Provision of Required Special Education. The State shall provide all eligible youth confined at the facility special education services as required by the XXXX, 00 X.X.X. §0000 et seq., and regulations promulgated thereunder.
Provision of Required Special Education. The Court shall provide all eligible youth confined at the facility special education services as required by the IDEA, §§ 1400-1490, and regulations promulgated thereunder. The Court understands that an adequate number of special education teachers is an essential prerequisite to providing appropriate special education services.
Provision of Required Special Education. The State shall provide all eligible youth confined at the facility special education services as required by the IDEA, 20 U.S.C. §1400 et seq., and regulations promulgated thereunder. Compliance Rating Partial Compliance Discussion During this reporting period, MSDE took a number of steps to respond to concerns noted in the First Monitors’ Report. In addition to appointing a principal, new staff at BCJJC included a special education lead teacher and a transition specialist. The school has also experimented with a new schedule that xxxxxxxx the class times for youth in detention and those pending placement. The schedule also makes more effective use of the gymnasium and frees up additional time for the lead teacher to assist the principal in managing the school. The school now has a timeout room that is staffed part-time by an instructional assistant. In response to concerns about safety and the need for greater collaboration between school staff and direct care staff, MSDE and DJS have conducted two joint training activities designed to deescalate potential student behavior problems. De-escalation training was provided by the Department of Juvenile Services; an outside vendor provided “RAP” training. The joint training also provided an opportunity for school staff and unit staff to use common language and techniques in working with students. An outgrowth of the training has been weekly meetings between the superintendent and representative DJS staff and representative school staff. MSDE and DJS have also been working to develop a unified system of assigning students points for appropriate behavior. Related to this and the joint training have been efforts to clarify a uniform set of classroom expectations for students and staff. MSDE temporarily assigned several staff from the Xxxxxx School to assist BCJJC staff in organizing intake and records management. Review of residential services logbook kept by DJS staff in the school indicates that in general, more units are getting youth to school on time than was the case during earlier site visits though problems remain. For example, on March 27, 2008, the log book indicates “No first period class. Not enough teachers.” and “No afternoon class for unit #32 and 33. No teacher available.” On April 24, the log book notes, “Unit 41 and 43 are not in education due to staff shortage in detention.” DJS staff has begun moving units to school at 8:15 am and a number of units are regularly in class and ready to begin sch...
Provision of Required Special Education. The State shall provide all eligible youth confined at the facilities special education services as required by the IDEA, 20 U.S.C. 1400‐1490, and regulations promulgated thereunder, and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 794, and regulations promulgated thereunder. Status Xxxxxx School Substantial Compliance (as of June 30, 2008) Cheltenham Youth Facility Substantial Compliance (as of December 31, 2007) Discussion Compliance with the provision is dependent upon the facilities achieving compliance with all other provisions in this section of the Memorandum. The State achieved compliance with this provision during the last reporting period. The education monitor made an unannounced site visit on June 5, 2008. The concerns noted in the preliminary draft of the sixth report had been addressed. See the discussion under III.F.v. Individualized Education Programs, below. Recommendations Cheltenham has been in substantial compliance with this provision for approximately 6 months, beginning December 31, 2007. Xxxxxx is in substantial compliance with this provision as of June 30, 2008. It is recommended that: 1. MSDE and DJS education staff are encouraged to meet regularly to discuss areas of concerns related to the education program. The DJS Office of Quality Assurance and Accountability and MSDE are encouraged to independently monitor the special education programs compliance with agency standards and State and Federal law, particularly at the Xxxxxx School. Evidentiary Basis Site visits to Xxxxxx School (5/5, 5/7, 6/5) and Cheltenham Youth Facility (4/23, 4/25); review of documents; interviews with students and staff.
Provision of Required Special Education. The State shall provide all eligible youth confined at the facility special education services as required by the IDEA, 20 U.S.C. §1400 et seq., and regulations promulgated thereunder. Compliance Rating Partial Compliance Discussion Special education services have experienced tremendous growth at BCJJC during the nearly two years of the Agreement. Among other things, MSDE and DJS have collaborated to create additional classroom space, coordinate training activities, schedule bi-weekly meetings, and hold daily briefings. The Monitor observed high levels of student engagement in several classes he visited during this reporting period. Problems noted in earlier reports including inadequate screening and identification have been addressed and the school at BCJJC does an effective job of managing the intake of a large number of students and their school records. Other notable events during this period include a team-building workshop conducted by MSDE for teachers and support staff in February. The focus of the meeting was developing ways for teachers to connect with their students. The school also conducted two special activities that involved bringing community resources inside the facility. “Winterfest,” held in December, enabled students to meet with representatives from agencies and programs who may be useful to them following their return to the community. In April, “Careers Day” enabled a number of students from BCJJC to meet with representatives from Baltimore City Community College to discuss post-secondary education opportunities. Another positive development has been the convening of a daily “morning meeting” between MSDE and DJS staff to review the status of each unit, review any scheduling changes, and address emerging problems. Representatives of the school and DJS leadership team also meet on a bi-weekly basis to review operations as they pertain to the school. During this reporting period, MDSE and DJS leadership staff jointly traveled to the Xxxxxx School in Wilmington, Delaware to observe a state-operated juvenile correctional facility that at one time, experienced some of the same challenges to providing education and special education services as BCJJC. Leadership staff reported that they plan to make a similar visit to the Fairfax County Juvenile Detention Center in Virginia. For the first time since BCJJC opened in the fall of 2003, there now appears to be sufficient classroom space for the approximately 120 youth detained at the facility....
