MAASE Urban Community of Practice 12/10/13 Minutes

Present: J. McDougal, K. Magin, L. Abbott-Smith, M. Alwardt, K. Fortino, L. Nzoma, Toni Clover, Melinda Carroll, Ilene Dauley Districts Represented: Lansing Schools, Saginaw Public Schools, National Heritage Academie, Detroit Public Schools, Education Achievement Agency, and Muskegon Area ISD

Do we need a definition? o It was determined we do not need to have a definition of Urban o Anyone is welcome to join, even if they do not meet all the descriptors

Discipline (Muskegon)  Stepped up manpower  Built relationships with other organizations: o Department of Human Services o Wrap a Round o Community Mental Health o Youth Assistance Detroit o Got involved with Student Code Office o Trained principals o 13 MiBLSi schools- data better than rest of district because behavior interventions embedded in program o Asked special education teachers to volunteer as screeners o Teachers would work with administrators in building o Help with tracking and putting data in system o Track suspensions monthly, by building o Bring back to staff routinely

There are some students who are not able to enter a traditional educational setting o We need to look for alternative education settings, and/or o Make an effort to run programs for students who have been expelled

Staff and Male Mentoring o There is not enough African American representation in Special Education Administration o There is a need for male mentoring programs at the elementary level o Mentoring programs at Middle School and High School levels a must

Most districts having the same problems: There is a framework of poverty and suspensions lead to dropout.

Some districts hit with dispro multiple times o Data reporting is an issue o State gives information about S&E, but no solutions or strategies o Suspension and expulsion not just a special education problem o Determine which suspensions are gang-related

 Cultural Competency Training for staff o Problem paying for subs o Getting staff to different locations

 Financial Plights o Structural financial issues o ISD’s funnel money out differently o What is the rule re: funding formulas? o How do we, as districts, distribute funding? o Is money based on costs- per district?

 What can we take to MAASE? o There is no appeal process with MDE o Special education being impacted by general education problem o Put letter together to send to state (Must get MAASE’s blessing on it): a. Urban schools being blamed for something they didn’t create b. State doesn’t support urban schools

Continuation: The group agreed that the Urban CoP should band together to tell our story. We need to talk to each other and find out what works, specifically, what have other districts done to improve significant dispro.

It was initially thought that we must make an effort to get MDE to the table to hear our issues and fight for funding. But, it was determined that we need to find solutions to our problems before we include them.

The group decided we should: o Have a monthly phone conference (First Monday of each Month at 4:00) o Hold a one-day symposium to address a pressing issue- bring in speaker o Encourage other districts to participate- Detroit, Flint, Saginaw, Pontiac (Saginaw and Detroit were at the table) o Choose one issue to tackle each MAASE meeting o Continue to meet Tuesday of MAASE conference at 7:45 am

Meeting was adjourned at 8:45 am.