Dear Natick Families;
Thank you to the Natick SEPAC organization for connecting with us about emerging questions regarding our special education students and how the days ahead (during school closure) will look for them.
We want to thank you for your continued patience as we work through all of the details in an effort to provide educational enrichment opportunities to all students. The enrichment that we are developing for our special education students is a work-in-progress that will certainly give high quality opportunities in academics, social skills, speech, OT, PT, assistive technology, augmentative communication, behavioral strategies, and more.
Please bear with us, as we just proposed this to our staff no more than 2 days ago and they are working diligently to realize the vision.
We are confident in the
message that was sent to special education families on March 16
. In our message, we outlined both, the guidance we have received from the Commissioner of Education, Associate Commissioner, Governor, and the Office of Special Education Services, as well as the fact that—although we are not required to provide Free And Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) during closure—we will be providing educational enrichment opportunities for our special education students.
We understand that all parents may have anxiety over what the upcoming days will bring. Our goal is to present a comprehensive package that is easy to understand, communicate, and leave little room for questions: this can not be done until the teachers have the time to do their magic. To that end, we will be presenting at the School Committee on Monday night regarding all educational opportunities, including those for special education students. We invite you to join Dr. Nolin and Mr. Luff during scheduled office hours on Monday (3/23) or Tuesday (3/24).
Please know this: Natick is not acting conservatively in any way. Conservative would mean we would not be planning to provide any opportunities to special education students, other than for those who are in Out-of-District programs. This is not—and would never be—the case.
Again, we appreciate your patience in these uncertain times.