Castle Valley Center Community Council Meeting
10/15/2008
In attendance:
Mike Keller
Dee Davis
Darrelyn Davis
Beverly Martinez
Sheila Kerstetter
Kristina Schade
Priorities for Community Council
Additions to the Castle Valley Center were discussed. Mr. Keller suggested that we as a council present to the Board of Education in January about the needs for an addition to the building. Possible funding sources may include bonding, and going to the Community Impact Board in addition to capital outlay. Dee suggested that the board may ask what we are going to use the space for, why we need it, and how much square footage we are looking at.
Needs include the following:
1. Area for Terri’s class. It has become a safety issue due to the lack of space
in Terri’s class.
2. PT/OT need to be in the building. It is a safety issue getting some of the students out to the trailer, especially in the winter. It was suggested we could have the board members come over and try to use a wheel chair to get to the therapy trailer in inclement weather.
3. Bill and Cindy’s class need to be in the building. The are currently in an old trailer that is not in good shape. Additionally there isn’t any plumbing or water in the classrooms, which is a concern when working with the special needs population. Also access for students in wheel chairs is difficult.
4. It was suggested that we should ask for 4 additional classrooms. We need a autism space for Sheila. Sheila is currently in the closet off of Alean’s room.
We need a sensory area for the kids with autism that have huge sensory integration issues, and this could be incorporated into Sheila’s space.
5. We need an area for meetings with parents. There really isn’t space for some
IEP meetings, especially the ones that involve multiple agencies. It was reported at one last big IEP meeting the kids actually had to leave their classroom so the IEP team could convene in the classroom due to space.
Darrelyn reported that there is insufficient room for her family to family network meetings also. She stated that the family resource center is very cramped and they need more space.
If we get the extra space Terri’s current space will be utilized by the preschool
who are currently in an area that is too small. Cathy Lamph and the adult
program would get back the space that the three year old area is currently in.
Sheila suggested we ask Cathy if her space is adequate if she gets the three year
old area back.
It was suggested that we could show slides to illustrate some of the safety issues and problem situations when we make the presentation to the board.
Autism Grant:
Mike reported that Sandra Hanson and Tom Roush wrote an autism grant. Tom submitted a proposal with the original RFP and then Carbon was one of the districts invited to write a full proposal. The grant includes the development of a district autism team that will function similar to the UAACT team. Team members from out school listed in the grant include Sheila Kerstetter, Beverly Martinez, and Judy Giordano-Olson.
Parent Night:
We will hold a parent night on November 21. Darrelyn Davis suggested that Friday’s have been the most attended for parent to parent network nights. This is probably because parents don’t have to go home and get homework done and get kids to bed for school the next day. Darrelyn and Terri Stettler will work on the details and get back to everyone with their assignments. We will start at 6:00 with a ½ hour to 45 minute parent information meeting. Mike has already got staff on board to watch kids during this period. The parent meeting will include a presentation from DSPD. Mike Keller will ask Jeff Blanc if he can come and present. Also Mike will invite Brad King to come. Brad has been very supportive of the school in the past.
Following the parent information meeting there will be a light supper. We discussed possibly soup and bread sticks. Chili was discussed, but Sheila noted that chili is quite messy. It needs to be something fast and simple.
Following the dinner there will be some child/family activities. Mike will come and take family pictures like he has done in the past. This has been a favorite for families. Darrelyn will have an advocacy handout. Darrelyn reports that they have had around 40 people come to the family to family network nights. It was suggested that we have families RSVP for our parent night and then plan for a little extra on top of those who RSVP.
The parent night will end at 8:00.
Mike would like to host another parent night in March. He suggested that Met-Life or one of the insurance companies could come and present about insurances for children with disabilities. Darrelyn stated that she will check into it because there might be constraints for equal representation by different insurance agencies.
Additonally Mike discussed that he had talked with council woman Jeanne McEvoy about the problem the adults have with crossing the street. Jeanne told Mike that the city council is not going to make any further changes to the road. She suggested we utilize a hand held stop sign when crossing to get the attention of drivers. Jeanne doesn’t agree with the decision. Dee suggested that if we present to the city council again we should have some data about how many individuals are crossing the street in the problem areas. It was noted that there are safety issues for other kids who cross there, and not just the Castle Valley Center adults.
The next meeting of the Castle Valley Center Community Council will be November 20 at 5:00. We will finalize the parent night which will be held the following evening. | 