I am happy to write that our district's on-site monitoring event is complete.  Of course, we have some areas we need to improve upon, but that is to be expected.  The monitoring team from the Office of Exceptional Children (OEC) were very cordial and complimentary.  I wanted to get an idea of how our district compared to other LEAs across South Carolina, so I asked the monitors which quartile our district would fall into with regard to compliance. The response was an emphatic "Top quartile!"   Our department values their feedback and we will work hard to provide training in an effort to improve how we do things.  In summary, we need to make the following corrections with regard to our policies, procedures and forms:  Update our Notice of Procedural Safeguards to include a revised revocation of consent provision, update our Baby Net Procedures, update our notification of parent's right to request additional information if the IEP determines that no additional data is needed, incorporate special education discipline procedures into our department procedures, and consider adopting uniform confidentiality policies and record review logging procedures at school sites.  In regard to IEP development, we need to provide ongoing staff training on the following topics:  drafting present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, drafting measurable annual goals, completing the LRE portion of the IEP (including removal justifications), drafting Prior Written Notice, and developing post-secondary goals and annual goals to assist with transition. 

Since I like to end things on a positive note, the OEC commended our District for:

• Excellent use of the District's website to convey information about policies, procedures and recent news relating to special education;
• Developing an internal monitoring system that identifies and corrects issues of noncompliance and promotes best practices for IEP development;
• Excellent communication with school sites regarding the development and implementation of IEPs;
• Surrogate parent policies that meet regulatory requirements;
• Making District forms available in Spanish;
• Good practices relating to confidentiality of student records and record access at the District level;
• Diligent work in staffing our special services programs with appropriately certified and highly qualified personnel;
• Meaningful parent participation in the IEP process;
• Ensuring required parties participate in the IEP team meetings;
• Adhering to IEP procedures and timelines;
• Considering special factors;
• Disciplining students with disabilities;
• Updating post-secondary goals annually and using age appropriate transition assessments;
• Appropriately documenting transition services and courses of study in the IEP;
• Implementing IEPs as drafted by IEP teams;
• Sending appropriate and timely progress reports;
• Providing general education teachers notice of accommodations and behavior intervention plans; and,
• ]Recording the provision of specialized instruction and related services throughout the District.

I am very proud of our special educators, general education teachers, paraprofessionals, and administrators.  If you read this...THANKS!  You make Oconee County shine!