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SIRAS Newsletter February 2025
IMPORTANT Information for all users in SIRAS
SIRAS Systems has been participating with the Office of the former First Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, in the Joining Forces initiative helping families in the military who have children with disabilities. This collaborative effort will help records move more quickly and securely when families move, resulting in their students with disabilities being served more quickly upon arrival at their new schools. SIRAS Systems was invited to the White House to celebrate and is proud that Michael Brown was able to attend this momentous occasion! See more at this link.
New Features within SIRAS
A new checkbox to exclude overdue IEPs with a Delay Reason option for the Compliance Concern gauge on SIRAS Home Page. This will help identify those students who may need a delay reason entered for CALPADS reporting. 
When there is an initial and the parents do not consent to assessment, a new button will appear to “Force Finalize” close the meeting and make the record ‘Inactive’.
In response to user feedback regarding the need for Historic Provider reports, this new feature to record the date when the Provider was applied to the student record was recently added. Prior to this feature, the date was unknown, so we provided the SIRAS Admin the ability to add that date if they wanted to. Hereafter, SIRAS will auto enter that date. 
A new Session Delivery option, ‘Telehealth’, was added to the Service Log.
Ventura County SELPA users now have access to an ‘Independence Plan for Intensive Individualized Services’ page. Training opportunities for this new page are available and instructions for the page can be found under the blue question mark for it.
Supplementary / ESY Services / Transportation form should be reviewed along with the rest of the IEP at least annually. No supplementary services should be added or continued without the responsible personnel giving input. Services/supports no longer needed should be removed.
Reminder that there is a dropdown menu (provider titles) for the “Responsible Personnel” box on the Supplementary Page. This dropdown allows you to choose from a list of who is responsible for each support. This is also an important box to use as it assists in pulling reports about these services.
Annual IEP implementation monitoring: This spring, the CDE will again be collecting service data for a random sample of students from each LEA. The service log feature in SIRAS is a great way to document that services have been completed. As a reminder, a provider is able make a log note for multiple dates, both for individual students and group sessions using the service log feature in SIRAS. In addition, you can select the number of minutes served in a single click. Check out the Service log video for more information.
Get Ready for Spring ELA, Math, Science and EL testing:
SIRAS can now send SBAC/ELPAC/504 accommodations data to TOMS with the SIRAS to TOMS API connection. Contact brian@sirassystems.com for more information on enabling this included feature. As last year’s accommodations were not saved in TOMS, we anticipate that a full export will still be needed this year to catch those students who do not have an IEP before the testing window opens.
The statewide testing windows open soon. Review your SBAC/CAA/ELPAC data in SIRAS. Your district will likely export supports and accommodations for TOMS 1-2 weeks prior to the first day of testing in your district. If needed, schedule IEPs to make necessary changes prior to the data export(s). The TOMS Export Procedure Help Sheet contains guidance for case managers on data review, for SIRAS administrative staff on the data export for TOMS and for test coordinators on the upload of test supports and accommodations to TOMS.
CAASPP and ELPAC supports for 2024-2025 have been updated by the CDE and are updated in SIRAS. New UDA menu updates have been deployed to SIRAS.
Use the Student Data Overview links on your home page to monitor Upcoming and Overdue meetings.
Review your open meetings regularly. Finalize IEP meetings as quickly as possible, right after parent consent has been received.
DRDP: Now is the time to print your reports directly from DRDP. The information can be used by the IEP team and shared with parents.
All 504/SST Module users are invited to attend Office Hours with SELPA. Find the schedule with zoom link here.
IMPORTANT Information for SIRAS Data Administrators in SIRAS
Now that the Fall 1 is over, print your certified reports and continue practicing ongoing data monitoring procedures. These include addressing Errors/Warnings in SIRAS and in CALPADS/View Submissions, sending data to CALPADS weekly, reviewing the results of your Predefined Queries for Compliance and CALPADS concerns, monitoring open meetings for readiness to finalize, reviewing Statistical Reports from SIRAS, reviewing your New Referral List and archiving records with Parental Consent. See the Happy Fox Support Center for a complete list of Data Monitoring Procedures.
Save your Fall 1 CALPADS 16 dot reports for future use. Utilize the data tracking worksheet to summarize the data from CALPADS reports.
Register now: The Spring EOY meeting for SIRAS and CALPADS data administrators is scheduled for May 1, 9:30-12:30 via Zoom. The flyer is linked here.
~ SIRAS Translation Services ~
SST Tracker and the 504 Modules:
Contact steve@sirassystems.com for a quote and to arrange
The modules employ Transfer buttons on the MIS Summary page which move the student record from one module to another (for example, SST to 504 or SST to Special Education). If your district is interested in using either the SST Tracker or the 504 Plan Developer email Siras Systems for assistance to get started.
Optional Costs:
- Customized 504 Forms
- SIS Integration of demographic and contact data
- Training & Workshops
