Advocates For Children is gathering signatures for a letter (letter is attached) we are sending to the VESID Committee Chair Regent Tilles and other members about the IEP diploma.  In June 2007, AFC along with over 24 other groups, sent a letter to Deputy Commissioner Cort asking that the name of the IEP diploma be changed to IEP certificate in order to help prevent parents and students from mistakenly believing that the IEP diploma is an actual diploma instead of a certificate of completion.

This past July the Regents VESID committee held a meeting where they discussed the IEP diploma.  Deputy Commissioner Cort and Pat Geary presented a policy discussion memo at the meeting where they outlined several issues for the VESID committee to consider, including changing the name of the IEP diploma (the policy memo is available here: http://www.regents.nysed.gov/2008Meetings/July2008/0708vesidd2.htm).  The Regents who were present at the meeting seemed very open to the idea of changing the name and many expressed similar concerns to the ones we raised in our initial letter.  At the end of the meeting, Deputy Commissioner Cort said that the VESID office would conduct focus groups and would investigate the issue further and come back to the Regents with recommendations.  We have not received a timeline regarding when the focus groups will take place and the working group decided that we should send a letter to the VESID Committee requesting a meeting with the members, and urging the committee to act in a more swift manner.   

If your organization would like to sign-on to this letter please contact Kait Brown at kbrown@advocatesforchildren.org.  We need all signatures by Monday, Oct. 27th at 5:00 pm.  Even if you think, we know that you would like your organization on the letter please reply to this email. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

News

Letter to Regents VESID Committee (Tilles - Oct 2008) Click here

News: Emergency special education regulations adopted by the Commissioner. Click here for a copy of the new regulations.

9/15/05: VESID issues revised Procedural Safeguard Notice for Parents