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North Region SELPA

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Community Advisory Committee (CAC)

Community Advisory Committee

A collage featuring diverse images, including a classroom, a bridge, and children.

What is the Community Advisory Committee for Special Education?

The purpose of the Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is to establish a local forum to activate parent and community involvement in the provision of special education within the Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA). The CAC advises the Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) on the development, review, and implementation of the Local Plan. The State Education Code mandates that each SELPA must have a CAC and that a majority of the CAC members be parents. 

 

Our Mission: 

  • Enhance the education for all students with disabilities.
  • Increase understanding of Special Education issues.
  • Build the advocacy skills of our family/caregiver community through education and support.

2024-25 CAC Meetings

Meeting information from previous years can be found here.

We need your Voice

  • A student raises their hand in a classroom while another presents a project.

    Join our monthly meetings

    Make your voice heard and help advise special education in your school district. Our monthly meetings always have time for public comment. 

  • Children write in notebooks at a table, focused on their work.

    Suggest Topics for the Agenda

    Do you have a suggestion for the agenda at the CAC monthly business meeting? Please contribute ideas one month before the monthly meeting.

  • A person holds a ripe apple, showcasing its red and yellow hues.

    Join a CAC Subcommittee

    Make a difference in our community! Subcommittees do the grassroots work of carrying out the mission of the CAC. Any member of the public may participate in any of the subcommittees: Advocacy/Education, Membership/Engagement, and Communications.

Join CAC Monthly Meetings via Zoom

  • Advocacy/Education Meeting Link Meeting Times

     

    Our goal is to increase the understanding of special education issues and build the advocacy skills of our family/caregiver community through education and support. We seek to encourage meaningful communication among the SELPA policy board, school administrators, students/caregivers, and the broader community. We also advocate for legislation that enhance the lives of students with disabilities. Contact  advocacy@northregionselpacac.org to join.

  • Membership/Engagement 

     

    Our goal is to expand membership and engagement, particularly among historically underserved communities, so that all students/caregivers across the SELPA may be represented and equitably served. Contact officers@northregionselpacac.org to join. Besides CAC, join a support group within your own district.

  • Communications

     

    Our goal is to connect people across the SELPA member districts and to promote CAC activities in support of students with disabilities. Contact admin@northregionselpacac.org to join.

Events and Happenings

Note:  CAC webpage posts are compiled by CAC members and include resources/information that are not reviewed/vetted/endorsed by the North Region SELPA and may not align with IDEA.

 

 
The CAC will elect new members for terms beginning in calendar year 2025.

Read about CAC member roles and responsibilities. Nominate yourself by completing this application or help spread the word! If you can’t attend the 10/28 election meeting, apply anyway. Voting will continue until  seats are filled.

 

Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)

Past Events

Instructions to access video captions or another language

  • Third Annual Literacy Roundtable

    March 2025

    Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Emery, and Piedmont share data on how students are taught to read. 

    District Presentation Master Deck

  • "The Truth About Reading" Post film Discussion Panel

    March 2025

  • Graduation and Diploma Options for Students Receiving Special Education Support

    November 2024

    Cheryl A. Theis, Director Parent Training and Information Center, DREDF presents information related to IEP team decisions that support students secondary education including recent legislation opening up options for graduation and diplomas. Pathway to Graduation Slides

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    Postsecondary Transition Q&A

    May 2024 

    Follow-up Q&A session to our May 2023 eveent with postsecondary transition experts and transition services agency leaders about what transition planning should be and what services may be available to your student. 

  • Literacy Roundtable

    February 2024

    Emery, Berkeley, Albany, Alameda, and Piedmont share data on how students are taught to read.

    District Presentations Master Deck

  • Hopeville Post-film Discussion Panel

    January 2024

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    Faculty, staff and students from the UC Davis Redwood Seed Scholars and the Cal State East Bay Think by the Bay programs presentation on inclusive post-secondary education programs for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

    November 2023

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    How Do We Support Our Children Living and Learning with Dyslexia?

    May 2023

  • Alternative Pathway to a High School Diploma

    Powerpoint Only

    5-22-23 Presentation from Katy Babcock, North Region SELPA Director

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    Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD): What are the symptoms? How does it impact us? What interventions exist?

    November 2022

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    Post Secondary Transition

    May 2023

    Post-secondary transition planning is critical to ensuring that your student is prepared to lead a productive and independent adult life. Post-secondary transition experts and transition services agency leaders discuss transition planning.

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    Underestimated and Misunderstood

    May 2023

    A conversation about advocacy in education in partnership with non-speaking students and their families.

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    Middle and High School Transitions

    March 2023

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    "The Right to Read - The Greatest Civil Rights Issue of Our Time"

    October 2022

    Watch a post-film screening discussion with film subject Kareem Weaver of FULCRUM, Dr. Kathy Futterman of Cal State East Bay, Maria Pirner of OUSD, and Tandra DeBose of Family Resource Navigators.

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    Right to Read (continued) 

    November 2022

    District leaders share data and answer questions about how students are taught to read. You can access presentation decks from: The CAC; Albany; Berkeley; Piedmont; others to come.

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    Top IEP Transition Tips for Parents and Caregivers

    May 2022

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    You Don't Agree with the IEP, Now What?

    March 2022

  • North Region SELPA CAC Local Plan Orientation Learn about why local plans and SELPAS exist, their purpose, and more. Hosted by Cheryl Theis from DREDF on March 27, 2021. Viewing this orientation is required training for all CAC voting members.

Special Education and Related Services

Special education and related services give your child a reasonable opportunity to achieve IEP goals. IEP teams decide on services based on assessed area(s) of need and related goals. Your child may also need accommodations or modifications in the way instruction is presented and/or in the way your child is asked to show what they know. See a list of the most common services here.

Current Membership and Committees

We welcome families, educators, and community members of special education students in Alameda, Albany, Berkeley, Emery, and Piedmont Unified School Districts. Help us define our goals for the next year. Volunteer for sub-committees centering around education, advocacy, and more. Attend our monthly meetings.

 

To contact the CAC members or officers, please send an email to officers@northregionselpacac.org, and we will get your message to the right person.

Officer positions

  2024
Chair(s) Caroline Brossard 
First Vice Chair  
Second Vice Chair  
Secretary Dinesh Kumar

2024 Voting Members

District Name
Alameda Caroline Brossard
Jill Hunter
Monika Russi
Albany Dinesh Kumar
Jolene Gazman
 
Berkeley Eliza Noh
Emery  
Piedmont  

North Region SELPA CAC By-Laws

Mission and Duties of the CAC

Understand the mission, duties and guidelines for the North Region Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) Community Advisory Committee (CAC). These By-Laws were revised March 2021 in order to be more inclusive and expand representation in our membership.  

Read the By-Laws

Past Newsletters