As you know, the Reading School District is under a mandatory shutdown ordered by Governor Wolf.  As a result, we are transitioning the delivery of special education services to telephonic, teleconference, and online platforms for the duration of the shutdown. 

Please know our team of special educators is committed to making a good faith effort to provide continuity of education and appropriate and reasonable services for students. 

The Office of Special Education is launching the Home Mentoring Program to support our students in maintaining academic and social-emotional skills, keeping students connected to their school community, and supporting families to create a sense of normalcy and routine. 

If your child attends school in a private placement, the private placement will contact you to describe the plan for continuity of education during the shutdown

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Reading School District is under a mandatory shutdown ordered by Governor Wolf.  The pandemic has dramatically impacted our way of life and the operation of our school community.  As a result, we are transitioning the delivery of special education services to a virtual format beginning March 30, 2020.  Please accept this notice as notification that the Reading School District will be providing special education services via telephonic, teleconference, and online platforms for the duration of the pandemic.  During the shutdown, the Reading School District is committed to making a good faith effort to provide continuity of education and appropriate and reasonable services for students. 

Home Mentoring Program
In an effort to support our students in maintaining academic and social-emotional skills, keep students connected to their school community, and support families to create a sense of normalcy and routine, the Office of Special Education is launching the Home Mentoring Program.  The Home Mentoring Program will be led collaboratively by Special Education Teachers, Related Service Providers, Social Workers, School Counselors, Principals, Assistant Principals and the Central Office Special Education Department.  Parents/guardians will be pivotal partners in the school district’s ability to provide special education services in the home environment.   

Which students will participate in the Home Mentoring Program?

• The Home Mentoring Program will be offered as a voluntary support to students receiving special education services or accommodations through a Section 504 Service Agreement.
• The Reading School District will attempt to provide as many supports and services outlined in the students’ IEPs and Section 504 Service Agreements as reasonably possible during the mandated shutdown.

What supports/interventions are being provided as a part of the Home Mentoring Program?

• The Home Mentoring Program consists of some or all of the components listed below, depending on the student’s IEP or Section 504 Service Agreement and the student’s ability to access the supports from the home learning environment.  Please review the detailed explanations below regarding each component.          

Home Mentoring Program Components:

• Special Education Case Manager Check-Ins
  • Special Education Case Managers will contact students and parents/guardians via phone call or video conference (Google Meet) once or twice weekly to perform a wellness check and support students in establishing a routine.

• Special Education Case Manager Office Hours
  • Special Education Case Managers will maintain office hours at regularly scheduled times throughout the shutdown for the following purposes:
    • Provide support to caseload students 
    • Troubleshoot barriers to student engagement
    • Conduct Special Education Case Manager Check-Ins
    • Provide academic skill review 

• Academic Skill Review 
  • Academic skill review led by the Special Education Case Manager will include live, direct individual, small group, and/or whole group concept review in core content areas and according to the students’ IEP goals. 
  • If technology is accessible in the home, students will be offered online resources/activities. If technology is not accessible in the home, students will be offered resources/activities that do not require technology.  

• Adaptive/Functional Skill Review
  • Students will continue to receive adaptive/functional skill review during the shutdown.  
  • Adaptive/functional skill review led by the Special Education Case Manager will include live, direct individual, small group, and/or whole group instruction. 

• Social Skills Review 
  • Students will continue to receive social skills instruction during the shutdown.  
  • Special Education Case Managers will schedule small group social skills sessions via video conference (i.e. Google Meet). 

• Related Services including Counseling
  • Students will continue to receive related services during the shutdown.
  • Students receiving special education services that have related services in their IEPs will receive the same rate of service during the shutdown to maintain skills if they have technology access (device and internet access).
  • Related service providers will provide service via video conference (i.e. Google Meet). 

• Verbal Behavior (VB)
  • Students will continue to receive verbal behavior programming during the shutdown if they have technology access (device and internet access).
  • The Special Education Case Manager will schedule Intensive Teaching and/or manding sessions with the students in individual sessions via video conference (i.e. Google Meet). Depending on the student, parental involvement may be needed in order to provide this service in the home environment.

Confidentiality
The Reading School District has made reasonable efforts to ensure that such video conferencing is confidential, and access is limited to students in the assigned groups.  However, some of these services will be provided in a group format and when this occurs students will be able to see other students in the group. In addition, the Reading School District is unable to control who else may be in the room in which a student is receiving these services remotely, including other family members or others who are living with the other students, who may observe the session and what other students are in the group.  Therefore, the Reading School District expects all families will review and implement the following guidelines and expectations to ensure the confidentiality rights of all students are protected during instructional methodologies which will include group communications, and/or video conferencing.  By having your child participate in video conferencing and/or other instructional methods, you are accepting and agreeing to the conditions outlined in this notice. 

1. Neither Reading School District nor parent shall make or maintain recordings of the course content or classroom activity or other group communication that is conveyed via the virtual attendance services. Recordings will be maintained of the live classroom instruction with the teacher present in the recording only for students who are unable to receive the instruction during the virtual instruction time period. Students will not be recorded.
   
   
2. Parent shall make every effort to ensure that no one other than the student scheduled to participate in a virtual attendance service can see or hear the virtual attendance service.
   
   
3. If parental or other third-party involvement in a virtual attendance service is necessary to enable a student to participate, the individual assisting the student shall not re-disclose any personally identifiable information about any student involved in the virtual attendance.
   
   
4. If the parent’s electronic equipment malfunctions in any way, the planned virtual attendance services will continue as scheduled.
   
   
5. The parties agree that this Agreement does not apply to the video- or audio-taping of any course material by teachers that have been or may be made available to students from time to time.