August 2015
Hello Everyone,
I hope you all had a restful and meaningful summer break. Welcome back to 2015-2016 school year. Being new in Pupil
services, I look forward to meet and connect with each and every one of you. I have met quite a few of you already and I
must say I feel blessed and grateful for the wonderful welcome I have got from Shaker staff, administrators and the
larger community.
As I become Shakerized , please feel free to reach out and ask questions, share your news, your accomplishments and
your concerns, help me scrutinize our procedures in case they need to be tweaked and we will work together as a team
to address our department’s priorities. In the next month or so, I plan to meet with you all and understand your
respective roles and responsibilities, survey our students needs and your needs before we will collectively roll out our
department’s initiatives. In special education, we play an integral role in supporting the social, behavioral and learning
needs of students, families and staff. I am hoping the break has rejuvenated you to start this school year with a
commitment to excellence, equity and exploration – our district’s aspirations.
I will be communicating with you shortly about the first week back, the professional learning in the first week and some
in-house procedures so that we transition in the school year with ease and a bit ahead of the curve. Please continue to
be an advocate for the students, families and staff in your respective buildings in the upcoming year. Our department is
always there to support you in your endeavors.
Tasneem
Tasneem Lokhandwala, Ph.D.
Director of Pupil Services
Shaker Heights City School District
15600 Parkland Dr.
Shaker Heights, OH- 44120
To our children we can give two things, One is roots, the other is wings.~~~ Lakota
This e-mail is intended only for the addressee(s) and may contain material that is confidential under state and federal law. If you were not an intended recipient,
please notify the sender and delete all copies. School District e-mail is to be used only for school purposes. The District may monitor e-mail to and from its
network. This email and any response to it may be archived for later retrieval and may constitute a public record and therefore may be made available upon
request in accordance with Ohio Public Records law (ORC 149.43).
August 9, 2015
Hello Everyone,
As promised in my earlier e-mail, please find some important "back to school" information below. After consulting with Sara, Tim,
your respective building administrators, Linda and Michelle, we are moving towards procedures that will help us “work smarter, not
harder.” Most of this applies to Intervention Specialists; however I am copying all special education staff so we can help support each
other in this initiative.
•
First and foremost, please make sure you have completed and finalized your IEPs and ETRs from last year, moving them to
COMPLETED TASKS in Progress Book/Special Services. This critical step ensures that your colleague, who will be inheriting your
case in the next grade, can access their student’s documents. Please remember – IEPs and ETRs should be completed in Progress book
within 1 week of the meeting. I am assuming you are caught up on most of your cases.
•
Next, in an attempt to “go green,” the Pupil Services Department will no longer be making/sending hard copies of IEPs to
building staff. We will be asking you to use electronic copies. To put this in perspective: we currently serve nearly 900 students with
IEPs in Shaker Heights, each being approximately 20 pages in length. This will save us an estimated 18,000 pages of paper!
•
Knowing that this will be a learning curve for some of you, our department does have a plan so it is gradual for those who would
need some support.
•
The attached Navigation Guide prepared by Sara Cole and Tim Gesing breaks down this procedure into very specific steps,
making it as seamless, manageable and convenient as possible. Your colleagues at the High School (intervention specialists) have
been using electronic copies for a few years now. It is my understanding that some of you typically send a copy of the finalized IEP
via email to parents as well.
•
For those of you who absolutely cannot use the Navigation Guide and must have a paper copy (I am hoping it’s just a few of
you) - there are two options: 1)You can ask Tim, Sara or I to sit down with you and show you, OR 2) you can send a request to
Michelle Bey and she will email a PDF copy and then Tim or Sara can follow up with you for rest of the year.
•
Your building administrators/supervisors have been asked to provide you with your respective caseloads by AUGUST 18TH.
During the week of professional learning, there is time protected for you to work on sending electronic copies to other staff in the
buildings. It is a huge time saver for you as well.
•
As you know, we are legally obligated to provide services commencing the first day of school. To that end, we are asking that
intervention specialist case managers access copies of current IEPs of students on their respective caseloads via Progress Book/Special
Services and send electronically to appropriate staff (regular ed. Teachers, related service providers, other intervention specialists etc.)
by AUGUST 24TH.
•
PLEASE NOTE: Your respective building procedures of meeting other staff and collaborating with them to discuss student
needs, IEP goals etc. stay the same. The only change is using electronic copies as opposed to paper copies of IEPs. For students who
are new to our district, Tim Gesing will be sending you an electronic copy or you can call Michelle Bey to send it to you. We will be
uploading those in Progress book shortly.
Again, please do not hesitate to contact Tim, Sara or myself with any questions or concerns. We will be happy to come out and help
you with this transition. Have a wonderful 2015-2016 school year!!!
Tasneem
Tasneem Lokhandwala, Ph.D.
Director of Pupil Services
Shaker Heights City School District
15600 Parkland Dr.
Shaker Heights, OH- 44120
To our children we can give two things, One is roots, the other is wings.~~~ Lakota
This e-mail is intended only for the addressee(s) and may contain material that is confidential under state and federal law. If you were
not an intended recipient, please notify the sender and delete all copies. School District e-mail is to be used only for school purposes.
The District may monitor e-mail to and from its network. This email and any response to it may be archived for later retrieval and may
constitute a public record and therefore may be made available upon request in accordance with Ohio Public Records law (ORC
149.43).