Hi Disgruntled Taxpayer, I hope we can help inspire a name change to drop the "dis" in the coming years...
I am thankful that our kid is having a generally positive school experience thus far and hasn't needed supports, but it's also a little frightening as a parent to know your kid has to really struggle or fail in order to qualify for a…
Hi Disgruntled Taxpayer, I hope we can help inspire a name change to drop the "dis" in the coming years...
I am thankful that our kid is having a generally positive school experience thus far and hasn't needed supports, but it's also a little frightening as a parent to know your kid has to really struggle or fail in order to qualify for a support plan...unless you have the resources to lawyer up. I have nothing against the people who elect to do so, but it also seems like a major systemic failure. That's not specific to our school district, but that doesn't prevent us from finding better ways.
Since you were on the forum, you probably heard the many good ideas shared around your question.
It seems like there are two main areas we need to focus around: awareness/education around the initial intake process (esp. for marginalized communities with more barriers) and ensuring effectiveness and fidelity of plans implemented. As a board member, I would like to first better understand how the current district leadership is working to improve the former, in part by hearing from community members and groups like Evanston CASE. I agreed with several of my fellow candidates that data around effectiveness is insufficient, and part of the board's means to improving that would be to not only rely on administrators, but to gather feedback from the staff in classrooms around which aspects are working vs. areas we have room for improvement.
On a more basic level, this is yet another reason why regaining financial stability is so critical. We've seen a rise in Special Education needs since the pandemic, compounded by a labor shortage that's led to more reliance on outside agencies. The new board will need to ensure our financial leadership is sufficiently budgeting for these needs to avoid surprises. There was some positive news around outplacements at the board meeting earlier this week, so I'm hopeful that the continued focus on these areas will ultimately help us better meet the needs our our students through IES.
Hi Disgruntled Taxpayer, I hope we can help inspire a name change to drop the "dis" in the coming years...
I am thankful that our kid is having a generally positive school experience thus far and hasn't needed supports, but it's also a little frightening as a parent to know your kid has to really struggle or fail in order to qualify for a support plan...unless you have the resources to lawyer up. I have nothing against the people who elect to do so, but it also seems like a major systemic failure. That's not specific to our school district, but that doesn't prevent us from finding better ways.
Since you were on the forum, you probably heard the many good ideas shared around your question.
It seems like there are two main areas we need to focus around: awareness/education around the initial intake process (esp. for marginalized communities with more barriers) and ensuring effectiveness and fidelity of plans implemented. As a board member, I would like to first better understand how the current district leadership is working to improve the former, in part by hearing from community members and groups like Evanston CASE. I agreed with several of my fellow candidates that data around effectiveness is insufficient, and part of the board's means to improving that would be to not only rely on administrators, but to gather feedback from the staff in classrooms around which aspects are working vs. areas we have room for improvement.
On a more basic level, this is yet another reason why regaining financial stability is so critical. We've seen a rise in Special Education needs since the pandemic, compounded by a labor shortage that's led to more reliance on outside agencies. The new board will need to ensure our financial leadership is sufficiently budgeting for these needs to avoid surprises. There was some positive news around outplacements at the board meeting earlier this week, so I'm hopeful that the continued focus on these areas will ultimately help us better meet the needs our our students through IES.