What is EBD? EBD at Laurelhurst

AN OVERVIEW OF THE PRESENTATION AND Q&A W ITH WAYNE HERZOG, SEATTLE SCHOOL DISTRICT SPECIAL EDUCATION COORDINATOR OF EBD SERVICES Laurelhurst PTA General Membership Meeting February 27, 2014 The PTA is grateful to Mr. Herzog for meeting with us regarding the Special Education program at Laurelhurst. He spent nearly two hours providing an overview and answering many questions. What we offer here is a high-‐level summary of the discussion. What is EBD? EBD stands for Emotional/Behavioral Disability. The legal definition for EBD, and an explanation of how a child with this diagnosis qualifies for Special Education as outlined by Washington state law (WAC 392-‐172A-‐01035) is summarized as follows: Emotional/behavioral disability exists when the student exhibits one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects a student's educational performance: (A) an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; (B) An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; (C) Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances; (D) A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or,(E) A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems. A child will qualify for special education when it is determined that the child’s disability is having an adverse impact in his/her education that cannot be addressed through general education, and it is believed that the issues can be addressed with specially designed instruction, accommodations and supports. EBD at Laurelhurst Mr. Herzog spoke at length about the program at Laurelhurst, his plans for training for both the Special Ed teachers and all staff in the building, and their goals for building a successful program based on evidence-‐based models. He acknowledged that they have not been doing good work. There are many challenges and flaws in the district’s delivery of special education services evident in programs throughout the district, including ours. It is his goal to put the EBD programs back on track, with consistency through out the district, but admitted this is a work in progress that may take as long as 3-‐5 years. He addressed parents’ concerns regarding safety for all in the building, communication and transparency with the community, what the problems have been so far, and what they’re doing to address those. Below are some bullets summarizing questions and topics raised in the discussion: • How is EBD placed in schools? The district currently has EBD programs in every region at Elementary, Middle and High schools. Based on space availability, Laurelhurst received the NE Region’s EBD program for K-‐2 students starting last year, and this year has 2 classes, K-‐2 and 3-‐5. The maximum number of students per class is 10 students, with 1 teacher and 2 instructional aides. Laurelhurst currently has 2 Special Ed teachers and 4 aides between the two classes, servicing 17 students. The classrooms are first populated with children from the region. However, if there is room, children from other regions will be enrolled in our school. The current location of the EBD classes at Laurelhurst will be part of upcoming discussions with the staff and district leaders. Training: Mr. Herzog outlined plans for training. He himself is the newly appointed coordinator for EBD services for the district (since January). In the next few weeks an EBD specialist from the University of Washington, Doug Cheney, Ph.D, will be visiting Laurelhurst’s program to consult, observe and make recommendations. A broader team of specialists will be helping to establish a district-‐wide EBD model in the coming months, with training to follow this summer. Part of that training will emphasize how to recognize signs of anxiety in students and provide de-‐escalation techniques. Mr. Herzog pointed out that we have Special Ed teachers who are incredibly committed, though he also acknowledged that they need more training and are at risk of burnout. Safety: Mr. Herzog stressed that training is critical. The main goal is to train staff to recognize signs of rising anxiety/agitation in a child and to know how to reduce the anxiety (de-‐escalation) to keep that child and everyone else nearby safe. EBD experts will also be working with our staff on setting goals for each child, tracking progress, meeting/discussing what is working and what is not and what the staff needs to do differently to help a child succeed. He stated that a student losing control is not the child’s fault, but a symptom of his/her disability and needs to be addressed properly in the student’s educational program. Principal Jolly also needs to hear from anyone who observes an unsafe situation or has concerns about safety. • Communication: Many expressed a lack of awareness about the Special Ed Program, and would like to see more opportunities for parents, volunteers and all students to have better guidance on safety, key staff members to go to and good practices to ensure greater success and confidence for all students. •
What can we do to help make the EBD program successful at Laurelhurst? Mr. Herzog acknowledged that a lot has been put on our Principal’s plate with little additional support. He is giving us appropriate contacts in Special Ed and District administration to advocate for the support and resources needed. He also expressed appreciation for the parent turnout at the meeting and the support parents were willing to give to make the program a success at Laurelhurst. He wants our community to hold them accountable for delivering on needed changes. Next Steps •
• Follow-‐Up: Mr. Herzog will make connections with other programs to help us with communication/integration. •
Task Force creation: Jill Geary, Laurelhurst PTA School Board Liaison and Laurelhurst Representative to the District’s Special Education PTSA will be gathering a group of parents and staff to discuss issues raised at the meeting and advocate for needed resources, support and communication. Jill can be reached at [email protected] Contacts: Questions, concerns and feedback can be directed to the following individuals at the Seattle School District: o Kathy Jolly, Laurelhurst Principal: [email protected] o Wayne Herzog, Coordinator of EBD Services: [email protected] o Sherry Studley, NE Regional Supervisor for Special Education: [email protected] o Zakiyyah McWilliams, Executive Director of Special Education: [email protected] o Kim Whitworth, Executive Director of Schools, NE Region: [email protected] Video of Presentation: If you’d like further details, click on the attached link for a video recording of Mr. Herzog’s presentation: • http://tinyurl.com/herzoglaurelhurst

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