Deer Creek Special Services Scoop

The end of the school year is approaching quickly, and with it comes the crucial task of transferring all necessary records from one site to another. To ensure everything is organized and accounted for, please use the Transfer of Records form to document all the records that will be transferred. Once you have completed the form, please place all the records in a box that is clearly marked with the sending site information, including the completed Transfer of Records form.

If a student is no longer enrolled in Deer Creek, please keep their hard file at your site. This does not include new high school graduates. Please send files for new high school graduates to the administration office.

Thank you to everyone who submitted student profile sheets for ESY. Please remember to email Tracy Blankenship if you need to make changes to a student profile sheet or if a student will no longer attend.

The Special Services administration team is currently organizing the totes for site delivery. Each student attending ESY should have a tote that contains specific materials aligned with their ESY goals. These materials may include packets, manipulatives, assistive technology, login information for apps/websites, and any other resources the ESY teacher will need to support your student. It's also important to include each student's IEP-At-A_Glance/ESY goals, Behavior Intervention Plan (if applicable), and data supporting the need for ESY (spreadsheet or document) in the tote.

If you are interested in working ESY and haven't completed the ESY Staffing form, please do that as soon as possible. Please share this form with your paraprofessionals who might be interested. We still need at least three teachers (two elementary and one secondary) and seven paraprofessionals to support our students during ESY.

There have been some recent inquiries regarding door-to-door transportation and field trip requests for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). If you have students who require door-to-door transportation as a related service in their IEP and have specific accommodations, such as a seatbelt, five-point harness, or car seat, a bus with these accommodations must be reserved for field trips.

If your student does not require special accommodations that can only be provided through door-to-door services, or if a parent believes that the student does not require this support while attending a field trip, document this change on the student's IEP and a Written Notice. Also, please update the Transportation Google Doc whenever any changes are made.

The next PSG meeting will occur May 21, 2024 at the DCTC from 6:00 -7:00pm. Please share this information with parents.

Also, don't forget, the PSG has requested a wishlist from each special education teacher in Deer Creek. The wishlists will be added to the PSG agendas so that parents have access to the information to provide support. If you haven't already, please complete the Classroom Wishlist Google Form.

Deer Creek Hosted Trainings

The link for Deer Creek Special Services led trainings can be found here. Location of the trainings will be updated as we get closer to the training date.

May 23 - All Day - Come and Go: We appreciate you! Swing by the administration building and pick up a snack before Summer Break

• Snacks will be located in Dr. Blankenship's office
• Teacher? I prefer the term educational rockstar!

OSDE and Partner Provided Trainings

Revised Oklahoma Special Education Policies and Procedures Manual Public Comment

The first draft of the Revised Oklahoma Special Education Policies and Procedures Manual has been developed for public review and comment prior to the final draft being submitted to the Oklahoma State Board of Education. All newly revised additional language is identified by yellow highlights and eliminated language is identified by strikethrough notations.

To easily find the revised language, use the steps below:

1. Open Find (CTRL+F)
2. Arrow down to Advance Find
3. Select More
4. Select Format
5. Select Highlight
6. Now you can select Find Next to navigate the document to the highlighted edits.

Any interested party is invited to submit written comments to the Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services, 2500 North Lincoln Boulevard, Suite 412, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105-4599 or through email to Abby Johnson (abby.johnson@sde.ok.gov) with “Public Comment” clearly noted in the subject line. All comments should cite the applicable chapter and page number of the draft manual. All written comments must be received no later than Friday, May 31, 2024.

Feedback Opportunities: Alternate Diploma Collaborative and Lessons Learned & Future Focus

Information from these two short surveys will be used to plan for future Alternate Diploma Collaborative activities. Please take this opportunity and spend a few minutes to provide feedback to guide the future of the Alternate Diploma Collaborative (Zoom) meetings and to share your district’s Lessons Learned and Future Focus related to the implementation of the Alternate Diploma and 18-22 Extended Transition Programs/Programming/Services. Some information gleaned from the Lessons Learned & Future Focus survey will be shared at the final Alternate Diploma Collaborative on May 23, 2024. Thank you in advance for you time and valuable feedback!!!

Alternate Diploma Collaborative

The Oklahoma State Department of Education, Office of Special Education Services will continue to hold Secondary Transition/Alternate Diploma Collaborative meetings monthly beginning in August.

Zoom meetings will typically be held on the 4th Thursday of each month at 3:00 p.m., except for holidays/school vacation weeks.

The schedule of monthly sessions and known topics are listed below:​​​

• Alternate Diploma Collaborative Feedback.
• Share feedback for Alternate Diploma & 18-22 ETPs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus.

The schedule of monthly sessions and known topics are listed below:​

• • May 23, 2024 @ 3:00 p.m.
    • Alternate Diploma & 18-22 Extended Transition Programs: Lessons Learned & Future Focus – OSDE-SES, Districts & Transition Partners

Join us via Zoom for all sessions scheduled.

Meeting ID: 160 702 2023

Passcode: 393839

SERC Wisdom Wednesday Webinars

“You Can’t Make Me:” Strategies for Meeting the Needs of Students with Oppositional Defiance Disorder - With Dr. Beverly Johns, Learning and Behavior Consultant

Register for the May 15 webinar.

Micro-Credential Scholarship

Cameron University is offering a graduate courses that qualify for a $500.00 Micro-Credential Scholarship.

• Children & Youth: Special Needs (Boot Camp)
• Instructional Strategies for Students with Mild/Moderate Disabilities
• Advanced Assessment in Special Education
• Historical and Modern Foundations
• Practicum in Mild/Moderate Special Education
• Foundations of Literacy

Classes begin on May 22nd! For more information about the scholarship, please see our Cameron University Micro-Credential Flyer.

2024 OKMTSS Summer Conference

The Oklahoma State Department of Education, the State Personnel Development Grant, Project AWARE, the State Systemic Improvement Plan- B, and other collaborating offices, are hosting the MTSS Summer Conference. The intent of this conference is to support educators in a focused approach to align and implement an MTSS systems. The conference is not intended to only consist of background knowledge but to provide actionable steps and information to implement high-quality implementations for all students.

When:

Pre-Conference- June 24th; 12:30-4:30pm

• Learn the MTSS Frameworks
• Pyramid Model
• Resources

Main Conference- June 25-26; 8:00-4:30pm

• Keynote Session- OKMTSS on EDPlan
• Breakout groups
• Networking/Connection Sessions

*OPTIONAL* Virtual Conference- June 25-26; 8:00-4:30pm

• Live webinar style sessions
• Virtual Engagement

Register your MTSS teams today! Registration is limited! Participants attending the in-person conference will leave the conference with ongoing conference materials! We look forward to connecting with you!

For more information about this conference, please reach out to Alexa Hudak.