B-SET for Career Network hosts summer meeting

The B-SET for Career Network held its summer meeting on June 14 to strategize the best way to advance the project. MAC convened this meeting with the goal of discussing ideas for a new model that will focus the work of B-SET that will engage members and produce effective results for the students. 

Attendees, who included members of B-SET from thirteen organizations, divided into three groups, each focusing on a different approach. The first group discussed the idea of a “One School Model,” and crafted a plan to work with one high school to address the individual transitional needs of Boston students and would later progressively work with other schools. The second group worked with Boston Public Schools (BPS) to create a framework for the transitional needs of all BPS 14 to 17-year-old students with IEPs. The third group discussed a “DIY” method, leaving space to explore a different type of model, and determined their focus would be increasing employment opportunities at various companies in Greater Boston. Each group detailed their plans, and the next step will be for the B-SET Coordinating Committee to review the plans and make a decision for the best path forward. 

MAC executive director Jerry Mogul opened with a brief overview of B-SET detailing the network’s collaborative work, which focuses on a common mission of developing pathways to employment for Boston Public School youth with disabilities. Charles Grandson, Chief Academic Officer of BPS, also addressed the attendees, emphasizing the limited outreach to special education programs for marginalized populations and the necessary involvement of BPS. An overview of BPS data showed that, in 2018, 21% of students aged 3 to 21 were enrolled in special education programs in Boston Public Schools (BPS).

Established in 2013, B-SET aims to ease the transition out of secondary education for students with disabilities by increasing inclusive workforce and higher education placements. Highlighting the importance of going beyond the school system, B-SET works to bring in the broader community to develop collaborative projects that will benefit the students.