By NEIL ZOLOT
NORTH READING — New Special Education Parents Advisory Council (SEPAC) head Meera Reynolds made her first formal appearance at the School Committee’s June 16 meeting.
“We’ve spent the spring rebranding and relaunching,” she said of herself and the new leadership team that took over in January, succeeding Kathy O’Donnell-Bustin “We’ve managed to do a few things, including rebuilding the leadership team, meet with elementary school principals on reaching out to teachers and asked the District to send a survey to teachers to see where they think SEPAC can help. We feel reaching out to teachers is the best way to reach families.”
They’re also looking for SEPAC information to be included with Individual Education Plan (IEP) information sent out to families.
Over the summer and into the fall, there are plans to meet with parent groups, reach out to both the Police Department and the Parks and Recreation Department to participate and distribute information at their respective events, and also distribute information at both National Night Out in August and Town Day in September.
SEPAC also seeks a presence at back-to-school orientation events and orientations for new school parents, caregivers and families. “We’re trying to get some brand recognition,” Reynolds explained. “We want to do meet-and-greets with families in a space where people can come together and realize they are not alone.”
Director of Student Services Cynthia Conant called these “new ideas, which I like.”
“I think the meet-and-greets are a wonderful idea and outreach to teachers is important,” added School Committee member Jennifer Leenders.
Superintendent Dr. Patrick Daly hopes the outreach can include families with children not yet in school, but looking ahead.
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 71B requires “a School Committee shall establish a parent advocacy council on special education.”
Districts are “charged with assisting in maintaining its operations and activities,” Reynolds explained in her PowerPoint presentation to the board.
The Boston-based Federation for Children with Special Needs describes SEPAC duties as including, but not limited to “advising the School Committee on matters that pertain to the education and safety of children with disabilities; meet regularly with school officials to participate in the planning, development and evaluation of the district’s Special Needs programs and cooperate with the district on their annual workshop on the rights of students, parents and guardians under state law.”
School Committee member Tim Sutherland said the School Committee and School Department can help “make parents aware of the resources we have and help provide outreach to tell them what’s available.”
Sutherland also asked Reynolds: “What would you like to see us do?” She answered, “That’s something we can figure out together over the next few months, but spreading the word is number one.”
Reynolds took over the leadership role when O’Donnell-Bustin stepped down. “I kind of fell into SEPAC,” Reynolds said. “There simply wasn’t anyone remaining on the leadership team for this school year, it was just Kathy (O’Donnell-Bustin). When I learned she was stepping in, I offered to Conant that I would help, at least temporarily, to keep SEPAC going. While it wouldn’t have been a big deal, the District would have been out of compliance if no one took it on when Kathy stepped down.”
“You’ve built this up, which is great,” School Committee member Scott Buckley told Reynolds. “For the last few years one person has been trying to do everything.”
O’Donnell-Bustin was running it almost single-handed. “It was hard to resign as chair in December because it is so rewarding to help families that have disabled children, as I do,” O’Donnell-Bustin said. “While I was chair I got to work with some fantastic people, including Jennifer Magee, Marianne Keith, Kimberly Piper and Nikki Tosi and more, along with really talented and committed members of the administration.”
“In 2022, Magee proposed the ‘Understanding Our Differences’ program to the District. The administrators took a very close look, and they ended up rolling out the program in the elementary schools. Also in 2022, NR SEPAC suggested a funding source to the District and North Reading High School and was able to provide students a four-day program called Exploring the Workforce. Keith got a grant to set up a communications board at the Hood School and more” O’Donnell-Bustin continued, explaining, “However, my son is nearing age 22 when disabled students transition from school district-based to state-based services and I need to spend a lot of time getting ready for this change.”
O’Donnell-Bustin described Reynolds as “highly energetic, passionate, and organized. I look forward to watching the NR SEPAC leadership continue to make exciting progress for the North Reading community.” She also noted the effort by Reynolds to translate the District’s out-of-district transportation policy into reality.
Reynolds thanked the members for their time and interest, but Leenders interjected “our thanks to you for all you do.”
Chairman Jeff Friedman agreed. “We very much appreciate what you do,” he said.
RETIREES RECOGNIZED
Monday’s meeting also included the annual recognition and thanks to retiring employees, who contributed 348 years of combined service to the school system. Among them are NRHS
Principal Anthony Loprete, E. Ethel Little Elementary School Principal Christine Molle and Athletic Director Dave Johnson. “You will be hard to replace,” Buckley told them.
Daly commented that these retirements leave “big shoes to fill across the board.”