UTAH SCHOOLS FOR THE DEAF AND THE BLIND

Advisory Council Meeting Summary

1655 East 3300 South

Salt Lake City, Utah 84106

2nd Floor Board Room

Date: May 25, 2017

4:30 p.m. - General Session

Attending:

Jared Allebest, Voting Member

Dr. Chris Bischke, (Chair) Voting Member

Chris Edwards, Voting Member

Vickie Hathaway, Voting Member

Karen Harrop, Voting Member

Sterling Hilton, Voting Member

Philippe Montalette, Voting Member

Stephanie Morgan, Non-Voting Member

Dr. Sandy Ruconich, (Vice-Chair) Voting Member

Also Attending:

Joel Coleman, Superintendent

Carolyn Lasater, Associate Superintendent USB

Michelle Tanner, Associate Superintendent USD

Meg Kallas, Executive Secretary

Interpreters:

Michelle Draper

Andrea Rathbun

Administrative Staff Present:

Karen Borg, USDB Blind PIP Director

Kate Borg, Blind School Director

Letty Debenham, USDB Finance Director

Kim Niday, USDBEA

Susan Patten, USDB Deaf-Blind Services Director

Brandon Watts, USDB Blind Outreach Director

Also attending:

Pam Christensen, USDBEA

Crystal Thomas, USBE

1.Welcome and Pledge of Allegiance

Dr. Bischke welcomed everyone in attendance. Ms. Karen Borg ledthe Council in the Pledge of Allegiance.

2.Public Comments

No public comments.

ACTION ITEMS

3.Consent Calendar

Mr. Montalette noticed that his first name is misspelled in the April minutes. He is requesting that the spelling of his name be corrected. The correct spelling is Philippe Montalette.

Mr. Montalettemoved to accept the Advisory Council minutes ofApril 27, 2017, the Vacancy Report for April FY 17and the Donated Accounts Summary for April FY 17. Mr. Allebestseconded. Motion carried.

INFORMATION ITEMS

4.USDB Outreach Vision Services Presentation

Mr. Brandon Watts provided a brief overview of outreach vision services which included:

Mission Statement

  • USDB Vision Outreach Services leads with inclusivity to prepare students with vision impairments for the highest level of independence in the home, school, and community.

Duties of the Itinerant Teacher of the Visually Impaired

  • Participates with the district and local education teacher to provide specialized instruction to students with vision impairments.
  • Assists in providing large print or braille texts, learning materials, and appropriate equipment.
  • Collaborates with the regular teachers, special education team, and parents to coordinate services.
  • Attends and participates in the IEP or 504 process.
  • Supports in-service training programs for school personnel, parents, and other interested parties.
  • Reports student progress quarterly to special education teachers and parents.
  • Provides one-on-one support based on the expanded core curriculum – the skills visually impaired individuals require to succeed at home, school, and community.

Expanded Core Curriculum –

  • Independent living
  • Technology
  • Self determination
  • Career education
  • Recreation and Leisure
  • Sensory efficiency skills
  • Orientation and mobility
  • Social interaction skills

How a Student with a Vision Impairment Qualifies –

  • Student’s educational performance is adversely impacted by a suspected vision loss
  • Deteriorating eye condition (as determined by an eye doctor)
  • Cortical vision impairment (CVI) – Neurological vision impairment

Students Who Receive Braille –

  • Students who are totally blind or need it as their primary mode of reading
  • Students who are learning it as a secondary mode of literacy

Consult Services –

  • Students with low vision who are independent and only need accommodations for the classroom (i.e. large print, preferential seating, extended time, using dark markers on the board, magnifiers, and CCTV’s)
  • Students who are at a higher level of CVI and only need accommodations for the classroom (i.e. using high contrast and tactile materials)

Outreach Service Providers –

  • 1 Director of Vision Services
  • 1 Secretary
  • 2 Lead Teachers
  • 18 Teachers of the Visually Impaired (TVI)
  • 4 Education Service Aides (ESA)

Students and Schools

  • Total students – 331
  • Direct students – 105
  • Consult – 226
  • School districts served – 28
  • Charter school served – 26

School Improvement Plan

  • CANVAS implementation
  • Increase reading scores for direct serve students (braille and low vision students)
  • Timely material adaptations
  • Professional learning communities

Collaboration with Outside Agencies

  • Junior Blind of America
  • Junior Blind Olympics (swimming, archery, wall climbing, kayaking, 50 meter dash, long jump, tandem biking, goalball, rowing, rifle shooting, judo, soccer and Zumba)
  • Utah State Library for the Blind and Division of Services for the Blind and Visually Impaired (DSBVI)
  • Utah Work Introduction Network (UWIN)
  • Utah Foundation for the Blind (UFB)

Dr. Ruconichrequested that Mr. Watts define what CVI is.Mr. Watts stated that CVI is an acronym for Cortical Visual Impairment. It means that the connection between the eye and the brain has a disruption or an injury.

Dr. Bischke thanked Mr. Watts for his presentation, but has one recommendation if he presents again. She would like more slides in the beginning of his presentation regarding blindness. Most of the slides focused on visual impairments.

Ms. Harrop asked Mr. Watts how the Advisory Council can contribute to the success of the Outreach Vision Services department. Mr. Watts stated that whenever there has been a need up to this point, he has been getting all the assistance required from the various schoolsinvolved. If that changes in the future, he will keep this in mind.

5.USD Lead-K Update

Ms. Tanner informed Council members that the USD Lead-K Committee met on Tuesday, May 16, 2017.The committee began reviewing the PLS-5 assessment. It is typically given to all preschool students across the board in almost every state.

The PLS-5assessment is appropriate for students who access spoken language fairly easily, but it is not the best measuring tool for ASL students. The committee sent a survey out to the PIP advisors, preschool teachers, and other people who use the PLS-5 assessment to gather additional data. Lead-K committee members will review all the data and make a recommendation on using the PLS-5 assessment.

The committee’s next meeting is scheduled for July 18, 2017.

6.USB School Improvement Plan

Ms. Lasater provided a summary of the USB School Improvement plan, which includes three categories:

Mission Statement –

  • Providing exceptional, comprehensive, and research-based education and service programs for children with vision impairments.

Vision Statement –

  • As a state leader in vision programs and services, USDB provides quality educational, family and community based instruction and experiences to prepare children with vision impairments for a rich and fulfilling adult life.

USB Initiatives –

  • Improve literacy & numeracy outcomes
  • Personalized learning initiatives
  • Technology innovations and capacity
  • Increase and diversify ECC program/services
  • Strengthen parent and community relationships through social media

Ms. Lasater provided specific action steps and the current status of each of the USB initiatives. Please see Tab 6.

Mr. Hilton wondered what portion of the blind or visually impaired students also have multiple disabilities that would benefit from the assistive technology. Ms. Lasater replied that about 80%of USB students who are blind or visually impaired have additional disabilities,andmany of them are severe. Some of the technology that's out there may not be applicable to this population. This is a weakness we have right now; we have been using the same switches and iPads for some time. iPads have been great for our kids because they allow us to focus on vision-related talks, but we are always looking for more innovative tools.

Mr. Hilton also asked what portion of USB’s students would fall into the CVI category. Ms. Lasater noted that approximately 80% of USB students fall into this category. Most of USDB’s deafblind students may have other vision disabilities, but the majority have CVI. Mr. Hilton also wondered why Ms. Lasater is asking teachers to learn CANVAS and to move toward CANVAS as an instructional tool. Ms. Lasater feels thatCANVASprovides one location online for everything. A parent can access a teacher-recorded video to see what their child learned that day at school and then find great resources to supplement that learning at home. CANVAS also lets students collaborate with other students. Some outreach students are already using CANVAS, which allows for immediate collaborative feedback among teachers, the student, and the parents. CANVAS is a great tool for professional development as well. Ms. Lasater also informed Council members of the benefit of CANVAS in relation to the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC). Students statewide come to ECC programs. CANVAS provides the parents an opportunity to know what their students are doing during short term programs. Parents can view videos posted by short term program staff showing independent living skills the child is learning or behavior modification techniques being implemented. The parent can initiate the same independent living skills or behavior modification techniques at home, thus providing consistency between school and home environments. Ms. Lasater noted that she was concerned at first because USDB has asked the teachers and staff to learn a number of programs; however, the feedback she has received from teachers and staffwho have been through the training has been very positive. Ms. Lasater was pleased with the Superintendent’s approach to learning CANVAS. Superintendent Colemanaskedemployees to get into CANVASand play with the program, get to know CANVAS. This way next year the teachers and staff will be ready to implement it in their classrooms.

7.Budget

Ms. Debenham notified the Council that USDB is operationally capable as of May 19, 2017. Year to date expenditures as of April 13, 2017 are $28,451,620. All areas covered in the Board Report are operationally capable, with a remaining budget balance of $7,361,775.

Ms.Debenham asked the Council if there were any questions or concerns regarding the Board Report.

Ms. Morgan wanted to know what happens to the funds that are not spent. Ms. Debenham noted that USDB is allowed to carry forward 5% of our total revenue that is unspent each fiscal year.

Ms. Debenham reviewed the status of Enrichment Funds. We have spent approximately $512,670 of our annual $1,951,207 Enrichment budget. USDB has collected $315,483 of the projected $900,000 for FY17. USDB will be receiving a majority of the Enrichment Funds revenue in July 2017.

Ms. Debenham also reviewed the FY17 Enrichment Fund formulation sheet that included a detailed status of Enrichment projects.

Mr. Hilton noted that there is a significant amount of money that has not been spent. Ms. Debenham clarified that any unspent Enrichment Funds will carry forward to the new fiscal year. The Council will approve the FY 18 Enrichment Funds list in September or October.

Ms. Harrop wondered if these expenses are reoccurring expenses or one-time expenses. Ms. Debenham noted that most of the expenses are one-time expenses.

Ms. Debenham asked the Council if there were any further questions or concerns regarding the status of Enrichment funds. There were no further questions regarding the Enrichment Funds Report from Council members.

Ms. Debenham provided an update on our Donated funds. The balance as of April 31, 2017 is $839,483.50.

Mr. Montalette noted that the formatting is incorrect on the FY17 USDB Budget Status Report and asked that it be fixed on future reports. Ms. Debenham will make sure that the formatting is correct in the future.

8.Superintendent Items

Superintendent Coleman shared that he is so impressed with his staff at USDB. He cannot take all the credit for the great things happening at USDB.

Travel –

  • CEASD Conference - Superintendent Coleman and Ms. Tanner just returned fromHartford, Connecticut. They attended the CEASD conference. It was the 200th anniversary of this organization. The conference was a great networking opportunity.
  • League of Innovative Schools Conference -Superintendent Coleman and Ms. Lasater just returned fromMentor, Ohio. They attended the League of Innovative Schools conference.
  • ASU/GSV Conference– The USDB Superintendency staff attended the ASU/GSV conference in Salt Lake City at the Little America and Grand America hotels. They also got to spend about an hour with Andre Agassi in his suite, which was pretty exciting.
  • Negotiated Agreement – USDB Superintendency team is currently meeting with USDBEA to finalize the Negotiated Agreement. They will meet one more time to finalize details.
  • Budget Prep – USDB Superintendency is in the process of preparing their zero-based budgets for FY-18. This is a major undertaking that involves building the USDB agency and personnel budgets from the ground up.
  • State Board Licensing Task Force – The State Board of Education is at a point where they will have a recommendation on our Deaf Ed licensing this summer. We will be able to hire the teachers we need. The changes will not affect any of our current teachers.

Campus Building Projects –

  • Cottages - The first phaseof our Ogden cottages remodel is almost finished. They look wonderful. Once the first phase is finished, we will move to the second phase. We are really excited for our students.
  • JMS Auditorium -The JMS auditorium remodel is now finished. It looks amazing. The design is very similar to OEC.
  • Carpet and Paint -We will focus on replacing the carpet in the hallways at JMS and Ogden. We will also be replacing the classroom carpet in the Ogdenclassrooms. We hope to have these projects taken care of in the next couple of years.

9.Future Agenda Items

-Lead-K Update

-USDB Director Presentation

-Adding USIMAC to the list of presentations

10.Other

Ms. Tanner emphasized that USDB can really use the Council’s assistance in hiring our teachers. We have several vacancies right now.

Ms. Lasater noted that USDB has 43 summer camps that are being offered this summer. She is very excited.

Dr.Bischke adjourned the meeting at approximately6:20 p.m.

Meg Kallas, Executive Secretary

Utah Schools for the Deaf and the Blind