VCASE Officers Elected
May 22, 2009

Congratulations to our newsest VCASE Officers elected this past May, 2009.

	Dr. Sheila Bailey, Director of Special Education, Hopewell City Schools, was elected VCASE President Elect.
	Joan Anderson, Ed.D., Director of Special and Gifted Education Services, was re-elected VCASE Secretary.
	Angela Neely, Director of Special Education, Culpeper County Public Schools, was elected VCASE Treasurer.

To view all current VCASE officers
click here

Virginia State Board of Education Approves
Revised Special Education Regulations  
September 26, 2008

You can review the Regulations posted to the VADOE website at:
http://www.doe.virginia.gov/VDOE/dueproc/regulationsCWD.html

(NOTE: New Virginia special education regulations will not become effective until after the completion of the process required by Virginia’s Administrative Process Act.)

"Linking Leadership and Learning:  What Works!"

VCASE is proud to announce that Dr. Marcia Tate will be the keynote speaker at the October Policy Institute to be held at the Doubletree Hotel in Charlottesville on October 11 and 12, 2008.  Dr. Tate is the author of the best-sellers: (1) Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites:  20 Instructional Strategies that Engage the Brain, (2) Sit & Get Won’t Grow Dendrites:  20 Professional Learning Strategies that Engage the Adult Brain, and (3) Reading and Language Arts Worksheets Don’t Grow Dendrites:  20 Literacy Strategies that Engage the Brain.

Wyllys VanDerwerker, Director of Special Education, Lynchburg City Schools, was elected VCASE President. 
Mr. Vanderwerker will serve the next two years as President Elect before serving as President. Susan Clark is presently VCASE President. The full listing of the Executive Committee can be found on the
"About VCASE" web page.

The VCASE Executive Council issued its position on the upcoming draft of Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia. The comments were sent to the Virginia Department of Education. 
Click here to read the content of the VCASE position.

(press@nsba.org)
Alexandria, Va. - June 27 - The National School Boards Association applauded the U.S. Supreme Court for finding that the fee-shifting provision of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) does not require school districts to pay for the expert fees when parents prevail in special education actions.

NSBA, which submitted an amicus brief in the case of Arlington v. Murphy, argued that requiring such reimbursement would undermine IDEA's emphasis on collaboration between parents and schools and would drain precious dollars away from educational priorities.  The case involved a petition by parents to a district court for reimbursement of nearly $30,000 in fees paid to an educational consultant who assisted them during the individual education plan (IEP) process. 

"The Court agreed that reimbursing parents for the expense of hiring a consultant  would have diverted a school district's already limited resources away from where the money belongs, which is funding educational programs for all students, including those with disabilities," said Anne L. Bryant, NSBA executive director.

"We are pleased that the Supreme Court ruled for the school district because otherwise districts could have been required to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in expert fees that have not been permitted as costs under the traditional reading of the law," said Francisco Negrón, NSBA general counsel. 

Negrón said this ruling will limit the ability of self-styled advocates and experts to seek out parents of special education students and encourage litigation with the sole idea of pursuing school district dollars. 

"Allowing parents to recoup expert fees would simply perpetuate a cycle of costly litigation by encouraging parents to hire experts," said Negrón. "Public schools, in turn, would have little choice but to hire their own experts to rebut experts hired by parents. This practice would not have encouraged settlement or collaboration, which are critical components of IDEA.  Instead, both sides would have become more entrenched in their positions."

The National School Boards Association, a federation of state school boards associations representing more than 95,000 local school board members, closely monitors the courts and regularly files friend-of-the-court briefs in cases that affect the nation's 50 million public school students. 

Patricia Addison, VCASE President took the opportunity to participate in a public comment session facilitated by the United States Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. The public comment session sought input and suggestions for developing regulations based on the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act.  A complete copy of the comment can be viewed by following the hyperlink below:

• Public Hearing Comments
  by Patricia Addison, VCASE President 
  USDOE Meeting on Regulations for IDEA 2004 - 2/25/05