WEBINAR: Educating a Whole Community About Food Allergies: One District’s Journey
In this webinar, we will address the laws' definition of a disability, schools' responsibilities, the responsibilities of individual students with disabilities, documentation issues, and participating in the interactive process in which schools are expected to engage.
This webinar will address the fundamentals regarding application of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (both laws are designed to protect individuals with disabilities) to the post-secondary setting. The emphasis will be on arming qualified students with allergies severe enough to be considered disabilities with information sufficient to enable them to negotiate the process and procedures for obtaining "academic adjustments" (modifications to policies, accommodations, and supports). We will address the laws' definition of a disability, schools' responsibilities, the responsibilities of individual students with disabilities, documentation issues, and participating in the interactive process in which schools are expected to engage.
About the Presenters
Dr. Lori Bein is the Superintendent of Arlington Heights School District 25. Located in a northwest suburb of Chicago, Illinois, District 25 is an Early Childhood – 8th Grade District serving 5,500 students in 9 schools. Dr. Bein has also served as a middle school teacher, an assistant principal, a principal, and an assistant superintendent in various suburban Chicago school districts, and has taught graduate courses for Loyola University Chicago and Roosevelt University. Dr. Bein has been an educator for 25 years. She and her husband, David, have 3 teenage children.
Ms. Ginny Hiltz is the Assistant Principal and Student Services Coordinator for Windsor School in Arlington Heights, IL. Windsor School houses two special education instructional programs serving approximately 50 students from around the district who have a variety of educational needs. Ms. Hiltz has also served as a second grade teacher, Library Media Specialist, and Differentiation Specialist at another suburban district, and as an Assistant Director and Director at an urban charter school. Ms. Hiltz is passionate about education and is currently completing her doctoral dissertation through Michigan State University’s Educational Psychology & Educational Technology PhD program. Ms. Hiltz has a three-year-old son who was diagnosed with a food allergy and asthma at the age of 9 months and who is a happy, active preschooler.
Eric Larson currently serves as the principal of Patton Elementary School, which is part of School District 25 in Arlington Heights, located in the northwest suburbs of Chicago, IL. Patton Elementary School is home to 450 students from kindergarten through fifth grade. Eric has been working in education for 13 years and has served as a middle school math teacher, middle school assistant principal, and elementary principal. Eric and his wife Codi have two happy, healthy children, one of whom was diagnosed with food allergies at a very young age.