ICASE Executive Committee Meeting
Executive Committee Listserv <icaseexecutive@googlegroups.org>
December 11, 2008 Minutes
DOE (Riley Room) -- Indianapolis

(These minutes are considered a draft until approved at the next scheduled meeting.)

MEMBERS PRESENT: Lynn Gosser (President), Vendetta Gutshall (President-elect), Pam Wright (Past-President), Denise Bashore (Treasurer), Gary Collings (Secretary), Larry Bass (SW), Margie Labelle (C), Bev Garrison (SE), Jan Dunham (E), Mary Jo Sartorius (NE), Pam von Rahl (NW), Cheryl Harshman (NC), Steve Wornhoff (Membership and Fiscal), Patti Kem (Professional Development), Joan McCormick (Legislative and Research)

MEMBERS ABSENT: None

OTHERS PRESENT: Karen Goehl (ISU Blumberg Center), Nancy Zemaitis (CEL)

I. APPROVALS

A. Minutes – Lynn Gosser called the meeting to order and requested a motion to approve the November 20, 2008 minutes. MOTION: Mary Beth Hamilton moved to approve the November 20, 2008 minutes as presented. After a second by Margie Labelle, the motion carried.

B. Treasurer’s Report and Claim Docket – Denise Bashore distributed the Profit/Loss Statement as of November 30, 2008 showing a Profit of $5,148.99. The November 1 -- 30, 2008 docket was presented in the amount of $5,794.15. The 2008 Fall Conference showed a loss of <$14,534.73>. Members discussed that the conference costs were higher and several in-kind offsets were allowed to keep the registration fees lower. As a not-for-profit organization the spend-down of funds to offset this anticipated shortfall was considered acceptable by the members.

MOTION: Joan McCormick moved to accept the November 1 - 30, 2008 Treasurer’s Report and Docket as presented. After a second by Jan Dunham, the motion was approved.

Besides the $10,200 held by CASE after paying three 2008 scholarships, the cash balance in the Scholarship Fund is $3,015.98. Denise distributed the new expense claim report, which will be placed on the ICASE website www.icase.org.

Denise presented initial duties of a Deputy Treasurer to include preparation, distribution, and maintenance of membership cards as well as the preparation of ballots and envelopes marked for each voting member.

II. Center Report – Nancy Zemaitis announced the names of four new members of the Monitoring team, which will require a re-assignment of contacts. She is working on a timeline for a cycle of monitoring. Nancy reviewed the December 12 letter to superintendents and directors from Bob Marra regarding monitoring results. The purpose of the letter is to notify school corporations of their results for compliance indicators 9, 10, 11, 12, and 13 during School Year 2007-08.

The final column in the report indicates items to be addressed in the corrective action plans due by January 19th. OSERS does not require a full year of data, but a time block of data will suffice. The selected time block was January through March 31st.

If a corporation’s current practices are verified as compliant in April, the corporation will be released from the findings of the last two years (2006-07 and 2007-08). In regard to Indicator 13, Teresa Grossi will train a cadre of reviewers in April on Transition compliance through ISTART 7 data with IEP verification.

Members discussed disproportionality including the multi-racial requirement of our General Assembly. A two-day summit with new school corporation teams will be scheduled after March 2009.

III. EXECUTIVE STANDING COMMITTEE REPORTS

A. Legislative and Research Committee – Joan McCormick recommended moving the Legislative Breakfast to February 25 (Wednesday) but later learned the State House lobby would not be available. Kelli Waggoner later notified Joan there was no date the week of February during the Spring Conference that would work due to the legislators’ pending recess.

Although the Legislative Breakfast will not be held due to the conflicts, the members of the ICASE Legislative Committee will attend the first session day on January 7th. Joan proposed the following talking points: (1) the growth model, ISTEP, assessment, etc., (2) early intervention and its implications for all students, and (3) the bill to be drafted to move certification of educational interpreters from FSSA to DOE. Although the legislative committee will not propose any SLP licensure changes this session, Joan said the provisions for language impairments in Article 7 have implications for the work scope of SLPs.

Joan reported directors are only mentioned in the statute for February 1 dismissal notices along with superintendents and principals. After considerable discussion of the regulatory (Article 7) absence of the requirement for a licensed director, Joan offered to meet with Shawn Sriver to discuss statutory provisions for licensing of District Administrators with implications for Directors of Exceptional Needs. Joan distributed the December 1 memo to hearing officers and mediators from Kevin McDowell regarding highlights of the final regulations for IDEA.

B. Membership and Fiscal Management Committee – Steve Wornhoff commented the membership list distributed by Denise today is a baseline paper copy. Denise said she will e-mail updates in the future from which RT representatives can print their respective membership reports as desired.

Lynn Gosser suggested members who have not paid their dues, for example, by December 15th, should not be eligible to chair committees. Steve responded his committee would make a recommendation for a deadline for dues payment.

Steve commented the full committee will meet at his office on January 14th to begin discussion of long range planning with subcommittee sessions. Jan Dunham reported Tammy Mahon will replace her as the East representative on the Membership Committee. Lynn proposed a coordinating committee to sort out the duties of the subcommittees. Vendetta passed out a CASE handout for unit development.

C. Professional Development Committee – Patti Kem reported the next ICASE conference will be held on February 25-27, 2009 at the Crowne Plaza/Union Station in downtown Indianapolis.  The Crowne Plaza offers some unique features in accommodations including sleeper cars!  In order to make room reservations, contact the hotel at 317-631-2221. The cutoff date for reservations at the ICASE rate is Tuesday, January 27, 2009.  ICASE has reserved a block of rooms.  Be sure to mention ICASE when making the reservation to ensure the conference rates.  Rates do not include tax. 

On Wednesday, February 25th a session for new Directors of Special Education and other new special education administrators will be available.  We plan to have speakers on several areas including budgets and grants, alternative and residential services, and projects supported through the Center for Exceptional Learners.  There will also be a Welcome Reception on Wednesday evening along with early registration.

On the morning of Thursday, February 26th, our keynote speaker will be Lucille Eber from Illinois.  There will also be breakout sessions on both Thursday afternoon and again on Friday morning. 

One of the features of the February conference has traditionally been the Silent Auction of Baskets to benefit the ICASE Scholarship. The Professional Development Committee’s suggestion would be that each district donate a basket so we have many from which to choose. Some districts are very small so joining with others might be an option, as well. We are asking the value of the baskets be kept at a level between $40.00 and $75.00 so the prices can be affordable for our membership. 

The 2009 Fall Conference dates will likely be moved to September 30 through October 2 due to the availability of the Marriott North at Keystone at the Crossing in Indianapolis.

Roundtable Topical Proposals – MOTION: Mary Beth Hamilton moved to use the Northeast Roundtable funds for its retreat (Leading in Times of Change) at Potawatomi Inn at Pokagon State Park. After a second by Vendetta Gutshall, the motion was approved.

MOTION: Margie Labelle moved to use the Central Roundtable funds for its January retreat at Culver Cove. After a second by Pam Wright, the motion was approved.

MOTION: Cheryl Harshman moved to use approximately $1,000 of the North Central Roundtable funds for its January retreat focused on school psychologists. After a second by Bev Garrison, the motion was approved. Cheryl commented North Central is also considering a topical to be conducted by Bakers & Daniels about time-out, restraints, constraints, etc.

IV. SPECIAL COMMITTEE REPORTS
Nominating – Pam Wright, chair of the Nomination Committee composed of elected representatives from each Roundtable, said it met on December 3rd to fill the President-elect position and the first three-year term for Treasurer under the new Constitution. A nomination form has been sent to the membership through the listserv. The committee will meet again on January 22.

V. SUPPORTING THE MEMBERSHIP
A. Identifying and Addressing Membership Needs
1. SLP Task Force Update – Pam Wright said she has met with Deb Harmon and the two of them have agreed to keep the task force on track. ISU has expressed interest in an “evening” program. BSU is reportedly investigating distance education options.

Pam noted the need for CEL to designate a lead person for this task force. Joan said Bob Marra would be meeting with her, Tom, Vendetta, and Lynn to discuss capacity building issues. Patti Kem recommended Colleen Reader (GLASS) as a presenter who is well versed in the changing role of speech pathologists. Colleen’s e-mail is creader@lsc.k12.in.us.

Support for New Directors – On February 25th a session for new Directors of Special Education and other new special education administrators will be available at the Spring Conference.

RtI Task Force – The RtI website < www.doe.in.gov/indiana-rti > is available through the DOE website, which is being re-formatted. The RtI core state team recently met in Chicago and had a follow-up strategic planning session on December 1 and 2 in Plainfield. Pam Wright said she will forward the notes of the December meeting from Tara Rinehart to the Executive Committee. The expanded RtI task force reportedly will meet in 2009 on a date yet to be determined.

B. Improving/Facilitating Communication

Roundtable Reports – Central (Labelle) is finalizing its retreat plans as well as making future plans with Roger Harvey (former news reporter) about media relations. Northwest (von Rahl) met last week to compare various experiences with monitoring, TEACH training, and set a date in January for training of school psychologists on assessment. Southwest (Bass) will meet next week to discuss policies and procedures.

Revision of Live, Learn, Work, Play – Becky Bowman is revising this document and has requested input from the roundtables.

Article 7 Collaborative Training Work Group – Lynn Gosser reported this group is now preparing powerpoints.

VI. PROMOTING/ADVANCING THE ORGANIZATION
A. Examining Organizational Structure
1. Summit of Education Administration Associations – Lynn Gosser remarked at the November 2008 meeting this item has been indefinitely tabled.

B. Strengthening National Connections

CASE Membership/Executive Committee Updates – No report.

CEC/CASE Board of Directors Meeting at Seattle (April 1 – 4, 2009) – Pam Wright offered to coordinate a bulk registration for the attending ICASE representatives.

Midwest Educational Leadership Conference (June 22 – 24, 2009) at Breckenridge -- Gary Collings requested ICASE pay $500 as a sponsorship stipend in support of Indiana’s involvement in this annual leadership conference. MOTION: Vendetta Gutshall moved to pay $500 as a sponsorship stipend for the Midwest Educational Leadership Conference. After a second by Margie Labelle, the motion was approved.

C. Promoting State Partnerships – Members agreed roles and expectations should be discussed at a future meeting.

1. Liaisons – No reports

2. Appointees – No reports

VII. OTHER BUSINESS – Karen Goehl (ISU Blumberg Center) updated members on Project Vision, which provides both pre-service and in-service for teachers of students with visual impairments. The 2009 cohort is the 6th group of new VI teachers to be trained.

Karen also briefed members on her long-standing involvement with the Educational Interpreter Task Force, which has been a component of the Deaf-Blind Project since 2004. The current rule expires July 1, 2010 after which newly employed interpreters must hold a bachelor’s degree along with more stringent requirements. In March 2008 ICASE asked Bob Marra to form a committee to recommend alternative options for certifying educational interpreters. During the same time period, the Task Force petitioned Dr. Reed for her support of a proposal modeled after the High Objective Uniform State Standard of Evaluation (HOUSSE) tied to the Indiana Standards for Interpreters and Transliterators in Education (IN-SITE). Karen offered to send the background documents to Lynn to be distributed to the Executive Committee. In addition, the Task Force has proposed training candidates in the Educational Interpreters Performance Assessment as the most direct way for interpreters to become certified.

VIII. NEXT MEETING: January 15, 2009 at the DOE (Riley Room)