Task Force on Blind Student Academic and Vocational Performance 
Blind Task Force (BTF)

Minutes
Regular Meeting of Committee Representatives
February 6, 2018

For information on the BTF, visit http://dese.mo.gov/special-education/advisory-panels.
NOTE: Due to inclement weather, the members were given the option to attend the meeting at the regularly scheduled location (Howerton State Office Building) or participate by way of “Meet Me” call through the State Operator in Room 202. 

Members in Attendance (Present in Room 202, Howerton Building):
Dr. Stephen Barr, DESE, Assistant Commissioner, DESE, Office of Special Education
Donna Borgmeyer, Rehabilitation Council of the Blind
Bonnie Lenz, Teacher of the Visually Impaired
Louise Whitworth, Teacher of the Visually Impaired

Members Participating by Conference Call: (“Meet Me” conference call through the state operator at 526-5402 locally or toll free at 866-630-9346).
Geoffrey Barney, Superintendent, Missouri School of the Blind
Joy Frazier Boyle, Parent of Blind or Visually Impaired Student Attending Public School in MO
DJ Butcher, Blind Skills Specialist, Southwest Missouri
Jennifer Carmack, Consumer Organization: National Federation for the Blind
Linda Coccovizzo, Parent of Blind or Visually Impaired Student Attending Public School in MO
June Lenk, Consumer Organization: Missouri Council of the Blind
Reeda Rippee, Orientation & Mobility Specialist
Shari Scott, Institution of Higher Education

Members Not in Attendance: 
Pam Alberti, Public School Special Education Administrator
Stacy Hamlett, Public School Building Principal
Adrian Marcos, Student
Ian Shadrick, Department of Social Services
Brent Sharp, Public School Special Education Administrator
Angie York, Employer

Guests:
Desiree Morris (Conference call), School Supervisor, CSIP Coordinator, AdvancED Review Coordinator, Missouri School for the Blind
Joy Waddell (Conference call), Assistant Superintendent, Missouri School for the Blind
Jane Herder (Present in Room 202, Howerton Building), Lead Parent Advisor/Family Specialist, Outreach Department, Missouri School for the Blind
Susan Bonner, Deafblind Project Director, Missouri Deafblind Technical Assistance Project, Missouri School for the Blind

Minutes taken by Regina Miller, Administrative Assistant, DESE/OSE/Effective Practices

•	Call to Order at 10:00 a.m. – B. Lenz

•	Roll Call – L. Whitworth

•	Introductions – B. Lenz
Welcome Desiree Morris, Joy Waddell, Susan Bonner, and Jane Herder

•	Approval of February 6, 2018 Agenda – B. Lenz
Motion to approve and accept – Motion made by L. Whitworth; seconded by J. Lenk

•	Approval of November 7, 2017 Minutes – B. Lenz
Motion to approve and accept – Motion made by L. Whitworth; seconded by S. Scott

G. Barney announced that Susan Bonner will be retiring in August after 44 years with Missouri School for the Blind. 

MSB People and Programs: 
Capstone and Summer Programs 
2018 - Mexico in May - https://msb.dese.mo.gov/documents/2017-2018CapstoneHandbookforWeb.pdf
2017 - https://msb.dese.mo.gov/curriculum/capstone2017.html
2016 - https://msb.dese.mo.gov/curriculum/capstoneproject.html
Presenters - Geoffrey Barney, Superintendent, Missouri School for the Blind; Joy Waddell, Assistant Superintendent, Missouri School for the Blind, and Desiree Morris, School Supervisor, CSIP Coordinator, AdvancED Review Coordinator, Missouri School for the Blind. Handouts from this presentation can be found at https://dese.mo.gov/special-education/advisory-panels/blind-task-force/btf-meeting-agendas-minutes-handouts

DESE Update – S. Barr

Budget: 
State: Governor submitted budget recommendations to the legislature initiating the formal budgetary process. Budgets for the Office of Special Education remain intact and the Blind Skills Specialists and State Operated Programs continue to be funding items for the budget proposal for the 2018-19 school year. Representatives of DESE budgeting have been in contact with the various legislative budget committees. Meetings are scheduled with the Senate and House education committees on Feb. 7 and Feb. 13. 
Federal: Currently operating under a continuing resolution (CR) which is a stop gap measure to keep the government running. A new continuing resolution or a new fiscal budget required by statute but not yet delivered by Congress will be required by February 8 to keep the government running. We were not negatively affected by the recent and brief federal government shutdown.

Commissioner/State Board of Education: 
Interim Commissioner for the department is Roger Dorson who also is Deputy Commissioner for the Division of Administrative Services. We do not have sufficient membership on the State Board of Education for them to conduct business. Since the Board does not approve expenditures the department continues to conduct normal business. However, DESE Cannot move forward with changes to the Part B State Plan, other administrative rules, or department policy changes until the State Board of Education is able to reconvene.

Superintendent at Missouri School for the Deaf: 
George Stailey, former superintendent at the Indiana School for the Deaf, was selected as the new superintendent for the Missouri School for the Deaf. Because of prior commitments he will not be able to begin his duties until April 2, 2018. 
Part B State Plan: 
Proposed changes were submitted for public comment. The comment period is over but at this time, we are unable to submit the proposed final draft to the State Board of Education. Until the proposed changes can process through all of the remaining steps, the last set of rules to make it through the process are the ones to be followed. The last sets of changes were those associated with the plan’s organizational structure. They were published by the Secretary of State in the Missouri Register on January 30, 2018 and are now official. (5 CSR 20-300.110 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Part B Amended: Filed Nov. 1, 2017, effective Jan. 30, 2018). 

Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA): 
The state plan submitted to the US Department of Education under the ESSA was formally approved by the Secretary of Education in mid-January.

State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report: 
Missouri successfully submitted its Part B and Part C SPP/APRs electronically to the Office of Special Education Programs. At this time we believe we meet all of the criteria and the state should receive a “met” status in Part B and in Pact C. The determination will not be made until sometime in the summer as DESE and OSEP go through a review period and then a clarification period.

State Applications for Funding: 
The annual release of applications for funding under Parts C and B from OSEP are behind schedule. Part C was just released with a deadline of May 4 to submit.  We anticipate Part B relatively soon. Each requires a 60 day public review.

State Personnel Development Grant (SPDG) Recipient: 
The Office of Special Education submitted and was approved for a new SPDG that should amount to around $7 million over four years. The focus of this grant is to take the effective practices of the Collaborative Work (CW) to the district level which should position the state for statewide implementation. Around 15 districts with former Collaborative Work buildings volunteered to expand to the district level for the pilot phase. The Missouri Model District is the title for the pilot district implementation. The districts are piloting a new virtual platform which is under development and which will allow access to resources including on-line professional development 24-hours-a-day seven days a week. We intend to offer districtwide implementation to most of the remaining districts with CW participating schools for the 2018-19 school year.

Alternate Assessment Participation: 
New statutes under the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) limit the participation of students on the state’s alternate assessment to 1% of total test takers. Missouri’s alternate assessment (MAP-A) is embedded in the Dynamic Learning Maps. We are in the final stages of developing the process for districts to follow if they are identified as exceeding the 1% cap. Data indicate many districts have reduced their participation rates but the state is still likely to exceed the 1% participation level by a fractional amount.

Missouri School for Blind: 
A facilities review has been completed and we have informally determined that the current building should be updated rather than replaced. The firm conducting the review made recommendations which are under consideration by DESE/MSB and facilities. We hope to improve a few remaining safety issues and make the facility more attractive for students, visitors, and staff.

Parent’s Guide to Special Education: 
We recently posted a user friendly version of the Parent’s Guide to Special Education which includes some Special Education acronyms. The new version, with Spanish translation, is available along with the longer legal version to help parents better understand the special education process and their child’s rights under IDEA.

Significant Disproportionality: 
The Office of Special Education is continuing to develop the process required under new federal regulations related to significant disproportionality in eligibility, placement and discipline.  Currently around 57 districts meet one or more of the criteria. These are new regulations established by the U S Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).  We have requested some considerations regarding OSEP’s fiscal processes because of the serious negative effects. Thus far we have not received a positive response but have requested the response in writing.
WORKING LUNCH – Q & A following MSB People and Programs presentation and DESE Update.

•	Subcommittee Updates:
Academic and Vocational Services – L. Whitworth
Pearson Testing Workshop - They walked you through the process and were very accommodating. Would like to survey school districts throughout the state to find out what tests are being used on a yearly basis. What modifications are needed? What information do we have on hand currently? Do we have a distribution list of assessments by district? 

I would like to see more discussion on textbook adoption policies in tandem with district board of education. 

Rules – L. Coccovizzo – Nothing to report. 

Student Achievement – B. Lenz – Nothing to report. 

Children’s Vision Summit – I. Shadrick was not present at meeting. B. Lenz has tabled discussion, planning for next summit for May meeting. 

Blind Task Force Membership/Vacancies/Updates – B. Lenz
Current vacancies include 2 Student slots; 1 Principal slot; 1 Parent slot
•	Nomination process (Form - https://dese.mo.gov/sites/default/files/btfnomform15.pdf)

Current Workshops/Events in the State 2017-2018:

Mar 6	Effective Strategies to Implement with Students with Combined Vision and Hearing Loss and Multiple Disabilities for Connecting and Communicating with Other Persons,  Stoney Creek Inn, Columbia, Susan Bonner, Outreach Coordinator
Mar 6	Using Switch Device with iPad, 9 AM – Noon, Missouri State University, 117 Park Central Square, Rm 112, Springfield, DJ Butcher, Blind Skills Specialist
Mar 8-10	Conference on the Young Years, Tan-Tar-A, Osage Beach, Missouri Department of Elementary & Secondary Education
Mar 21-23	VIISA Course I, Session II Serving Infants (Birth-2) with Vision Impairments in Center-based Settings, Hampton Inn & Suites, Chesterfield, Susan Bonner, Outreach Coordinator
Apr 11-12	Hand In Hand Session III: Understanding Deaf blindness, Blue Springs School District, Susan Bonner, Outreach Coordinator, Missouri Deafblind Technical Assistance Project
Apr 15-17	Power Up to the Summit 2018, Holiday Inn Executive Center, Columbia, Missouri Assistive Technology
May 3	Using Switch Device with iPad, 9:30 AM – 12:30 PM, Alphapointe, Kansas City, Julie Anderson-Ituarte, Blind Skills Specialist
May 10	Using Literature to Support Orientation and Mobility Concepts for Students Who Are Blind or Visually Impaired, (for Orientation & Mobility Specialists), 9 AM – Noon, Missouri State University, 117 Park Central Square, Rm 112, Springfield, DJ Butcher, Blind Skills Specialist
Jun 29-Jul 1	INSITE Session I: Training of MoSPIN Parent Advisors, Hampton Inn & Suites, Chesterfield, Jane Herder, Lead Parent Advisor
Jul 24-27	New Directors’ Academy: Special Education Directors, Capital Plaza, Jefferson City. Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
Jul 26-28	INSITE Session II: Training of MoSPIN Parent Advisors, Hampton Inn & Suites, Chesterfield, Jane Herder, Lead Parent Advisor

Contact: Susan Bonner, 314-633-1553, or susan.bonner@msb.dese.mo.gov regarding Outreach Missouri School for the Blind and Missouri Deafblind Technical Assistance Project or Jane Herder, 314-633-1582, or jane.herder@msb.dese.mo.gov regarding MoSPIN

Contact: Jessica Hall, 660-785-7428 or jhall@truman.edu

Contact: Julie Anderson-Ituarte, 417-836-5490 or jituarte@missouristate.edu or DJ Butcher, 417-836-8872 or butcher2@missouristate.edu regarding these additional opportunities: 
Fall focus: Google Chrome Extensions

o	VI PRO Group Springfield 1st or 2nd Friday of each month at VRC at 2:00 p.m.
o	VI PRO Group Kansas City 1st Thursday of each month at Alphapointe at 
1:00 p.m.
o	VI PRO Group Jefferson City 2nd Tuesday of each month at 
Lewis & Clark Middle at 4:30 p.m.

Agenda for next scheduled meeting on Tuesday, February 6, 2018
•	Comparative data review related to the availability of VIs around the state.
o	Number of certified VIs
o	Number employed as teachers
o	Number not employed currently
o	Comparison data related to resources (teachers) versus need (children).
o	Comparison data related to major indicators of blind students versus all students with disabilities versus all students
•	Assessment success
•	Graduation/Dropout
•	Discipline
•	Transition (What happens after graduation?)
•	Discussion and planning for next Children’s Vision Summit
•	American Council of the Blind Annual Convention, Summer 2018 in St. Louis, MO. June Lenk would like to address the members about putting together a 60-90 minute presentation on the following topic area: Schools for the blind as a resource for public school based vision programs: How public school based TVI programs currently utilize schools for the blind as a resource and the future impact this movement might have in reference to preparing VI students for college.

Meeting adjourned at 11:45 a.m.