Fresno Unified School District
Meeting Minutes September 4th, 2024
Community Advisory Committee
Special Education Meeting
Wednesday, September 4, 2024 at 6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
meeting information below agenda
Meeting Location: Adult Transition Program, 3132 E. Fairmont Avenue, Fresno, CA 93726
6:00 pm Welcome (Chair Wong)
Introduction of 2024-25 CAC Executive Board: Chair Julie Wong, Vice-Chair Amy Aoki, Secretary Patrick Sauceda (not present), Community Liaison Cara Ford, and Parliamentarian Patricia Camarillo.
Introduction of FUSD employees in attendance.
CAC stands for the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education, a volunteer group composed predominately of parents of children with special needs who attend school within the Fresno Unified School District. CAC is a group of parents, school personnel, and other community members, who work together to ensure that children with special needs receive the best education available. Fresno Unified is required by law to have a CAC.
CAC is parents advocating for children with special needs. CAC meets once a month to identify the needs of students with special needs in our District, and advises the District on issues relating to special education. CAC works to provide information to parents and also listens to parents’ concerns. CAC’s ultimate purpose is to participate in a partnership with the school district that enhances the education of each child with special needs.
Expected Etiquette/Public Comment
Recognize and respect differences of perspective and style of the CAC among members, staff, students, parents/guardians and the community.
Act with dignity and understand the implications of demeanor and behavior.
When speaking of your concerns, please do not use your student’s name or the school location. Please respect the confidentiality and needs of your student.
Thank you and welcome.
Roll Call & Agenda Approval (Vice-Chair Aoki & Chair Wong):
Business: Roll call: 15 Present / Quorum: 15 members were present - YES
Agenda Approval
· Motion to accept: 1st: Katrina L. / 2nd: Patricia C. – Yeas: 15/ Nays: 0
Previous Months Minutes (Chair Wong)
· Motion to accept: 1st: Amy A. / 2nd: Michelle s. – Yeas: 15/ Nays: 0
Old Business/New Business (Chair Wong): Old Business: None. New Business: New CAC Facebook page. 2024-25 dates will be moved to the second Tuesday.
Membership (Vice-Chair Aoki): Carmen Torres
· Motion to accept: 1st: Patricia C. / 2nd: Katrina L. – Yeas: 15/ Nays: 0
6:10 – 6:25 pm New FUSD Special Education Website – Bryan Puentes: Navigating from new FUSD website, click Department and select Special Education. CAC has a button on top left of Special Education page. CAC site buttons are Common Questions, Calendar, Agenda (has meeting information), Application and Meeting Minutes. Child Care Survey in middle right of page; please fill out ahead of time for child care needs, ages 4-12. From Special Education page, Parent Resources has IEP timeline and IEP survey (to complete after IEP meeting). Use Let’s Talk as primary communication to reach out to Special Education Department. Staff directory lists Special Education senior leadership and RIM assignments. Lower on Special Education page has program-specific feeder patterns. Patricia C. asked about web accessibility. Michelle S. suggested adding principals to staff directory. Need to add link/feed from CAC Facebook.
6:25 – 6:40 pm “Let’s Talk” Training – Patrick Morrison: Benefits: timestamps, able to rate customer service, choose language (English, Spanish & Hmong – may look slightly different, but accessibility is the same), can get there from any FUSD page that says “Contact Us” or “Let’s Talk.” Make sure to leave good contact information if expecting a response. Able to track responsiveness. Main contact is typically the RIM. Goal is to hear back within 48 hrs; routing kinks may cause a delay. Can submit anonymously; click hide contact info. However, anonymous posts won’t get responses and have nothing to follow up. Patricia C. asked about using as a whistleblower. Could use “Let’s Talk,” but employees have other methods of reporting. Michelle S. asked about unfair anonymous reports. Response: overall should track fairly. Possibly a “Let’s Talk” parent training later, but currently most departments are still training staff; Special Education Department is up and running though. “Let’s Talk” is the best way to contact the Special Education Department; phone and email can get lost.
6:40 – 7:00 pm Special Education Navigation/Organization Chart – Patrick Morrison: Special Education Organization Chart i.e. Regional Instructional Manager (RIM) Assignments lists each region’s Manager IIIs, Office Assistants, and RIMs. It’s posted on the FUSD Special Education website on the Staff Directory page. Special Education Correct contact information is in progress; should be updated and posted online by next CAC meeting. Handout should be available then also. Lists region’s SpEd office contact information for office managers, office assistants and backup office assistants. Should help get to where you need to go quicker.
7:00 – 7:30pm Educational Partners Forum (Chair Wong)
CalABLE (Cara Ford): CalABLE allows saving for a child receiving SSI or SSDI. Regular bank accounts are only allowed $2,000 in checking before benefits are reduced. CalABLE enables saving for something significant (i.e. car, home renovations, computer, etc.) up to $100,000 and allows deposits up to $17,000 per year.
Parent – Concerned about student-to-teacher ratio. Worried about her student wandering and open school gates. Parents are not allowed to walk their student into class even though there doesn’t seem to be enough help.
Katrina L. – Summer camps through Extended Learning don’t seem to be accessible to students with higher needs. When trying to ask about assistance, parent was bounced from Extended Learning to Special Education office 4 times. Difficult to get support for her student to attend summer camps. Would appreciate a liaison of Special Education to Extended Learning. Student was asked not to return (to gym) even with para assistance; severe autism can be difficult for group activities. Could school camps be brought back/offered since controlled location and activities are helpful for some students?
Online – Supposedly FUSD had excellent turnout for last para hiring fair. Why doesn’t 6th grade daughter have her 1:1 as needed? Response from Mr. Morrison: Paras are still not fully staffed. Please submit specific info and will follow up.
Michelle S. – CVRC has social recreation programs. Look on website and ask. Carmen T. – Waiting lists are getting long. Look into programs early to get on list. Julie W. – Daughter got into the Limitless Pottery Class at Good Dirt Pottery Studio over summer. Helps with OT; never would have thought of it. Cathye E. – Use modified wheels to throw pots, how services fit into OT.
Cathye E. - Special Olympics is getting ready for flag football. Middle School – need to ask what is available. Elementary – some sports available. Helps reinforce outside rules like turn taking and following directions. Many schools don’t know what is available. Ages 8+ can do sports at school a couple days a week, weekends, travel. Sports are opening at schools, but need to know what is needed.
7:32 p.m. Closing and Adjournment (Chair Wong) Motion to accept: 1st: Michelle S. / 2nd: Cathye E. – Yeas: 15/ Nays: 0
CAC email address (cac@fresnounified.org) to email agenda items for the upcoming meeting or next month’s meeting
Meeting Information
The Community Advisory Committee on Special Education, or CAC, invites you to participate in our monthly in-person meeting at Adult Transition Program: 3132 E. Fairmont Ave., Fresno, CA 93726.
- Both Spanish and Hmong interpretation will be provided.
- Refreshment will be served.
- Childcare is available.
We are delighted to offer childcare services during our meeting upon request, catering to children aged 4-12 years old. To ensure we can accommodate your childcare needs during your attendance at our CAC meeting, kindly complete the following Child Care Survey.
Thank you and we look forward to welcoming you at the meeting.
Online Option
If you cannot make the CAC meeting in person you can attend the meeting on Microsoft Teams. Please note that the online meeting will be in English only. Spanish and Hmong Interpretation will be provided in person.
Link to Team Meeting: Click here to join the meeting
Next Scheduled CAC Meeting
Tuesday, October 8th, 2024