SpEd Spotlight: Forging partnerships to enhance opportunities for special needs students and community

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This has been a year of change for the Steamboat Springs School District, and the newly formed Steamboat Special Education Advisory Committee is proud to have been a part of that change.

The Steamboat SEAC was formed at the end of the 2021-22 school year by Ginger Johnston, Pete Wood, Lisa Powell, Kia Smith, Leighann Mclaughlin and several other concerned parents of special needs children in the school district. Their goal was to address concerns about gaps in meeting Individualized education plans, or IEPs, and other issues impacting their children.

While work remains to be done, the Steamboat SEAC has formed strong partnerships with the school district’s new leadership, teachers and staff to ensure lines of communication are open, honest and responsive.

We understand this is a team effort, so the SEAC also works to support our teachers and paraprofessionals by advocating for better pay and affordable housing. Together, we’ll be working to take lessons learned and apply them to make our school district and Steamboat Springs a first-rate community for children with disabilities, their families and those who teach them.

And because Steamboat Springs has a proud legacy of being a premier community for children and adults with disabilities, the SEAC has partnered with local support organizations, including Steamboat Adaptive Recreational Sports, Yampa Valley Autism Program, True North Support Services, Northwest Board of Cooperative Educational Services and Horizons.

We’ve also partnered with local property managers to ensure special education teachers and paraprofessionals in the district are prioritized for affordable housing when it’s available. Partnerships with these great organizations allow this network to leverage resources and build a stronger community to support our special education teachers, paraprofessionals and our exceptional students.

The Steamboat SEAC has also helped in mediation processes between parents and district staff to resolve problems in meaningful and positive ways. We will continue to partner with advocacy groups like Peace Wolf Advocacy & Consulting to help connect resources and strengthen lines of communication between parents, school district staff and other support services. The SEAC will also provide a network to maintain open lines of communication and support for paraprofessionals.

Moving forward, the Steamboat SEAC plans to evolve from a group of engaged parents to a more formal organization with an executive committee with representatives from the school district and local partners. As a formal organization, the Steamboat SEAC will be able to function more officially and effectively to build and strengthen our partnerships to continually improve our special needs community and make a better life for our exceptional children and their families.

If any community members are interested in participating in our next meeting, it will be 4:15-5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 14, tentatively at the Steamboat Springs High School media room. Please, check the Steamboat Springs School District website for the latest updates.

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