General Information Position Summary This position is intended to provide administration and coordination of special education services from birth through age 22, to implement the district's strategic plan and policies, and to assure compliance with state and federal laws impacting children and youth with disabilities.
Reporting Relationship Report to the Assistant Director of Special Education and Specialized Services
Minimum Qualifications- Master's degree in Special Education or a closely related field.
- Five (5) years of experience as a special education teacher or related service provider in special education in an elementary setting.
- Must have a current license as a special education teacher or related service provider issued by the Minnesota Department of Education and a current Special Education Director license or Principal license issued by the Minnesota Department of Education.
Preferred Qualifications- Experience with professional development and curriculum development.
- Understanding of special education funding and data.
Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities- Knowledge of state and federal special education laws and rules.
- Knowledge of special education program development.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills.
- Excellent organizational and planning skills.
- Excellent budget, management and organization skills.
- Considerable skill in negotiation and conflict resolution and the ability to apply those skills effectively in a variety of situations.
- Considerable skill in the use of technology to enhance work productivity.
- Ability to establish successful working relationships with district and school staff, parents, advocates, students and outside agencies.
- Ability to supervise and evaluate special education staff and/or programs.
- Ability to collaborate with other agencies and business partners.
- Ability to work with teams and make progress on identified goals.
- Ability to successfully implement change and to guide staff through changes.
- Ability to respond quickly to a variety of requests and to remain calm in difficult situations.
- Commitment to multicultural, gender and disability-fair curriculum and programs.
Responsibilities The essential functions include, but are not limited to, the following fundamental duties:
Leadership:
- Provide leadership to school administrators on provision of special education, including procedural safeguards, best practices, and district initiatives impacting children and youth with disabilities.
- Provide leadership to teachers, Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSAs), parents, community partners and District leadership related to the provision of special education.
- Engage in district-level leadership activities and committees.
- Contribute to the District's Inclusive workplace efforts by fostering a safe, welcoming and respectful environment.
Supervision:
- Supervise and evaluate, in collaboration with school administrators, special education professional and paraprofessional staff.
- Work with school and program administrators to address performance issues of special educators and paraprofessionals.
- Assist Director with providing oversight and guidance to TOSAs and other personnel providing support or resources to special education.
- Assist with interview and selection of special educators.
- Professional Development:
- Collaborate with others to provide professional development for back to school workshops, new teacher orientation and other opportunities.
- Provide other specified training and professional development as needed.
- Collaborate with leaders in other departments to provide professional development district-wide, and align initiatives, to improve education for students with disabilities.
- Provide supervisory oversight and support for one or more of the following programs: early childhood, transition, special transportation, curriculum, Extended School Year (ESY), or separate sites (e.g., setting IV programs, transition programs, special sites).
Testing/Curriculum:
- Provide leadership, in collaboration with Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction, for administration of statewide and district-wide testing and assessment for students with disabilities, including the administration of MN Test of Alternate Achievement Standards (MTAS).
- Provide leadership in collaborating with special educators and District Administration on curriculum for students with disabilities, with a focus on Universal Design for Learning (UDL).
- Provide leadership in selection and implementation of specialized curriculum and specially designed instruction.
Program Planning:
- Provide leadership on district goals and initiatives to improve results, such as increasing collaboration between general education and special education, addressing disproportionate representation of certain groups in special education or in restrictive environments.
- Provide leadership in evaluation of programs and addressing goals identified as part of department strategic planning.
- Provide leadership on Extended School Year (ESY) services.
- Provide leadership in the reform of special education programs and services to improve results and/or achieve goals identified in the district's strategic plan.
Communication:
- Facilitate communication between parents and IFSP and/or IIEP teams during times of conflict.
- Assist with conflict resolution by providing written and verbal assistance in response to complaints, assistance with conciliation, mediation, facilitated IFSP/IEP meetings and due process hearings.
- Supervise the development of required reports for the Minnesota Department of Education and other government agencies.
- Provide effective written communication for the administration of special education, in a variety of ways including the special education newsletter, letters to parents, memos to staff, correspondence to District leadership, training materials and manuals.
Grants:
- Assist Office of Innovation and Development in application for grants.
- Assist in grant administration.
- Assist in writing grant completion reports and other required documentation.
Perform other related duties as assigned.
PAY, BENEFITS & WORK SCHEDULE This is a 12 month position working 40 hours per week.
Pay range for this position is: $92,666 - $136,889
Maximum hiring step = Step Eleven (11)
The full salary schedule is listed in the Teachers contract. Salary information for this job posting can be found on the Labor Agreements page and by selecting the " ASAP " Labor agreement.
Benefit information for this position can be found on the Benefits Summaries page and by selecting the " ASAP ¿ Full Time " link.
HOW TO APPLYTo be considered further, please apply for this position and attach a resume and cover letter to your online application.
The Human Resource Department will review your application materials and contact you regarding the next steps.
To attach additional documents to your online application, click on the "Additional Attachments" link from the applicant homepage and upload your documents as attachments. Valid file extensions for attaching a document include .doc, .txt, .rtf, and .pdf.
OTHER INFORMATIONTranscript - Unofficial transcripts are accepted at the time of hire. You must submit official transcripts within 30 days of your start date. Formal credential evaluation is required for post-secondary education completed outside of the United States.
Veteran's Preference - If you are an eligible veteran applying for a job where veteran's preference applies and wish to claim Veterans Preference you must submit a legible copy of your DD214 to the Human Resource Department with your employment application. If your claim is approved, five or ten additional points will be added to your final passing score.
Criminal Background Investigation and Reference Checks - Reference checks and a criminal background investigation will be completed as a condition of hire for all new employees and for former employees who have not been employed by the District for more than six months.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS Essential functions are job duties that the individual holding the position must be able to perform unaided or with the assistance of a reasonable accommodation through the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) and the Americans with Disability Amendments Act (ADAAA). The essential functions are typical duties as outlined under Responsibilities.
Regular and reliable attendance.
May be exposed to various cleaning products.
