INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Parents in the Westfield-Washington School District have created a Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC); a district-level, parent group that provides input to the local school district on system-level challenges for special education related services. This is their first year and they’re one of the first central Indiana schools to launch their own.
This is their first year establishing a committee that includes 12-15 parents and staff.
The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) requires each state to establish and maintain a statewide Special Education Advisory Council (SEAC). This isn’t the same as a local SEPAC.
Article 7 is Indiana’s laws regulating the federal law for IDEA.
“This is an advocacy council. Something that Article 7 and IDEA, the federal laws recommended, but it’s not mandated and it’s a parent driven council. There are other school districts in the country that have them and there’s actually one other really active one in Indiana in Plainfield,” Mendi Cooley, a Westfield-Washington parent and newly appointed parent lead for the district’s SEPAC, said.
She along with Chase Stinton, the director of student services for the district and superintendent, Dr. Paul Kaiser, started early discussions about the council back in Feb. She started learning more about the national SEPAC from other parents in the community that wanted the council to exist, so they worked with every school principal to identify a parent in their building that would be great for the council along with staff members. Although they’re parent driven, they have parents and staff to create a collaborated council group.
“For parents it’s a huge learning curve. I mean, my son is four. He transitioned out of early intervention into the school system last year and that’s when I started looking at what an IEP is and what article 7 says and there’s just so much to learn,” Cooley said.
If a child has a known disability that’s identified before they’re three years old, they qualify for early intervention that consists of different types of therapy (i.e. occupational, physical, developmental etc.). Because her son Ian was identified with a disability, he was in intervention from birth to age three. After age three, the school system takes over to support his learning.
Individualized Education Programs (IEP) is a blueprint or a plan for a child’s special education experience at school designed by parents and educators in the district. It falls under the IDEA federal law. 504 Plans are blueprints for how schools will provide support and remove barriers for a student with a disability. It’s under the Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, a federal civil rights law. Both can offer formal help for K-12 students.
Cooley calls an IEP a passport to education, because some students with disabilities have trouble accessing general education. It’s by the plan that students get to attain access through services and support for special designed instruction. Cooley’s been able to get that so far for her son, Ian.
Chase Stinton says special education for Westfield-Washington students can start from age 3 and go up until they’re 22 years of age.
Depending on their pathway to graduation, Westfield-Washington has programs that can help beyond graduation to set special needs students up for jobs and learning how to be actively independent.
“With SEPAC, it’s that parent relationship and having another layer to be transparent with services, celebrate our strengths, obviously talk more about things that we can have opportunities for improvement on,” Stinson said.
He said SEPAC offers parents a better understanding of programs and services while teachers and the district can critically look at the strengths and weaknesses of what they offer special education students. He’s already seeing the benefits of the council with recent meetings.
“I think about waiver services, Medicaid, (and) Article 7 which is Indiana’s legislative language when you really think about how we provide services beginning at age three all the way to 22,” Stinson said.
The council’s hosting a community event with INSOURCE, Special Education Parent Support for Indiana.
They’re doing a training and introduction on Article 7. They currently have a survey within the district for parents who may have questions on what they need to learn.
Visit SEPACWestfield@gmail.com for questions and inquiries and to register or RSVP.
