Dear Education Council Members,
In the spring of 2023, the Department of Education will present the proposed methodology for funding school budgets in FY 2023 via Fair Student Funding to the Panel for Education Policy. As part of the process of gathering public input in advance of the PEP vote, the DOE would like to attend one of your meetings to brief you on the proposed DOE budget and Fair Student Funding.
We are requesting that this item be placed on your meeting agenda between January 23, and March 17, 2023. This will be a presentation on the Fair Student Funding formula and will include information on the working group which took place this summer. We expect the presentation to take approximately 15 minutes with additional time for questions; we respectfully request that you schedule the presentation as the first item on the agenda.
To schedule your briefing, please have your administrative assistant fill out and submit the survey here. To help to coordinate the multiple meetings being scheduled during this briefing period, we would appreciate receiving your completed survey as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please email us at budgetpresentations@schools.nyc.gov
Thank you for your consideration to meet with you to discuss this very important topic.
Thank you,
Seritta Scott
Chief Financial Officer
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Estimado Miembros del Concilio de Educación,
En la primavera de 2023, el Departamento de Educación presentará la metodología propuesta para financiar los presupuestos escolares en el año fiscal 2023, a través de Financiamiento Justo para Estudiantes (Fair Student Funding) y el Panel de Política Educativa. Como parte del proceso de recopilación de opiniones del público antes de la votación del PEP, el Departamento de Educación (DOE) le gustaría asistir a una de sus reuniones para informarle sobre el presupuesto propuesto por el DOE y la Financiación justa para estudiantes.
Solicitamos que este tema se incluya en la agenda de su reunión entre el 23 de enero y el 17 de marzo de 2023. Esta será una presentación sobre la fórmula de Financiamiento Justo para Estudiantes e incluirá información sobre el grupo de trabajo que tuvo lugar este verano. Esperamos que la presentación tome aproximadamente 15 minutos con tiempo adicional para preguntas; Le solicitamos respetuosamente que programe la presentación como el primer punto de la agenda.
Para programar su sesión informativa, pídale a su Asistente Administrativo (AA) que complete y envíe la encuesta aquí. Para ayudar a coordinar las múltiples reuniones programadas durante este período de información, agradeceríamos recibir su encuesta completa lo antes possible.
Si tiene alguna pregunta, envíenos un correo electrónico a budgetpresentations@schools.nyc.gov
Gracias por su consideración para reunirnos con usted para discutir este tema tan importante.
Gracias,
Serita Scott
director financiero
Resolution Regarding Co-located D75 and District Schools
Resolution Regarding Co-located D75 and District Schools
The Citywide Council on Special Education (CCSE) is made up of parents and community members who have been elected or appointed to serve, representing 250,000 plus public school students who are receiving special education services.
The following resolution was shared with the CCSE by the Community Education Council (CEC) of District 31. It offers amendments to the current best practices on collaboration between and among general education schools and District 75. It was developed with input from CEC 31 members and parent advocates for both districts 31 and 75 students based on their experiences in their schools and their vast knowledge of the positive effects of collaboration between special needs students and their normative peers within their school communities.
WHEREAS, a collaborative model between special education and general education students is statistically shown to work, with endless benefits to both populations of students.
WHEREAS, it is legally mandated that students be placed in the “least restrictive environment” for their needs while providing appropriate supports and services as indicated on the student’s Individualized Education Plan (IEP), meaning schools should educate students with disabilities alongside those who are not disabled.
WHEREAS, studies show that organizational inclusion, assessment, and planning were associated with greater school belonging and overall school satisfaction for all students
WHEREAS, The Department of Education (DOE) has never developed guidelines facilitating interactions between collocated general education schools and those schools/programs/off-sties referred to District 75 schools/programs/off-sites
WHEREAS, schools with an inclusionary practice found that students with disabilities had higher school satisfaction rates and felt a better sense of belonging and that, in turn, students who ere not disabled and learned alongside those who were, developed greater acceptance and understanding.
WHEREAS, the benefits of inclusion for students with disabilities increases achievement of IEP goals, increases staff collaboration, increases parent participation.
Whereas, the benefits for inclusion for students without disabilities increases acceptance of individual differences and prepares them for living in an inclusive society and offers opportunities to master skills as a result of Universal Degin for Learing practices
WHEREAS, currently no complete list is readily available to inform parents of the choices listing inclusion, co-located, specialized, and D75 programs.
WHEREAS. There is no information regarding the school inclusionary programming options, class ratios and comments on the programs in order to allow parents to choose schools that facilitate collaboration for their special needs children
WHEREAS, students receiving services through District 75 schools are placed in schools/programs/off-sites across the NYC public schools by an anonymous District 75 Placement Office, located at 400 First Avenue, NYC, NY
WHEREAS, IEP Teams or Committees on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) and Committees on Special Education are required to refer asll students needing District 75 services and supports to the District 75 Placement Office without any recommendation despite knowledge of the District 75 programs that may exist in their Borough or Community School District
IT IS THEREFORE RESOLVED, that the CCSE endorses the following recommendations that are presented below will be approved and implemented so as to assure that public school students and their families, both in general and and NYC public school special education programs/schools/off-sites, are provided with meaningful opportunities for a cooperative and inclusive education
EMERGING COLLABORATION of D75 and Community School District PTA & SLT teams:
1. that all students in colocated programs/schools/off-sites at in a school school building or on a school campus, be offered the choice to attend all sponsored events such as dances, graduation ceremonies, school fairs, fundraising events
2. that, in order foster and promote representative parent engagement, that D75 parent representative(s) and D31 parent representative(s) attend each co-located school’s public open PTA and SLT meetings in order to facilitate collaboration
3. that all students in colocated programs/schools/off-sites at in a school school building or on a school campus, be offered the choice to participate in after school activities such as clubs, teams, etc., etc and that appropriate busing be offered to promote such after school participation (1)
MANAGEMENT/ADMINISTRATION:
1. that D75 Presidents Council request changes to Chancellor’s Regulations regarding school PTA’s to have a D75 liaison be a core member of each school’s PTA and SLT teams
2. that communication be improved between principals and their school families about the collaborative engagement that all students are currently participating in acorss the schools
3. that a list of all inclusion, co-located, specialized, and D75 programs, the class ratios and comments on each program offerings be included in the DOE booklet for Special Education K-12, on the DOE Website and at the placement office located in local Districts or Boroughs
_______________________
(1)The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) require school districts and charter schools to provide a qualified student with a disability appropriate aids and services to allow the student to participate in extracurricular activities. :
On January 25, 2013, the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a “Dear Colleague Letter” that specifically addresses the accommodation of students with disabilities in extracurricular activities. One of the tenets in the Letter sets out that districts (and charter schools) should not act on generalizations and stereotypes when operating programs and activities. A school district also may not rely on generalizations about what students with disabilities are capable of, i.e., determining that one student with a certain type of disability may not be able to play a certain type of sport, but another student with the same disability may be able to play that sport.
Dear Colleague Letter, 113 LRP 3326 (OCR 2013).
https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201301-504.pdf