REMOTE LEARNING OPTIONS FOR SY 2021-2022 IN MASSACHUSETTS

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary School (Herein after “DESE”) is not allowing district to offer extensive remote learning for the 2021-2022 school year. DESE believes students need to be in a classroom with a live teacher to get the most of the education process. There are a few options that parents/guardians may try if they want their student to continue with remote learning for the 2021-2022 school year:

First.

Parents/guardians may enroll their student in one of the two approved Massachusetts virtual school districts. The first is TECCA Connections and the second is Greenfield Academy. TECCA is a tuition-free online public school for grades K to 12. According to TECCA’s website the enrollment period for the first semester is open. They are limited to 2,700 students at a time. Greenfield is also a tuition-free online virtual school. Greenfield promotes itself as a “pioneer of online personalized learning, we empower our educators to tailor learning experiences to each student’s strengths, interests and challenges.” According to Greenfield’s website they do have a waitlist but students are still encouraged to enroll so that they may be entered into a lottery. Please refer to their website for application and lottery deadlines.

 Second.

 If your student is on a 504 Plan you may be able to request remote learning as an accommodation. This option is mostly for students whose disability prevents them from safely attending school due to the risk of Covid-19 but who may not be confined to their home, they could make a request for an accommodation of remote learning.  Remember, just because an accommodation is asked for – it does not mean the district has to agree.

 Third.

 For those children who are confined to their home or a hospital for 14 days or more and are therefore unable to attend school, they are entitled to an alternative education for as long as their confinement and/or medical condition requires. This may include tutoring and/or remote learning. This is NOT a special education service. Any student in Massachusetts, regardless of whether or not they have an IEP or a 504 plan, may submit this request. If this describes your student then review DESE’s FAQs on this topic found at this link before you submit a home and hospital education request. Find the necessary form as item number two at this link.

Have questions or concerns about your student? Contact us to discuss further:

E.M. Curran Legal LLC

10 Tower Office Park
Suite 314
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 781-933-1542
Fax: 781-933-1549

ellen@emcurranlegal.com

SPECIAL EDUCATION IN MA WITH COVID

School year 2020-2021 is not like any other school year. There are a lot of questions and uncertainty about what will and will not happen this year. DESE has shared many recommendations and suggestions about both general and special education. Here are some of the recommendations in regards to Special Education that will be important for parents to be aware.

Delivery of IEP Services

Students must receive all services documented in their IEPs through in-person instruction, remote instruction, or a combination of both, with a strong emphasis on providing in-person instruction to the greatest extent possible, while abiding by the current necessary health and safety requirements. In particular, DESE urges schools and districts to prioritize in-person instruction for two particular groups of students with disabilities: preschool-aged students, and students with significant and complex needs. Remote learning is often more challenging for these students.

Bottom line what does this mean? Even if the rest of the school has entered into a hybrid or remote model of instruction, schools and districts must make every effort to maintain in-person instruction for students with disabilities, particularly those with complex and significant needs and preschool-aged students.

Promoting Inclusive Services and the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)

Due to the safety and health protocols that schools need to follow this year, extra consideration should be paid to setting up the classroom/learning space to allow for the physical distancing requirements for students and adults in a classroom but also having enough space to allow for support staff to enter the classrooms throughout the school day to provide services to students with disabilities in the least restrictive environment.

What does that mean?

DESE has provided the example that special education teachers and related service providers (speech language pathologists, occupational therapists, etc.), could provide special education services in the general education setting services remotely from within the school building via video conference, instead of coming into the classroom to provide services. This practice would help to minimize foot traffic in and out of classrooms while also providing access to services that support the inclusion of students with disabilities.

If service providers are not able to provide special education services in the general education setting remotely within the school building via video conference, those educators or related service providers should schedule services in a manner that maintains physical distancing requirements and avoids overlapping with other staff in the classroom or physical setting.  This means that some class sizes will need to have less students in it to accommodate the additional educators and staff members who are needed to support students with disabilities throughout the school day.

Parent Engagement

DESE is recommending that schools and districts promote regular two-way communication with families.  There is no ‘requirement’ for the frequency, preferred mode of communication and or type of communication and that should be based on the child’s individual needs as well as any language and/or technology access barriers families may face supporting their children with remote learning.

All written and oral communication must be provided in the primary language of the home and in language that is understandable to the general public. This includes translating district-wide and special education notification sent to families, as well as translating special education documents, schedules, and instructions; learning plans, IEPs, Progress Reports and using interpreters at IEP Team meetings.

DESE is recommending that any school personnel who communicates with a family should document the date/content of said communication. So, parents should do the same. This way if there is a disagreement over something both parties can look at their ‘communication log’ and see what was or was not agreed to and move forward to resolution.

Monitoring Student Progress

School districts, collaborative programs, and approved special education day and residential school programs must continue to issue Progress Reports at least as often as report cards or progress reports are provided for students without disabilities.

Educators and service providers must collect data and use this data to monitor the student’s progress to develop Progress Reports. If there are periods of remote learning, educators, service providers, parents, and students should review a student’s IEP and identify the types of data that can be collected from the student, family, and home environment. Staff can re-imagine their roles in a hybrid or remote context, e.g., by using a tracking sheet to collect data from student videos, interviewing parents and students, or using assessments.  

Have questions or concerns about your student? Contact us to discuss further:

E.M. Curran Legal LLC

10 Tower Office Park
Suite 314
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 781-933-1542
Fax: 781-933-1549

ellen@emcurranlegal.com

LEARNING MODELS FOR SCHOOL YEAR 2020-2021 IN MASSACHUSETTS WITH COVID

The new school year is beginning for many, if not all, students this week in Massachusetts. Never has a new school year brought about so many questions and uncertainty as this year. With new information coming out almost daily it is hard to provide guidance and answer the questions that seem to pop up the most. So with that in mind we are hoping to offer some reminders as we start the new school year

Learning Models

Most districts will offer: in-person learning, hybrid learning and remote learning. But what is the difference?

Full-time In-person Learning

This is the ‘traditional’ school model of years past. Teachers/support staff and students are in the school building and receiving instruction as ‘usual.’ Districts should again be prioritizing groups of students and considerations for maximizing in-person learning for students with disabilities should be made when developing schedules. Schools have been given some leeway to be creative in using alternative school spaces to get the most use of their space (i.e. having classes outside on the school grounds) and to maximize the number of students/staff that can be allowed on the premises.

Remote Learning

All schools and districts are required to have a comprehensive plan for delivering special education instruction and services remotely. This model must be available for individual students who are not returning in-person, and for all students in the event of future classroom or school closures due to COVID-19. The emergency closing in the Spring was unexpected and the expectations of students/staff/learning was not ideal. The remote learning in school year 2020-2021 is expected to be more robust as districts have had time to plan for additional closures. During the 2020-2021 school year, schools and districts must be prepared to provide services through “Instruction and Services” mode of delivery.

What must remote learning models include now?

• Procedures for all students to participate in remote learning, including a system for tracking attendance and participation;

• Remote academic work aligned to state standards; and

• A policy for issuing grades for students’ remote academic work.

What can Parents/Guardians expect in regards to communication?

• A regular and consistent schedule of classes, interventions, services and therapies as required by the student’s IEP, offered synchronously or asynchronously;

• Structured learning time designed so that the student can access state standards; and

• Frequent interactions with teachers and other staff members to ensure participation.

Hybrid Learning

As with the “in-person” model schools are again asked by DESE to maximize in-person learning for students with disabilities should be prioritized. Preschool-aged students with disabilities and students with significant and complex needs should be considered for continuous in-person learning to the greatest extent possible. This ‘model’ should incorporate the expectations of both the in-person and remote models as stated above.

It is important to know that, in-person services offered within the student’s home or in a community-based setting, particularly for students with significant and complex needs, can also be considered as part of a hybrid model to ensure that as many services as possible are provided in-person instead of remotely.

Have questions or concerns about your student? Contact us to discuss further:

E.M. Curran Legal LLC

10 Tower Office Park
Suite 314
Woburn, MA 01801
Phone: 781-933-1542
Fax: 781-933-1549

ellen@emcurranlegal.com