Special Ed and School Board Candidates' Responses (May 2014)
The following are candidate statements on special education that were distributed to the Arlington Special Education PTA.
Nancy Van Doren
1. What previous experiences prepare you to be a champion for children with special needs?
As chair of the Arlington Special Education Advisory Committee (ASEAC) from 2009-2011, I was instrumental in gaining approval of the Secondary Program for Students with Autism, the very one threatened with cuts today. This successful program was carefully researched and planned by then Assistant Superintendent Dr. Crawley and Director of Special Education Dr. Crawford. They visited model programs, consulted with Kennedy Krieger and Children's, and designed this model. It was first implemented at HB Woodlawn and quickly expanded to Jefferson, Yorktown, and Wakefield, with great success along with parent and teacher support. I strongly advocated to expand this program to other schools in Arlington, even after I left the chairman's role and served as the ASEAC representative overseeing the Evaluation of Services for Students with Special Needs. These efforts helped maintain and expand the program to what it is today. I and others who were involved since the inception still consider expansion of this program paramount for Arlington Schools.
In addition to my ASEAC hands on experience, I have been at the forefront of creating forums for parents of children with Reading difficulties, ADHD and other special learning styles. I have children who are served by special needs services in APS and I understand the nuances of advocating for children with special needs. I am actively involved in the special needs community, provide ongoing counsel to individual families, and will bring that experience to bear as a Board member. Given this extensive experience as a volunteer parent advocate, I am now serving on the Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB) for Children's Hospital Research Institute's "Community-Based Executive Function Intervention for Low Income Children with ADHD and ASD Research Project," which is working to expand the "Unstuck and On Target" program to students with ADHD as well as Autism.
2. If elected, what would you do to strengthen and expand the Autism/Asperger's program and other programs for the increasing number of young people with Autism in Arlington County Schools?
I would immediately press to expand this program throughout Arlington Public Schools over the next 3-5 years. I would also push for teacher training and coaching throughout APS in the best practices for supporting students with Autism, a much needed strategy for all schools. Additionally, I would ask that we reinvigorate our partnerships with Children's, Kennedy Krieger, and others to ensure we have the most current and effective methods in place to serve our children. The current partnership that APS has with CHADD is a model. I pushed to create this partnership as a parent leader on the ADHD Task Force.
3. What are you able and willing to do right now to stop the cuts to the Secondary School Autism program?
I have advocated strongly with current board members and APS staff, attended each budget hearing, and spoke at the first meeting against cuts to student support services. I have worked to stay connected to the Autism community and to keep them informed and aware of steps that need to be taken to sustain support for this program. I have signed the petition circulated by this group and encouraged my followers to do so as well. I have been providing counsel to parents to help them to gain the support they need to reinstitute funding. I am working in every avenue possible to retain funding for this program. I can hit the ground running on this issue. No other candidate can offer this experience, in-depth knowledge and understanding of Autism programs.
Greg Greeley
As a parent who has been very active and present in my kids' South Arlington schools, I understand firsthand the acute challenges faced by *all* parents navigating our Special Education system. Having gone through the process of getting an IEP established, I know that it can be needlessly frustrating. A parent should not have to be an expert in special education in order for their child to receive the education he or she deserves. Nor should parents have to bring in outside advocates to support them--either as they work through the initial identification process or as they work to ensure that their child's IEP is correctly and effectively implemented.
As a School Board member, I would want to get in place the supports not only for students, but also for families. The Parent Resource Center is an excellent example of how this can be done well. However, we all know that at the school level, too many of the teachers and staff who are working with our kids do not have the skills and experience to address our kids specific needs. As a school system, we need to address that through aggressive professional development, and the development of school-based teams of experts who can help their families through the process.
As a candidate, I believe Arlington is fortunate to have the level of citizen involvement which it does on this issue. ASEAC, in particular, has come to be a guiding force which truly informs School Board thinking on these issues. As ASEAC has grown and strengthened over the last few years, they have demonstrated that APS can and will make far more investment and achieve greater gains for our kids when ASEAC and other citizen leaders work collaboratively and seek to nurture collaborative relationships. Granted, tension is a necessary part of this process, but it does work. The growth of the MIPA generally and the ABA program at Hoffman Boston, in particular, demonstrates the positive results of citizens and school system working together collaboratively -- and proactively -- to serve our special needs students.
Barbara Kanninen
1) Barbara has been volunteering in schools in Arlington and D.C. for 20 years. She's specifically volunteered in classrooms, directly working with children from all different learning styles and needs, including children with learning disabilities and special needs.
2) Barbara strongly believes that all types of children need personal support, and teachers and resource aids are the most effective way to deliver that support to all students. She's been an early and vocal supporter in the Autism program, and has even visited the program through her friend Doina in Taylor ES. As an economist, Barbara feels there are ways we can dig into the budget and expand the various support groups like Autism programs.
3) Barbara has been extremely vocal about supporting the autism program, and was the only candidate to support the program publicly in front of the other school board members on Wednesday night. She's willing and will continue to keep talk about it to community leaders and the current school board members. I've included a link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeHqXYgyvOU) to the video for you! Barbara's answer starts at 2:30
Copyright (c) 2014 Concerned Parents of Arlington Students with Asperger's/Autism, All rights reserved.
Thank you for signing our petition to prevent cuts to Arlington's model Autism program
Our mailing address is:
Concerned Parents of Arlington Students with Asperger's/Autism
2919 6TH ST S
Arlington, Va 22204
Nancy Van Doren
1. What previous experiences prepare you to be a champion for children with special needs?
As chair of the Arlington Special Education Advisory Committee (ASEAC) from 2009-2011, I was instrumental in gaining approval of the Secondary Program for Students with Autism, the very one threatened with cuts today. This successful program was carefully researched and planned by then Assistant Superintendent Dr. Crawley and Director of Special Education Dr. Crawford. They visited model programs, consulted with Kennedy Krieger and Children's, and designed this model. It was first implemented at HB Woodlawn and quickly expanded to Jefferson, Yorktown, and Wakefield, with great success along with parent and teacher support. I strongly advocated to expand this program to other schools in Arlington, even after I left the chairman's role and served as the ASEAC representative overseeing the Evaluation of Services for Students with Special Needs. These efforts helped maintain and expand the program to what it is today. I and others who were involved since the inception still consider expansion of this program paramount for Arlington Schools.
In addition to my ASEAC hands on experience, I have been at the forefront of creating forums for parents of children with Reading difficulties, ADHD and other special learning styles. I have children who are served by special needs services in APS and I understand the nuances of advocating for children with special needs. I am actively involved in the special needs community, provide ongoing counsel to individual families, and will bring that experience to bear as a Board member. Given this extensive experience as a volunteer parent advocate, I am now serving on the Stakeholder Advisory Board (SAB) for Children's Hospital Research Institute's "Community-Based Executive Function Intervention for Low Income Children with ADHD and ASD Research Project," which is working to expand the "Unstuck and On Target" program to students with ADHD as well as Autism.
2. If elected, what would you do to strengthen and expand the Autism/Asperger's program and other programs for the increasing number of young people with Autism in Arlington County Schools?
I would immediately press to expand this program throughout Arlington Public Schools over the next 3-5 years. I would also push for teacher training and coaching throughout APS in the best practices for supporting students with Autism, a much needed strategy for all schools. Additionally, I would ask that we reinvigorate our partnerships with Children's, Kennedy Krieger, and others to ensure we have the most current and effective methods in place to serve our children. The current partnership that APS has with CHADD is a model. I pushed to create this partnership as a parent leader on the ADHD Task Force.
3. What are you able and willing to do right now to stop the cuts to the Secondary School Autism program?
I have advocated strongly with current board members and APS staff, attended each budget hearing, and spoke at the first meeting against cuts to student support services. I have worked to stay connected to the Autism community and to keep them informed and aware of steps that need to be taken to sustain support for this program. I have signed the petition circulated by this group and encouraged my followers to do so as well. I have been providing counsel to parents to help them to gain the support they need to reinstitute funding. I am working in every avenue possible to retain funding for this program. I can hit the ground running on this issue. No other candidate can offer this experience, in-depth knowledge and understanding of Autism programs.
Greg Greeley
As a parent who has been very active and present in my kids' South Arlington schools, I understand firsthand the acute challenges faced by *all* parents navigating our Special Education system. Having gone through the process of getting an IEP established, I know that it can be needlessly frustrating. A parent should not have to be an expert in special education in order for their child to receive the education he or she deserves. Nor should parents have to bring in outside advocates to support them--either as they work through the initial identification process or as they work to ensure that their child's IEP is correctly and effectively implemented.
As a School Board member, I would want to get in place the supports not only for students, but also for families. The Parent Resource Center is an excellent example of how this can be done well. However, we all know that at the school level, too many of the teachers and staff who are working with our kids do not have the skills and experience to address our kids specific needs. As a school system, we need to address that through aggressive professional development, and the development of school-based teams of experts who can help their families through the process.
As a candidate, I believe Arlington is fortunate to have the level of citizen involvement which it does on this issue. ASEAC, in particular, has come to be a guiding force which truly informs School Board thinking on these issues. As ASEAC has grown and strengthened over the last few years, they have demonstrated that APS can and will make far more investment and achieve greater gains for our kids when ASEAC and other citizen leaders work collaboratively and seek to nurture collaborative relationships. Granted, tension is a necessary part of this process, but it does work. The growth of the MIPA generally and the ABA program at Hoffman Boston, in particular, demonstrates the positive results of citizens and school system working together collaboratively -- and proactively -- to serve our special needs students.
Barbara Kanninen
1) Barbara has been volunteering in schools in Arlington and D.C. for 20 years. She's specifically volunteered in classrooms, directly working with children from all different learning styles and needs, including children with learning disabilities and special needs.
2) Barbara strongly believes that all types of children need personal support, and teachers and resource aids are the most effective way to deliver that support to all students. She's been an early and vocal supporter in the Autism program, and has even visited the program through her friend Doina in Taylor ES. As an economist, Barbara feels there are ways we can dig into the budget and expand the various support groups like Autism programs.
3) Barbara has been extremely vocal about supporting the autism program, and was the only candidate to support the program publicly in front of the other school board members on Wednesday night. She's willing and will continue to keep talk about it to community leaders and the current school board members. I've included a link (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeHqXYgyvOU) to the video for you! Barbara's answer starts at 2:30
Copyright (c) 2014 Concerned Parents of Arlington Students with Asperger's/Autism, All rights reserved.
Thank you for signing our petition to prevent cuts to Arlington's model Autism program
Our mailing address is:
Concerned Parents of Arlington Students with Asperger's/Autism
2919 6TH ST S
Arlington, Va 22204