reflect what our Constitution will state regarding the number of conferences in case we only have one instead of two at some point.  Vendetta pointed out that patron membership may be different year from our year, making it difficult to get membership in August from Patrons.  Lisa asked if there is a difference between patron and vendor memberships.  Vendors are those who wish to exhibit.  To offset the budget, ICASE looked at patron memberships, those who want to support ICASE.  Patti recommended reviewing the patron application every March to avoid issues if the golf outing is canceled or only one meeting is held, necessitating a change in the form.  Kathy Hensley, Michelle Newman (Patron Chair), David, and Patti will work on the patron application. Cheryl asked that this group have something for the May meeting that the Executive Committee can act upon. 

C.                 Professional Development Committee Report –Future conference sites were reported on by Kathy.  Some of the new downtown hotels are offering better deals than they have in past years.  Those sites will be brought to the next board meeting for consideration.  Many members have expressed a desire to have all conferences downtown.  Consideration will be given to having both conferences downtown after the September 2012 fall conference (Marriott East).  She will seek input on locations at our next meeting.  After the conference expenses are in for this conference, Kathy wants the Executive Committee to look into the profit history in order to make a decision on the $250 conference fee. 

Kathy announced Jeff Young is working hard on the 50^th anniversary celebration.   

Lisa, Saundra, and Bev reported that they had an overwhelming no when they quizzed their roundtables about a black tie dinner.  Looking into a Thursday night dinner at the fall conference instead of a black tie dinner may be an option. 

IV.   SPECIAL COMMITTEE REPORTS

A.                 Nominations –David Chastain announced the ballots for Friday’s election have been prepared.  On Friday, the ballots will be at the registration table for members to pick up prior to going into the business meeting.  Vendetta, as the Nomination Committee Chair, will present the slate, and Cheryl will ask for nominations from the floor.  The ballots will be counted prior to the end of the meeting.

B.         President’s Appointments       

1.         Licensing Focus Group – No report.

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

V.   SUPPORTING the MEMBERSHIP

1.                  IAPSS Coalition of Organizations –No report.

B.                 Improving/Facilitating Communication

1.     Roundtable Topical Proposals –Bev Garrison (SE) presented a   topical proposal for April 27 on Behavior RtI. 

MOTION:  David Chastain moved to approve the SE topical.  After a second by Vendetta Gutshall, the motion was unanimously approved.

2.  Roundtable Reports-C had a two-day retreat in January.  Numerous topics were covered.  Mark Booth prepared members for the upcoming meeting with their legislators.  Anne Davis also spoke.   They also worked on their topical for next fall on executive function disorders. A national speaker will present this topical.  NC members discussed TIEP concerns and residential alternative placements.  E did not meet due to inclement weather.  SW discussed the new IEP and the 50^th anniversary celebration.  NE discussed the new IEP, and had Dan McNulty from PATINS came to show applications for iPads. NW discussed legislative issues, PBIS, and Patti visited.  SE held their meeting by email due to the weather.   

VI.      PROMOTING/ADVANCING the ORGANIZATION

A.                                         Examining Organizational Structure

1.                  Future Revision of Strategic Plan –No report.

2.                  Constitutional Revisions-Discussion on presenting the Constitution took place.  Patti, upon approval, will put it on the ICASE website and send it to the membership via e-mail.  Vendetta suggested members be reminded to review the Constitution prior to Friday’s meeting. Cheryl also suggested roundtable representatives remind members at their Thursday meetings to review the Constitution changes.  Some copies will be given to each roundtable representative for them to allow members to peruse the Constitution.

3.   Executive Committee Handbook-No report.

B.                 Strengthening National Connections- Vendetta handed out the CASE 2010 Biennial Report.  CEC is in Washington D. C. the day after Easter.  Vendetta will attend as a CASE representative, and Tom Adams will attend as the CASE Treasurer.   Cheryl is going as president. Vendetta recommended that Patti attend as president-elect.  MOTION: Jane Sanderson-Winkoff moved that ICASE fund Patti Kem’s attendance at CEC.  After a second by Tom Bell, the motion was unanimously approved. 

C.                 Promoting State Partnerships-Patti Kem reported that the Effective and Compliant IEP Center thanked ICASE for support of the mock case conference video.

VII.           OTHER BUSINESS  

VIII.        MOTION TO ADJOURN

IX.       NEXT MEETING:  March 17, 2011, Hamilton-Boone-Madison, 10:00 a.m.