The Haverhill Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) will hold its first meeting of the new year on Monday, January 10, 2022, at 6 pm online. Registration is required for the Zoom meeting, which will include a Basic Rights Training and a short presentation from Andrew MacKenzie, who works at the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's (DESE) Office of Public School Monitoring.
Please register today.
Attorney Holly Vietzke-Lynch of Holly Lynch Law, LLC has agreed to present the Basic Rights Training and answer questions.
Holly graduated from Boston University and the Massachusetts School of Law, where she worked as a full-time professor for 17 years. Currently, Holly is a member of the North Andover School Committee.
Holly also spent five years serving on the board of North Andover's SEPAC. She is a member of the Council of Parents, Attorneys, and Advocates for Special Education (COPAA) and the Special Education Advocacy Network (SPAN).
She has a deep understanding of the challenges both parents and schools face in special education. As the parent of a child with disabilities, Holly is passionate about ensuring that every child receives a meaningful education.
Registration is required for the free January 10, 2022, Haverhill SEPAC meeting at 6 pm.
Haverhill SEPAC held a Basic Rights Training in Spanish for the first time in Haverhill on January 22, 2019 You can watch the video on the Haverhill SEPAC website (Capacitación en derechos básicos en español).
HPS 'Tiered Focused Monitoring Review'
DESE's MacKenzie, Public School Monitoring chairperson, will speak after the Basic Rights Training. During the week of February 14, 2022, the DESE Office of Public School Monitoring (PSM) will conduct a Tiered Focused Monitoring Review of Haverhill Public Schools. PSM visits each school district and charter school every three years to monitor compliance with federal and state special education and civil rights regulations.
In addition to the onsite visit, parent outreach is an essential part of the review process. The review chairperson from PSM will send all parents, guardians, and caregivers of students with disabilities an online survey that focuses on critical areas of their child's special education program. Survey results will contribute to the development of a report. PSM will interview the district's SEPAC chairperson during the onsite review.
Parents, guardians, and caregivers may call Chairperson MacKenzie at (781) 338-3761 to request a telephone interview. If an individual requires an accommodation, such as translation, to participate in an interview, PSM will make the necessary arrangements.
Sign up for the Haverhill SEPAC newsletter to keep up with meeting announcements and more.
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