BY-LAWS OF THE EXETER-WEST GREENWICH, RHODE ISLAND LOCAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON SPECIAL EDUCATION Article I: Name The name of this panel shall be the Local Advisory Committee on Special Education (LAC). Article II: Functions and ResponsibilitiesThe Local Advisory Committee shall advise the EWG School District on matters concerning the unmet needs of students (RI Reg. 300.150c) and: 1. Serve as advocates in partnership with parents of students with disabilities to ensure that they receive the entitlements provided to them under state and federal laws. 2. Comment on improvement plans including school support plans resulting from Part B compliance reports. 3. Comment publicly on the EWG school districts compliance with state and federal laws pertaining to the education of students with disabilities. 4. Comment on applications for federal and state funds. Article III: Operating Procedures
« The committee will run as a pro-active collaborative partnership between EWG parents, students, educators, administrators, and School Committee members with each participant encouraged to volunteer to perform a variety of roles at any given meeting i.e. timekeeper, recording secretary, etc. • The advisory committee shall meet as often as necessary to conduct its business, but at least 4 (four) times annually. (RI Reg.300.150e) • By July 1st of each year, the leadership team shall submit an annual report of committee activities and suggestions to the Superintendent of Schools. This report must be made available to the public. The contents of this report must also be a collective effort of the advisory committee. Official minutes shall be kept of all committee meetings and be available for public review,
• All committee meetings and agendas shall be publicly announced prior to any meeting. • All meetings shall be open to the public. * The advisory committee members shall serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for reasonable and necessary expenses for attending meetings and performing duties. • All participants of the EWG LAC shall be provided with a copy of the bylaws, and the by-laws will be available at each meeting. A. formal member of the advisory committee is defined as a member who (a) meets the membership criteria and (b) participates in committee meetings or activities. In the event that & formal member does not participate in some manner, it will be the responsibility of the leadership team to contact the formal member to determine his/her interest in serving on the LAC. An attendee is an individual who attends meetings, but has not become a formal member either by choice or because they do not meet the membership criteria. Provided a quorum is in attendance, formal members will make all advisory committee decisions upon a vote. *see voting rights A standing "nomination committee" will be established each October for the upcoming school year. *see nomination committee The "nomination committee" will consist of a School Committee representative, a parent (who is a formal member), a teacher, and an administrator. Individuals will volunteer to participate on the committee. In the event that more than 4 individuals wish to be a part of this committee, a vote will be conducted prior to the conclusion of the October LAC meeting. This vote will be done by formal ballot with the name of the supported nomination committee "candidate" written on a slip of paper. In November, the names of the nomination committee representatives will be announced and published in the minutes. Contact information will be provided as needed. A. Leadership Team; This team shall be composed of no less than (2) two, but no more than 4 (four) parents/legal guardians from the general membership. Leadership opportunities will be open to ail formal advisory committee members who are committees, etc.The leadership team will be responsible for; meeting with the EWG public school administration as needed, preparing the annual report, facilitating meetings, reviewing laws, setting the agenda, and general administrative tasks, etc. As an added responsibility, leadership team members will encourage and foster ail members of the EWG Local Advisory Committee to represent the LAC on other committees, i.e. PTO's, at the building level with principals as a "liaison" contact for the LAC, and in ail other related areas so that individuals can develop strong "pro-active" advocating skills for themselves and to assist others within the district. B. Term of Office: Leadership opportunities will be available to all formal advisory committee members biannually in May with terms to begin the following September. The length of each term will be two years. Leadership team members shall serve no more than 2 consecutive terms (4 years).C. Leadership Team Opportunities: Leadership team opportunities will be announced (a) when an individual of the leadership team resigns and (b) in April prior to May voting. Resignations must be submitted in writing to the remaining leadership team members and to the School Committee representative who is on the nomination committee. Interested formal members must inform a nomination committee representative of their intent to apply. In the event that candidates are not forthcoming, then it will be the responsibility of the nomination committee to seek out candidates. Leadership team members may not participate on the nomination committee. If a member of the leadership team needs to resign at any given point in the year, the open leadership position will: (1) be announced at the next scheduled LAC meeting. (2) at the next LAC meetings, candidates interested in leadership positions will be announced and their name(s) will be listed in those months' minutes. (3) voting for the open position will take place at the next scheduled meeting and the term will begin immediately thereafter. The whole process could take three months. D.Nomination Committee :The nomination committee shall consist of a School Committee representative, a parent (who is a formal member), a teacher, and an administrator. It will be the responsibility of the nomination committee to contact formal member(s) and encourage those members to apply for leadership position(s). Once individual(s) have agreed to be considered for leadership position(s), a member of the nomination committee shall formally announce the individual(s) intent to apply. Article IV: Appointment of Members The School Committee of each local educational or regional special education program shall appoint an Advisory Committee on special education. (RI Reg.300.150a) Membership: The Advisory Committee must be composed of individuals involved in or concerned with the education of children with disabilities. (RI Reg. 300.150b) 1. Parents of students with disabilities shall compose a majority of the committee membership; 2. An individual with a disability; 3. A special education teacher; 4. A general education teacher; team and the LAC body. If the compiaint(s) are validated, then the formal member(s) who submitted the objections may request the removal of one or more of the Leadership Team members. This will be accomplished by ballot vote at the next scheduled LAC meeting. DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE LOCAL AGENCY:(RIReg.300.150d) The local educational agency shall provide support to the committee by contracting for technical assistance services with the Rhode Island designated Parent Training and Technical Assistance agency or other community -based non-profit parent organization. Such technical assistance shall include the role of advisory committees in advocating for children, state, and federal regulations, community resources, strategic planning and development of an annual report to the School Committee. The local educational agency shall also provide school and district improvement plans to the committee for comment and make available appropriate records and data as permitted by law. The public agency shall also support the committee in disseminating information to parents of students regarding the role of the advisory committee, information pertaining to special education and inform the committee of professional development opportunities that are available within the Local Educational Agency (LEA). * The Director of Special Services shall be the Local Educational Agency (LEA) contact person or their assigned designee (unless otherwise specified by the School Committee). This individual shall work proactively and collaborativeiy in partnership the LAC members. PARENT NOTIFICATION OF LOCAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE:(RIReg.300.150g) When a child is referred to special education, each school district special education program shall provide the parents with notification of the existence of the LAC for special education established in compliance with these regulations. The notification shall specify that a majority of the LAC is parents of children with disabilities, and shall inform the parent of how the LAC may be contacted. ARTICLE VII: Review of By-Laws: * By-Laws will be reviewed annually in May of each year by the Leadership Team and the School Committee to ensure that the By-Laws align with the State of Rhode Island Regulations for Elementary and Secondary Education. In the event that revisions are needed to the By-Laws, then a sub-committee will be formed. This committee will consist of members of the Leadership Team, committee members, a School Committee representative, and a special services administrator or designee. The By-Laws sub-committee will be responsible for the review and revision of the By-Laws, as well as presenting the revised By-Laws to the EWG LAC body for approval. Approval of the By-Laws by the LAC body will be done by a majority hand count. Article VIII: Approval and Effective Dates: The by-laws and any subsequent amendment thereto shall become effective the following September upon the approval of the School Committee. • The School Committee shall approve the by-laws of the Advisory Committee, (RIReg.300.150a) School Committee signatures required below: These signatures can be viewed at the Administration Building in the Special Ed offce. |