Oklahoma Special Education Resolution Center Advisory Council Rules
I. Name and Mission
A. The name of the organization shall be the Oklahoma Special Education Resolution Center Advisory Council; hereafter identified as the Advisory Council.
B. The Advisory Council is established pursuant to the terms of the contract between Oklahoma State University ABLE-Tech and the Oklahoma State Department of Education for the management of the special education due process hearing and appeal system for the State of Oklahoma.
C. It shall be the Mission of the Advisory Council to provide advice on: 1) the policies and procedures of the special education due process hearing and appeal system as developed by the Oklahoma Special Education Resolution Center (OSERC) and 2) the recruiting, training and evaluation of hearing and appeal officers.
D. SERC serves as a recommending body only. All work submitted to the Advisory Council will eventually be submitted to the Oklahoma State Department of Education-Special Education Services as a recommendation for change.
II. Definitions
A. OSERC means the Oklahoma Special Education Resource Center.
B. Program Director means the program director for OSERC.
C. Program Manager means the program manager for OSERC.
D. State means the State of Oklahoma.
E. Year means the project year beginning July 1 and ending June 30.
III. Duties of the Advisory Council
A. Provide viewpoints from a variety of stakeholders to include school districts, parents of students with disabilities and the Oklahoma State Department of Education during the development of recommended policy and procedure change;
B. Advise whether the current policies and procedures are meeting the needs of the parents/school districts to be served;
C. Recommend changes in policy and procedure of the special education due process hearing and appeal system and in the recruitment; training and evaluation of hearing and appeal officers; and
D. Help foster good relations between the stakeholder groups.
IV. Membership
A. Composition of the Advisory Council:
1. Shall consist of eleven (11) members.
2. Shall be recruited to ensure a broad range of backgrounds and experience.
3. Shall be geographically representative of the state and shall reflect the diversity of the state with respect to race, ethnicity and types of disabilities across the school age span.
4. Shall consist of a majority, not less than fifty-one percent (51%), membership composed of parents of children with disabilities, throughout the range of school age as defined by the IDEIA.
5. Shall include six (6) parents of students with disabilities.
6. Shall have one (1) member representing the Oklahoma State Department of Education – Special Education Services (OSDE-SES).
7. Shall have four (4) members representing school districts: a superintendent, a special education director, a regular education teacher and a special education teacher.
8. Members appointed as a school district representative and a representative of OKSDE-SES shall not count toward the majority membership requirement of paragraph 4 above.
B. Terms and Vacancies
1. Advisory Council membership shall consist of two (2) years duration.
2. At the end of the first two year period, Advisory Council members, except for the SDE-SES representative, will be replaced in staggered order. Original Advisory Council members will be replaced by a random drawing of names for replacement of one (1) or two (2) years in the parent category and the school district category of members. The representative of the OSDE-SES shall continue year to year and the representative shall be designated by the SDE.
3. Advisory Council member replacement shall occur by selection from a nominating committee consisting of one school district representative, one parent representative and the Director and Program Manager of the OSERC.
4. Advisory Council members shall be replaced within parameters of the original selection.
5. Advisory Council members may be terminated if the member misses two (2) consecutive unexcused meetings.
C. Financial Compensation
1. Expenses shall be paid by Oklahoma ABLE Tech for any member who incurs expenses for an attendant or interpreter services during Advisory Council meetings.
2. Council members shall be reimbursed for any travel expenses incurred for attendance at Council meetings; (providing travel expenses are not paid by any other Agency source).
V. Meetings
A. The Advisory Council shall meet quarterly.
B. The Advisory Council activities shall function on a fiscal year basis of July 1 through June 30.
C. Written notice stating the place, date, and hour of any meeting shall be delivered personally or by mail to the last known address of each member not less than ten (10) days before the date of such meeting.
