'IEP, 504 Plan' workshop features local speakers

The National Business Institute will present the live video webinar "IEP and 504 Plan Legal Workshop" on Tuesday, October 12, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

IEPs and 504 plans are essential tools to ensure positive learning outcomes for many students. They also have the potential to cause legal issues for schools if they aren't properly planned and carried out. The experienced faculty for this comprehensive overview of legal liabilities in IEPs and 504 plans will teach attendees how to:

• Ensure students get the tools they need to succeed by properly determining if they are eligible for an IEP or a 504 plan.

• Implement legally appropriate 504 plans that ensure a level playing field for eligible students.

• Conduct IEP meetings that include all the necessary players, and know what to do if someone is unable to attend.

• Handle situations where an IEP just isn't working and modifications are immediately needed.

• Create behavioral intervention plans that properly take into account the information contained in functional behavior assessments.

• Properly protect the legal rights of students with IEPs and 504 plans in situations where discipline codes are broken.

Speaking at the webinar will be local attorney Lisa B. Kirsch Satawa and Dr. Lorilyn Coggins.

Kirsch Satawa is an experienced defense attorney at Kirsch Daskas Law Group in Bloomfield Hills who also specializes in trial consulting and training. She has practiced in cases involving criminal defense, children's rights, adoption, and the defense of juveniles charged with crimes. Kirsch Satawa's experience in litigating a variety of criminal cases, along with her expertise in child abuse and sex crime cases, gives her a comprehensive perspective as an attorney and trial consultant. With her experience as a trial consultant, she has developed a distinctive approach to serving clients that involves an emphasis on linguistics, forensic interviewing, psychology, and medicine, coupled with the law.

Kirsch Satawa is also a certified adoption attorney, helping to bring families together by placing children in loving homes. She belongs to the National Counsel for Children, National Child Abuse Defense Resource Center, National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan, State Bar of Michigan Children's Law Counsel, and the Oakland County Bar Association Juvenile Law Committee. Kirsch Satawa graduated from Boston University and Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State University College of Law).

Coggins works at Education Management & Networks Inc., as a compliance director for the six charter schools that are currently serviced by the organization. Coggins earned her doctorate in psychology with a focus on humanistic education from the Center for Humanistic Studies which is now the Michigan School of Professional Psychology. She also earned her specialist degree and master's degree in clinical psychology from the same institution. Her bachelor's degree was earned at Spring Arbor College in family life education. She has spent the last 25 years working in the charter school movement helping to launch dozens of schools in Michigan.

Cost for the webinar is $349 which includes the course book. To register, call 1-800-930-6182 or visit www.nbi-sems.com.