April 2, 2020 SEPAG Meeting

Minutes taken by Lisa Walter

SEPAG Meeting via Zoom 4 in attendance

1. SEPAG reps met with J Abramovich to share the major SEPAG concerns.

   1. Talked about aides – District changing job requirements, inc.:

      1. requiring a Praxis text

      2. going salary based instead of hourly

• trying to ensure aides are stationed in one spot instead of moving around each day

1. Discussed how discouraging it was that the district stopped attending our meetings. District claimed the decision was based on discussions with other districts and what they do as far as meeting with SEPAGs quarterly.

   1. In future meetings, issues should be emailed to district for more immediate action and/or responses

   2. Accountability for turning issues into action items and when we can expect them to be dealt with

2. Status of the analysis was raised. Responses included that:

   1. Susie Wright is employed by the district (unclear whether this is a staff or consultant position)

   2. Dr. Heinegg is the one to discuss status of the analysis with

• HIB investigations – what is the number of special ed students having HIB issues

1. Question was raised about the current stay-at-home/remote learning issue and what can be done for our kids to be receiving their services at home:

   1. For kids that have been approved for testing, they are being told that testing is on hold until schools are open again. SEPAG will follow up with district on that.

2. Information was provided that NJDOE approved that speech services can be done via remote learning. The district is planning to implement this after students return from the spring break.

3. Principal James Brown, who passed suddenly the day of this meeting, was the HIB coordinator for the district. Can we gently ask the district who his replacement for this important subject will be?