SPECIAL EDUCATION
20.1. Special Day Classes
20.1.1. No Special Day Class teacher shall be assigned any student
whose handicaps require instructional services, as
determined by the I.E.P. team, other than those for which the
unit member is credentialed and qualified through training or
experience to provide.
20.2. Resource Specialist Service
20.2.1. The Resource Specialist component of Special Education shall be implemented as follows:
20.2.1.1. Selection
20.2.1.1.1. Applicants for the position of Resource Specialist who are currently employed in the District shall be given preference over outside candidates where the applicants have been determined by the selection process to be equally qualified. Representatives of the general education classroom unit members and other support certificated staff shall be involved in the selection process for the Resource Specialist(s), provided volunteers are available within three (3) workdays.
20.2.2. Allocation
20.2.2.1. Resource Specialists shall be allocated in accordance with E.C. §56000 et seq. However, no school shall have less than one (1) half-time Resource Specialist. Should it become necessary to assign one (1) Resource Specialist to two (2) sites, the assignment shall be filled first by volunteers, or, if there are none, in accordance with the Transfer provisions of this Agreement. If a Resource Specialist’s full-time position is restored at his/her original site within the same year as he/she was assigned to multiple sites, he/she shall be entitled to return to the full-time position at the original site.
20.2.3. Coordination
20.2.3.1. Implementation of an I.E.P. within a general education classroom unit member's classroom shall be done under the direction of the classroom unit member in coordination with the Resource Specialist and the I.E.P. team.
20.3. Individual Education Program Scheduling
20.3.1. Meetings for the preparation or review of any I.E.P., or revision of I.E.P., shall be held at a time mutually agreed upon by the required I.E.P. team members which includes the parent. Effort will be made to schedule such meetings during the regular work day of the unit members.
20.4. Assistant Services to Special Education Teachers
20.4.1. Each Resource Specialist with a caseload, as defined in §6.3, Class Size and Caseloads for Special Education, at more than one (1) site shall be allocated assistant services at each site served, not necessarily on a full-time basis.
20.4.2. Each Special Education teacher utilizing the services of one (1) or more assistant(s) shall, at his/her request, insofar as is practicable, participate in an advisory capacity with the appropriate administrator in the selection of the assistant(s) to serve in said unit member's class.
20.4.3. Special Education teachers shall be responsible for providing leadership and direction to assistants assigned to them in matters related to the classroom, insofar as such direction is not in conflict with that of the principal or program administrator.
20.4.4. Each unit member utilizing the services of an assistant may submit annually a written assessment of assistant services in his/her classroom and make recommendations for appropriate training and/or inservice to the supervising administrator. Incorporation of such assessment into the formal evaluation of the assistant shall be at the discretion of the supervising administrator.
20.5. Extended Year Program
20.5.1. Unit members employed full time in Extended Year Summer
Program for Special Education shall be paid in accordance
with the summer school program as specified in Article
14, §14.9.2.
20.5.2. Anticipated extended year summer school vacancies shall
be posted at each school no later than April 15. The
selection process for extended year positions shall be in
accord with Article 26, Summer School.
20.5.3. Tentative extended year summer school assignments shall
be made no later than May 15.
20.5.4. Notification of assignment to extended year summer school
shall be in writing and shall include the tentative location of
the assignment.
20.5.5. No unit member shall be required to teach extended year summer school. However, once a unit member agrees to teach extended year, the District shall not cancel that employment unless actual student participation is insufficient to maintain a class size average of eleven (11) based on a student census taken no later than the fifth instructional day.
20.5.6. No employment shall be canceled after the fifth instructional day. If a unit member's employment is canceled during the first five (5) work days, or the first six (6) work days where the first five (5) instructional days are preceded by a work day, the unit member shall be paid for each day worked plus one (1) additional day.
20.6 504 Process
20.6.1 The District shall provide and distribute to all unit members a District developed handbook on procedures associated with the 504 process.