Meeting of the Board of Regents | April 2010

Report of

REGENTS VESID COMMITTEE

to

The Board of Regents

April 19, 2010

Your VESID Committee held its scheduled meeting on April 19, 2010.   All

members were present with the exception of Regent Tilles who was excused.  Regent Bottar chaired the meeting in Regent Tilles’ absence.  Chancellor Tisch, Chancellor-Emeritus Bennett, Regents Phillips, Tallon, Brooks Hopkins, Young and Commissioner Steiner, Senior Deputy King also attended.                                     

MATTERS NOT REQUIRING BOARD ACTION

              Deputy Commissioner Cort presented results on some of the key outcome measures for students with disabilities from the 2008-09 school year and described targeted improvement actions VESID is taking to address these results.  Discussion focused on participation and performance on state assessments, regents examination results, exiting data: graduation and dropout results, timely evaluations of students for special education services, transition of children from early intervention to preschool special education, transition planning and suspension rates for students with disabilities. (VESID (D) 1) 

              Deputy Commissioner Cort presented cost-containment recommendations relating to special education to the Committee for their consideration to determine if there is support to advance proposals that would not diminish a district’s responsibility to provide a free appropriate public education for all students with disabilities.  Recommendations were related to certain requirements pertaining to: regulating New York’s continuum of service for special education, the distribution of copies of the IEP, the statute of limitations for bringing due process appeals, and Commissioner’s appointments of students to State Supported and State Operated Schools.  The Regents affirmed Department staff moving forward with the process for seeking stakeholders comment. (VESID (D) 2)

          That concludes our report.