I have a few handouts that I will be willing to share with everyone. I won't go into detail about the programs that are discussed because they can be found on the internet. I would rather discuss the child complaint process and how it is being handled.
I am on the monitoring committee for the SEAP. Our responsibilities are to advise the SEA in developing corrective action plans to address findings identified in Federal monitoring reports under Part B of the ACT
Defined Purpose
(1) review statewide monitoring trends
(2) review corrective action plans (CAP) and improvement plans (IP) submitted to OSEP
(3) review MSIP cycle plans
(4) review due process and child complaint results
Part of our responsibilities are to deal with formal recommendations. Formal Recommendation #9 (Guidelines/Parameters for a Child Complaint Review, June 2004) was one that we discussed.
There is currently a database in place to track the survey information. The division is receiving very few child complaint surveys returned and DESE staff have been discussing options for getting more surveys returned. At the December 7, 2007, meeting Heidi Atkins Lieberman presented data which included the types of child complaint issues, comparison data by year, and summary information by allegation/complaint with the panel. At the March 13, 2008, meeting, the recommendation was made to refer back to the monitoring committee for review with a final decision to be made at the June 2008 meeting.
DESE asked the panel what they would like to have done. Panel indicated it appears that the survey process does not inhibit anyone from replying and if people choose not to respond, DESE has done the best it can to gather the information. DESE will continue to send the surveys for one more year and bring the results to the panel periodically.
The executive committee and the monitoring committee had a conference call in May and we agreed that we wanted to continue the program. We discussed the reasons why parents are probably not filling out the surveys and suggested that it be more family friendly and less frightening for a family.
When the matter was brought up at our meeting, Heidi stated that she would not continue the program and feels parents have every opportunity to provide feedback in the same manner that they filed the complaint. She stated that parents are never happy with the results and that the surveys are a waste of time. She stated that parents want the child complaint system to be punitive and it is not. She said child complaints are just for getting the schools into compliance. They are not to be used to punish the districts.
She went on to say that parents didn't get calls from DESE in the past when they were investigating the child complaints. They realized that might be frustrating for families and they started doing that. Parents should be happy that DESE took that step.
Heidi stated that there were plenty of avenues for parents that are not happy. She said that there is MOCASE and MPACT. She said that they are in place to help parents and that they should do their complaining through them. I told her that many parents are afraid of retaliation and that's why they don't return the surveys . I said that they might get a better response if they made it less intimidating. Doreen stated that most parents aren't aware of the resources that are available to them and that they need a safe place to voice their concerns. Bev stated that some parents are afraid to complain because their children might lose the little bit of services that they are receiving.
Heidi stated that it was MPACT's job to train parents and to help them deal with these issues. She stated that is why she has Mary Kay attends almost every meeting, function, etc. She said that I should complain to Mary Kay about MPACT not doing their job if parents feel this way. She also stated that Mary Kay would be speaking at the next meeting. Please understand that she was not attacking Mary Kay or MPACT. She was attacking parents for being uninformed.
Heidi stated that the only thing that she had asked of the monitoring committee was for them to end the surveys. She had no intentions of us continuing them. She also looked at me and said that she was sure that I knew that once she made up her mind she would not be forced to change it. I believe that has to do with her picking Lee's Summit R7 to present at the Superintendent's Conference.
We took a vote to see if the surveys should be discontinued. Three of us voted no. Heidi abstained. The rest voted yes. So, there will no longer be any surveys for parents to fill out.
Kris stated that too many parents are mad at DESE and then they join the SEAP to advocate for their children. She said that parents held up the meetings with complaints about DESE. That is what used to happen on the panel. Now meetings go smoothly because no one is there to be adversarial or to advocate for the children.
I believe that comment was for me. I believe that I was being put in my place. Come here, praise DESE, and go home.
On another note, I was elected to the Executive Committee. Don't ask me how.
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