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

Minutes
Regular Meeting of Committee Representatives
August 7, 2018

For information on the BTF, visit http://dese.mo.gov/special-education/advisory-panels.

Members in Attendance:
Geoffrey Barney, superintendent, Missouri School for the Blind
Dr. Stephen Barr, assistant commissioner, Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Jennifer Carmack, Consumer Organization: National Federation of the Blind
Linda Coccovizzo, parent of blind or visually impaired student attending public school in Missouri
Joy Frazier Boyle, parent of blind or visually impaired student attending public school in Missouri
June Lenk, Consumer Organization: Missouri Council for the Blind
Bonnie Lenz, teacher of the visually impaired
Shari Scott, Institution of Higher Education
Ian Shadrick, program manager, RSB, Department of Social Services
Brent Sharp, public school special education administrator
Louise Whitworth, teacher of the visually impaired
Angie York, employer

Guests: DJ Butcher, blind skills specialist, Springfield, MO; Jessica Hall, blind skills specialist, NE RPDC, Jane Herder, lead parent advisor/family specialist/teacher of the VI/OMS 

Members Not in Attendance: Pam Alberti, public school special education administrator; Donna Borgmeyer, Rehabilitation Council of the Blind; Adrian Marcos, student representative; Reeda Rippee, orientation & mobility specialist; Stacy Hamlett, public school building principal;

Minute taker: Regina Miller, administrative assistant, OSE, DESE

Call to Order at 10:00 a.m. – B. Lenz

Roll Call – L. Whitworth

Introductions – B. Lenz

Approval of November 6, 2018 DRAFT Agenda – B. Lenz

Approval of August 7, 2018 Minutes – B. Lenz

Feedback from June Lenk – Gave a presentation during the recent American Council of the Blind Conference and Convention on June 29 – July 6, 2018.

•	Affiliates represented by blind/visually impaired lawyers, teachers, merchants who shared about their everyday lives.
•	Students shared their lives in high school, field of study, and advocacy. Different issues were highlighted each day. 
•	Exhibits presented various technologies available for the blind (cell phones, computers, etc.).
•	Thanks to all BTF members who contributed information and data that made the presentation successful and informative.

Planning/timeline discussion for next Children’s Vision Summit: B Lenz
•	Funding
o	In terms of Rehabilitation for the Blind and their involvement 
o	Prior approval with adequate lead time. Need draft agenda to present to representatives to ensure that we can financially support the summit.
o	Lead time can vary from a couple of days to several weeks until response received. 
o	Can we develop a draft before November meeting to give us a year to arrange and reserve location, presenters, advertising, conference AV and breakout rooms?

•	Location
o	Columbia – best option but can be harder for some to travel to that location.
o	Jefferson City – easier to get to
o	Jefferson City and Sedalia more centralized and easier for participants to arrange transportation.
o	Could Warrensburg be an option? 
o	How about one side of state in 2019 and the other side of state in 2021?
o	RSB has connections to find out what is out there/
o	There are new hotels going up in Jefferson City
•	good opportunity to advertise for the summit
•	hotels would be open to offering as host with initiatives

•	Date options
o	October during a three-day weekend (holiday)
o	October 7th or 14th 2019
o	Difficult to get student participation during a regular school day
o	Make sure it doesn’t run concurrently with other conferences and check football schedules for Missouri University-Columbia, Warrensburg, etc. 
o	Make it easy for families to attend together

•	Suggested activities/presentations/topic areas for CVS
o	Sports
o	Forest services (walkways, accessibility, fishing, hunting, etc.)
o	USAVA 
o	Sports Camp (Lighthouse)
o	National Archery School Program (3 area coaches are available to talk about the program)
o	Transition program called Blind and Emotionally Savvy (May in Blue Springs) 16 weeks expanded throughout the regular semester (120 hours that includes 30 hours of on-the-job training)
•	Ideally, 8 to 12 students.
•	Opportunity to socialize
•	2 to 4 times a year for ages 14-21
•	Soft skills
•	Specific components
•	Appropriate dress , styles for formal and informal interviews
•	Can train as young as 14
•	Accommodations
•	Advocacy
•	Filling out a resume
•	Filling out an application
•	Work-based learning experience
•	Direct paid work experience (20 hours a week)
•	Option to complete interest inventories on strengths, environments, likes and dislikes.
•	Learn to follow directions
•	Punctuality in a competitive, integrated environment
•	Adds additional support (on-the-job training) can contractually build in, if needed

o	Orientation/Mobility outreach program offered by MSB
•	K-5 for one weekend and 6-12 on another weekend
•	Accommodate family units
•	Need enough participation to support the cost

o	Program modeled after Delta Gamma – SW Missouri in Springfield, Missouri. 
•	Once a month on Saturday for students ages 8 to 18
•	Completely funded
•	10:00 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. at Vision Rehabilitation of the Ozarks.

o	Facilitated IEP training
Initial concept – third party individual involved to help facilitate the IEP to make sure that the conversation stays focused and well-balanced among the different participants. We have persons contracted to go out into the state and do this. Next step, this next school year is to host trainings across the state to get our “trainers trained to provide training” to the school districts. As a result, if we have 15-20 read to go that could mean 400 people trained across the state! They will go into the school districts and train facilitators on valuable techniques. Soft skills training and transition are really part of the bigger picture to get economic development in the state of Missouri. We want to work with college and career tech to remove the stigma of “special education”. Everyone benefits. Currently working to development training focusing on ages beginning at the kindergarten level and up.
•	Great experience!
•	Well facilitated step by step
•	It can take longer than a regular IEP session, but everyone on the same page and no one left the meeting wanting. 
•	Consider a mock Facilitated IEP session during the CVS. 
•	Suggested that there be both an entry level session and follow up with an actual mock facilitated IEP.

o	Funding and RSB involvement
•	Will need adequate time to submit an agenda to consider support for the summit. Will require prior approval with tentative agenda lead time. Can vary anywhere from a couple of days to several weeks for response. 
•	Suggest 10/2018 to give a year to reserve location, presenters, advertising, conference space, etc.

Discuss plan to schedule visit to Center for Braille and Narration
•	May, 2019 
•	8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. timeframe works best or noon to 2:00 p.m.
•	Short meeting at regular time and travel to facility for tour after lunch.
•	Names and social security numbers MUST be submitted ahead of time for security purposes.

Presentations

•	O & M Shortage – DJ Butcher, Blind Skills Specialist, Springfield, Missouri
o	Areas of concern:
•	Need for an AER Certification and full time instructor at the university where the O & M are employed.
•	Budget
•	Finding prime candidates
•	TVI-cross categorical even with dual certification
•	One O & M can easily be asked to handle as many as eight districts
•	Required classes for TVI have recently expanded.
•	Liability
•	Pay scale – regionally, pay scales as a whole is an issue.
•	Time commitment
•	Possible solutions
o	Lighthouse will pay for tuition and room and board ONLY
o	Short term would be to support schools that are not being served at this time. 
o	Data collection – DESE has numbers of visually impaired and a lot of information of where students and teachers currently are. Dr. Barr has indicated a willingness for DESE to help fund some of these issues. 
o	Go back to the table and discuss a variety of ways to target school district making them aware of these programs.
o	G. Barney – Would we be able to do another program in another city? (St. Louis; Bootheel)? No. They would need to be on campus and they need to live no further than Springfield, Missouri to be considered. 
o	Part-time on staff? No. They have to be full-time instructor on staff with the university. 
o	Are there universities who might be prepared or willing to go through and teach an O & M course? 
•	A lot is required and it pretty extensive. Can’t just “open up” a course. 
•	University share instructors? 
•	G. Barney – could we possibly contract with retired instructors?
o	Start looking at the time involved, cost, resources, and gather information to share with educators and others. 
•	Rehabilitation Services for the Blind (RSB) – Ian Shadrick, Department of Social Services, Rehabilitation Services for the Blind
•	Children’s services (Birth to 21)
•	Birth to Early Childhood resource and advocacy services 
•	Work with parents and families regarding services 
•	Services available whether they be children’s service’s case or VR
•	Have a student already talking about college or work-based environment? Give us a call and let us see how we can serve them.
o	Job exploration
o	Self-advocacy skills
o	Opportunities for enrollment in postsecondary education (college or tech college)
•	If we don’t know about them, we can’t provide the services they might need.
•	Do they have immediate transition, postsecondary goals?
o	RSA limits us on pay for the transportation, but under VR, we can pay for this under a typical VR caseload and take care of the rest under the umbrella under RSB.
•	Big focus on transition from a VR perspective (14-21). 
•	EVERY STUDENT you’re working with is going through TRANSITION. We need to be preparing them for what the next step is.
•	Working in partnership with MSSD and DESE to customize employment issues/options focusing on long term.
•	What qualifications must a student meet in order to receive financial aid for college? (A Yorke)
o	We don’t assist from a financial standpoint. That aspect falls under Vocational Rehabilitation. 
o	We do require that they submit for FASFA, etc.
o	They have to be in a VR program with a chosen direction.
o	We will work with them on assessments to help them to obtain their goal. 
o	Assistance is expanded if a student is receiving vision services but don’t quite meet the progressive condition they can still quality for our assistance. 
•	DJ Butcher – 504?
o	Yes. It is written in IEP, ISP or 504?
•	Related to assistive technology, do you interface with Missouri Assistive Technology? 
o	Yes our clients are getting services from MOAT. 
o	We can get the software, but not the hardware. That’s where MOAT comes in.
•	Trouble recruiting students early?
o	More times than not, we get them later in the schooling process than we like.
o	Data would be an invaluable tool. Dr. Barr noted that DESE can provide data of districts that have students 14-16 that may not be aware of work services being offered by RSB.
o	 I Shadrick will email information related to programs currently being offered statewide.

DESE Update – S. Barr
•	Budget - state: The budgeting process is complete. Special education is essentially flat-funded for this year. We expect the Governor to withhold funds throughout the year to ensure a balanced budget at the end of the year. This typically begins with a 3% expenditure restriction of several state funded programs starting July 1. This process is routine. 
•	Budget - federal: There is an agreed to and passed federal budget. We received approval of the state application for Part B and C funds and our new allocations for the coming year.  
•	State Board of Education/Commissioner – The new Governor immediately made two new appointments to the State Board of Education to allow us to conduct a Board meeting in June, thus meeting the State Constitution requirements. At the June meeting the Board indicated they would delay the process of finding a new Commissioner until all Board vacancies are filled. The Governor signaled on several occasions he hopes to appoint new members by the end of this calendar year.
•	Administrators Conference - The administrator’s conference is hosted by DESE essentially for superintendents and other central office staff. Main areas of interest are finances, accountability and statutory changes. Our Office of Special Education sponsored two presentations based on components of the Missouri Model Districts. Poplar Bluff presented on collaborative team processes and Belton on Assessment Capable Learners. The Governor provided the final presentation to reaffirm his commitment to education and to clarify the focus of his administration will be on infrastructure and economic development—both in disarray.
•	New Director’s Academy - We conducted the annual New Director’s Academy that is intended to help first time Special Education Directors successfully navigate their first several years. The sessions help familiarize new directors with the many resources available to them from DESE, State Operated Programs, MO Assistive Technology, and from organizations such as MOCASE (MO Council of Administrators of Special Education). Emphasis is heavy on finance and compliance.
•	State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report - The SPP/APR is the state report card.  MO electronically submitted its Part B and Part C SPP/APRs to the Office of Special Education Programs in early February. On April 18, we held a clarification call with our OSEP consultant and her supervisor. The call discussed some of the additional information OSEP needed to complete their review of the SP/APR. We made the necessary changes to the documents and filed the changes on April 25. In late June the state results indicated we met requirements with no areas identified for concern. Likewise, the State Systemic Improvement Plan received no request for changes.
•	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.  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—expected to be around 1.09%. Based on our projection, we applied for and received a waiver for this testing year. We conducted a webinar for districts and reviewed participants to ensure those on the list reviewed the webinar.  Using preliminary data, DESE identified and notified districts they were likely to exceed the 1%.  Districts were provided an option of completing required documentation now or waiting until October when data are final. 
•	Significant Disproportionality - In late June, the US Office of Special Education Programs announced they were delaying the implementation of their significant disproportionality regulations for two years. They intend to use this time to review and possibly amend the regulations. The regulation as stated will cause serious financial stress in several areas of the state and redirect many resources. A delay and review is appropriate.  
•	MMD - For the past year, 19 districts piloted district implementation of collaborative works practices. This year we added an additional 50 districts. We conducted a training institute in early June for districts to help them understand and plan for districtwide implementation. We will also pilot districtwide implementation of Positive Behavioral Supports in up to 10 districts.
•	Progress Reviews - The agency is making a good faith effort to improve efficiency and effectiveness. We are repurposing the old staff evaluation process with a continuous improvement process that supports staff working together to solve problems. Problems might be reducing costs of operation, reducing processing time for reports, improving effective monitoring of teaching practices in SOPs, timely responds, etc. Individuals and groups work on an improvement goal and measuring progress toward meeting the goal. Monthly, staffs involved report on their progress and the steps they are taking to improve. Progress posters are public and updated monthly. This process will get staff focused on improving rather than just maintaining. We are in a 6-month trial period.
•	Progress Monitoring of Students at MSB and MSD - Trying to find ways to measure one year’s growth in language arts/reading and math and braille or American Sign Language respectively.

Blind Task Force Membership/Vacancies/Updates – B. Lenz
•	No new members. No new applications.
•	Shari Scott’s term ended in July. She has agreed to a second term.
•	Stacy Hamlet has agreed to a third term.
•	Vacancies currently include
o	Parent representative
o	Public School Principal
o	Employer
o	Students (2)
•	Dr. Barr has made contact with a prospective building principal-administrator. He will follow up. 
•	It was suggested that perhaps we should consider face-time or conference call opportunities. The student’s time away from the classroom and transportation to the meeting is difficult. If we were to consider a conference call option for student reps, what portion of the meeting could be dedicated to giving the student time to participate? 

Subcommittee Updates -
•	Academic and Vocational Services – L. Whitworth
•	Rules – L. Coccovizzo – No report
•	Student Achievement – B. Lenz – No report
•	Children’s Vision Summit – I. Shadrick – Discussion tabled for May meeting.

Current Workshops/Events: B. Lenz
•	Handout given to each member. 

Agenda for next scheduled meeting on Tuesday, August 7, 2018
•	Discuss location options for CVS and preparing a detailed proposal needed for funding consideration to be given to I. Shadrick, RSB
•	Solidify a date for Children’s Vision Summit
•	Discuss the option of face-to-face or conference call arrangements to facilitate student representation and participation in future meeting. 
•	Continue discussion related to Children’s Vision Summit
•	Blind Skills Specialist reporting
•	Discussion of Blind Literacy Report
•	Nominations/Elections
•	Visit to Center for Braille and Narration

Motion to adjourn – L Coccovizzo moved and J Lenk seconded 

Meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m.