Case conference recordkeeping; what should you keep?

An early blog article on 15 minutes discussed keeping a notebook just for your conference, to keep and take notes and to organize anything you may be given. Another possible time saver for a family is to make your own report.

It's simple to make up your own form to document all that occurs once the case conference begins. It may sound stupid, but date everything. This gives you a frame of reference for when particular events occur.

Be sure to document each attendee and if they were excused for any amount of time. This gives a parent a sense of who was there and said what. It also helps to keep the names with the faces.
List the issues you wish to discuss. This will be particularly helpful during the conference, keeping you on track to discuss each concern and ensuring you get to them all in good time.

Parents might find it helpful to allow space for listing what was actually discussed, in case the conference gets away from the participants. It helps you track weak points in your own conferencing style as well. While we love to hear great things about our kids, there's only so much time to talk.

Leave space for the outcomes. What was decided today and how will we implement it? Later on, it will be useful to have something to refer to when you discuss your conference or decisions made there. There will be no doubt in your mind what agreements were reached and when because of your thorough dated notes.

Keeping copies of a form makes for easy prep. You can grab the form and stuff it in the file on the way out the door, and always have clean notes from your conference.

Schools are crunching the numbers in Perry Township.

Image via Wikipedia











Here in Perry the outlook is bleak. With the money crunch, there is a temptation to use money as a factor in case conferences. They cannot give in to this temptation though, because it would be wrong. Further, it violates a law. You know the one I mean.

Things to remember in a money crunch:

• Cost is never a factor-Never.
• Removing services should require as much data as assigning them.
• Documentation is king!
• Determine strategic goals, then discuss staffing.

October is the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year.  Fighting a recession is not a good reason to cause a regression. Write your goals before you write your checks.