Access Special Education Advisory Committee Meeting Information

Special Education Division's Advisory Committee

The Office of Administrative Hearings has established an Advisory Committee selected from persons who express an interest in serving on the Committee. (Ed. Code, § 56504.5, subd. (c)(8); Cal. Code Regs., tit. 5, § 3094; Interagency Agreement between the California Department of Education and the Office of Administrative Hearings.) The Advisory Committee is composed of parents, advocates, attorneys, and school employees among other interested persons.

Purpose:

The Advisory Committee was established to assist the Office of Administrative Hearings by providing non-binding recommendations for improvements to the special education hearing and mediation processes.

Composition:

The Advisory Committee is composed of two regions, the Southern California region and the Northern California region. The Committee has six members in each region. At least three members in each region must be parents or those who represent parents and students. The remaining members in each region will be comprised of others interested in serving on the Advisory Committee.

Term of Service:

Each member selected to serve on the Advisory Committee shall be appointed to a two-year term. A member interested in serving more than one term must reapply at the end of that member’s term. No one may serve more than two consecutive terms.

Expectations for Service:

Membership on the Advisory Committee is voluntary. Each member is expected to fully participate and attend every meeting. If a member is unable to attend a meeting, the member should email SE Operations at OAHSEOps@dgs.ca.gov as soon as the member knows that they will not be able to attend.

Removal from Advisory Committee:

If a member fails to attend two meetings, the Office of Administrative Hearings may remove the member and appoint a replacement member to complete the term. The replacement member will be selected to maintain the requirement that the Advisory Committee be composed of a majority of parents, advocates for parents, or attorneys for parents. When selecting a replacement member, the Office of Administrative Hearings shall consider the applicants who applied during the most recent application period.

Meetings:

Advisory Committee meetings are held twice a year. The meeting is held on the same day in each region in the fall (third Friday of October) and spring (third Friday of June). Advisory Committee members are expected to attend every meeting and may be consulted between meetings. All meetings are open to the public, and a period of public comment will be included at each meeting.

Application Process:

If you wish to be a member of the Advisory Committee, please complete and return the application to OAH during an announced application period, along with a one-page statement of interest describing your experience and interest in the Committee. Failure to submit a complete application or statement of interest may result in the application not being considered. For future vacancies, OAH will announce the opening of an application period on this website page, on the featured news items on OAH's home page, as well as send out an announcement to all who have requested that their names be added to OAH's Special Education Division's List Serve.

Selection Process:

Selection of the Advisory Committee members is at the discretion of the Office of Administrative Hearings. Members will be selected based on their role in the special education process (e.g., parent, attorney for parents and students, district representative, etc.) and stated interest in serving on the Advisory Committee.

THE NEXT ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING WILL BE ON FRIDAY june 21, 2024 BEGINNING AT 9:30 A.M.

The next Advisory Committee meeting will be held on Friday, June 21, 2024, via videoconference and in-person at a Northern and Southern California location, beginning at 9:30 a.m. and is scheduled to continue until 1:00 p.m. Please use the following link to attend the videoconference (the link will be provided at a later date), or you can copy the Live Broadcast URL below into your browser. You will need to use the current Chrome, Safari, Edge, or Firefox version.

Advisory Committee members can attend either by videoconference or at one of the in-person locations.

Videoconference Link

(link will be provided at a later date)

Northern California

Sacramento Location

Office of Administrative Hearings
2349 Gateway Oaks Drive Suite 262
Sacramento, CA 95825

Southern California

San Diego Location

Office of Administrative Hearings
402 West Broadway, Suite 600
OAH Conference Room
San Diego, CA 92101
Located in: The Emerald Plaza Building

Public Comment

Public comment can be provided verbally, either in-person, via videoconference, or in writing during the Advisory Committee Meeting. Members of the public attending by videoconference, please review the information below on how to participate in a Zoom Webinar, including how to provide verbal comment. To provide public comment in writing, please send an email to SEACComments@dgs.ca.gov prior to and during the meeting. (This email will not be monitored until the day of the next meeting). Each person shall be limited to one, three minute comment during each public comment window.

Request a Reasonable Accommodation for Disability or an Interpreter Other than Spanish

If you would like to request a reasonable accommodation for a disability, will require a language interpreter, or just have a question, please email SE Operations at OAHSEOps@dgs.ca.gov. Requests for a reasonable accommodation or a language interpreter need to be made 10 business days before the Advisory Committee Meeting as additional time to arrange the requested accommodation or language interpreter may be required. In your request, please inform OAH if you will be attending by videoconference or if in person, at which location.

Zoom Webinar Resources

The upcoming Advisory Committee meeting will be via Zoom Webinar. If you would like more information on attending Zoom Webinars, please visit the Zoom Attending Webinars Support Page. You may also access this site by using the URL: https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/sections/4415032875789-Attending-Webinars.

Additionally, Spanish interpretation will be provided for the meeting. If you wish to listen to the meeting in Spanish, please take a moment to review the information on the Zoom interpretation feature:

How to Listen to Language Interpretation

In your meeting/webinar controls, click "Interpretation" which will be next to a globe icon.
Click the language that you would like to hear.
(Optional) To hear the interpreted language only, click Mute Original Audio.

Notes

You must join the meeting audio through your computer audio/VoIP. You cannot listen to language interpretation if you use the dial-in or call me phone audio features.
As a participant joining a language channel, you can broadcast back into the main audio channel if you unmute your audio and speak.

Documents:

October 20, 2023 Meeting

June 16, 2023 Meeting

General Documents:

Advisory Committee Members for Current Fiscal Year
Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act - For further information, please visit the California Department of Justice webpage.

Please go to the Archived Advisory Committee Documents page for documents related to prior Advisory Committee meetings and Membership Lists.