Bristol County Agricultural High School
SPECIAL EDUCATION PROCEDURES
The principal must insure that all efforts have been made to address student needs within the regular education program. The District has developed a Curriculum Accommodation Plan (CAP) which outlines the assistance and supports available to students through regular education. Unless a clear disability and need for special education services is present, teachers should access the CAP process on behalf of students who exhibit continued difficulty learning in the classroom. As part of the CAP process, staff will meet as a team to discuss the development of an Individual Curriculum Accommodation Plan (ICAP) which will put in place various accommodations in an attempt to address the student’s learning issues.
All accommodations that are tried and their outcomes must be documented in the student’s folder.
The accommodations will be tried for a number of weeks (approximately 4 – 6 weeks) and the student’s progress will then be reviewed. New accommodations may be tried upon the review or a decision may be made to refer the student for a special education evaluation.
REFERRAL TO SPECIAL EDUCATION
Referrals to special education may be made as a result of the CAP process, or may be made by the parent, by the child’s physician, by a social worker or by any person in a caregiving or professional position concerned that a student may have a disability and be in need of special education. Parents may be encouraged to first access the CAP process prior to making a referral to special education, especially since that process generates much valuable information about the child’s learning. However, the parent has a right to decline the CAP process and proceed directly to a special education referral if they so desire.
It is preferable that referrals for special education come in written form, and that is usually the case. However, it is not required. Therefore, all staff members need to be alert to requests that parents may make about their child being evaluated. If the parent is requesting that the school evaluate the child or fund the evaluation of their child, the staff person should immediately inform the Director of Special Education of that request.
If the request comes orally, either in person or on the phone, the staff person should take the phone number of the person requesting the evaluation and inform that person that the Director of Special Education will call them to discuss their concerns and talk about an evaluation.
Once the referral is received, the school must send a notice to the parent and seek the parent’s consent to conduct an evaluation. This notice must go out within five calendar days of the receipt of the request for an evaluation. The N1 form (Notice of Proposed School District Action) in conjunction with the N1A form (Evaluation Consent Form) is the appropriate form to use for this purpose. A Notice of Procedural Safeguards will accompany the Notices.
Occasionally, the Team has access to assessments that have already been done on a student. After carefully reviewing the student’s school record for information that reflects the status of the child’s disability and/or school performance, the Team may recommend waiving certain assessments. If the parent agrees to the waiving of the assessment, that portion of the evaluation does not need to be performed. Instead, the Team will use the already available information in the student’s records.
Initial Evaluations
No evaluation can be done without the parent’s written consent.
The evaluation must be completed within thirty school days of receiving the parent’s consent to evaluate. The purpose of an initial evaluation is to determine eligibility for special education services and to provide information about the student’s educational needs. The student must be evaluated (with parental consent) in all areas of suspected disability and no single procedure should be used as the sole criterion for determining eligibility. An important part of the evaluation is the Educational Assessment (form 28R1). This form is completed by the Team Chairperson (Part A) and the classroom teacher (Part B). This assessment becomes part of the students’ record.
Reevaluations
Consent to do reevaluations must be sought in the same manner as for initial evaluations. If, however, the parent fails to respond to multiple attempts to get their permission to complete a reevaluation or if the parent refuses to give consent to a reevaluation, and if the school believes that the lack of consent for the reevaluation denies the student FAPE, then the school will seek resolution via due process procedures.
The evaluation must be completed within thirty school days of receiving the parent’s consent to evaluate. The student should be evaluated in the areas in which they receive special education service(s) but may also be evaluated in any new area(s) in which a disability is suspected. The Educational Assessment, Parts A and B must be completed for all reevaluations. The purpose of a reevaluation is to determine whether the student continues to be eligible for special education and, if so, to provide information to the Team to facilitate the writing of the IEP. Reevaluations are required when a Team suspects that a student no longer requires special education. No decision to remove eligibility can occur without current and complete evaluation information. No evaluation is required, however, before a student graduates from high school.
Extended Evaluations
Eligibility decisions must be made following any initial evaluation or reevaluation.
However, occasionally the Team feels that they need more information prior to writing a complete IEP. Under this circumstance, if the student has been found eligible for services, the Team should write a partial IEP providing those services already determined to be needed. Then, with parent acceptance, an extended evaluation may be done over one to eight school weeks to gather the information that the Team feels is still needed to write a more complete IEP. The Team must meet promptly at the end of the Extended Evaluation period which shall not exceed 8 weeks. The Extended Evaluation is not to be used to allow extra time to complete required assessments or to deny programs or services to a student and is not considered a placement. The Extended Evaluation form is form EE1.
Specific Learning Disabilities
Whenever a student is suspected of having a specific learning disability additional procedures are required. At least one Team member, other than the child’s teacher, must complete a classroom observation of the student’s academic performance. The observation should note specifics about the student’s performance and any relevant behavior and how it relates to the student’s academic functioning.
Evaluation Reports
Each evaluator must write a report based on the formal assessments he or she has completed as well as any information provided by parents, observations of the students, work samples, interviews or information in the cumulative record. Reports should be written in clear, jargon-free language that can be easily understood by parents as well as staff. The report should provide information regarding the possible presence or absence of a disability and interpret assessment results related to the student and provide strategies for teachers. Educationally relevant recommendations must be included by each evaluator. Reports must be completed in sufficient time so that they may be made available to the parents at least 2 days prior to the Team meeting.
Independent Educational Evaluations
Upon receipt of evaluation results, if the parent disagrees with an initial evaluation or a reevaluation completed by the school district then the parent may request an independent educational evaluation (IEE). As with initial requests for evaluations, it is preferable that the request is received in writing but it is not mandatory. Any staff member who believes that a parent is requesting an independent educational evaluation to be funded by the school should immediately notify the chairperson of the student’s Educational Team. The chairperson shall immediately notify the Director of Special Education who will respond to the parent in writing within five school days.
If the parent is requesting an evaluation in an area not assessed by the school district, the district may either agree to pay for the IEE or, within five school days, proceed to the Bureau of Special Education Appeals to show that its evaluation was comprehensive and appropriate.
Parents always have the right at any time to have their child evaluated privately at their own expense.
The school will convene the Educational Team to discuss the results of any independent evaluation provided to them within ten school days from the time the school receives the evaluation report. The Educational Team will consider the findings of the report and determine whether the child’s special education status or IEP (if any) needs to be revised as a result of the additional findings.
Within 45 school days of the receipt of the parent’s permission to evaluate their child the Educational Team shall be convened to consider the evaluation results, determine eligibility status and, if the student is found eligible for services, to write the IEP and determine the appropriate placement. (The placement decision may occasionally be postponed to another meeting depending on specifics of the case and time restrictions.) Notice of this meeting is sent to the parent at least ten days before the meeting is held using the N3 and N3A forms. The N3 form should state the purpose of the meeting as well as its date, time and location, and the N3A notice should indicate who has been invited to attend the meeting. Children ages 14 and older shall be invited to their own IEP meetings. For students with a disability beginning at age 14, or younger if appropriate, the meeting notice must indicate that a purpose of the meeting will be the development of a statement of the transition service needs of the student. The Notice of Procedural Safeguards will accompany the meeting notice. On the day of the meeting, all attendees will initial the N3A form to indicate their actual attendance at the meeting.
If the parent does not attend the meeting, another meeting will be scheduled and the Team chairperson will keep a record of attempts to contact the parent(s) for the purpose of having them attend the meeting. Contacts may be made by phone, in person, by mail, or by email. If after multiple attempts, by more than one method of contact, the school is still unable to convince the parents(s) to attend the IEP meeting, the school will conduct the meeting and forward the results to the parent.
If consent to do the evaluation is received within 30 to 45 school working days before the end of the school year, the school must schedule the Team meeting so as to allow for the provision of a proposed IEP or written notice of the finding that the student is not eligible no later than 14 days after the end of the school year.
Team Composition
Educational Teams must have the following members at a minimum:
· Parent
· Special education teacher
· Regular education teacher if the child is expected to spend any time in a regular education classroom setting.
· A person familiar with and able to commit the resources of the district
· An administrator
In addition, students aged 14 and above (or younger, if deemed appropriate) must be invited to participate in their own IEP meetings.
Eligibility is determined by the Educational Team following the evaluation of the child. The notice that invites parents to the Team Meeting (N3) must state that one of the purposes of the meeting is to determine eligibility for special education.
Flowchart
At the meeting, the Team will determine eligibility using the ED 1 form, frequently called the “Eligibility Flowchart”. If the child is found to have a disability, the Team will determine the type(s) of disability and so note it on the chart. In order to be determined to be eligible for special education services the student must meet the following conditions:
· The student must have a disability
· The student is not making effective progress
· The lack of effective progress is a result of the disability
· The student requires special designed instruction in order to make effective progress or requires related services in order to access the general curriculum.
No child shall be determined to be eligible for special education solely because of limited English proficiency, because the child fails to meet the school discipline code, or because the child lacks instruction in reading or math.
Specific Learning Disability
If the Team determines that the student is eligible as a result of having a specific learning disability, a Team report must be completed and placed in the child’s record. This report is done on the Specific Learning Disability Evaluation Form and should answer the following questions:
· Does the child have a specific learning disability?
· What basis was used for making the determination?
· What relevant behavior was noted during the observations and how does that behavior relate to the student’s academic functioning?
· What educationally relevant medical findings, if any, were found?
· Is there a severe discrepancy between achievement and ability?
· Does the severe discrepancy between achievement and ability require specially designed instruction?
· What was the Team’s determination concerning the effects of environmental, cultural or economic disadvantages and does the Team agree that the need for special education is not a result of such disadvantage?
Team members must sign this report to indicate that they agree with the finding of a specific learning disability. Any member who disagrees with the written report must submit a separate written statement to express their differing conclusions.
Other Considerations
If the student is not found to be eligible, the Team should discuss other means of addressing the learning needs of the student. Additionally, the Team chairperson shall record the reason for the finding of non-eligibility, list the meeting participants, and provide written notice to the parent of their rights in accordance with federal requirement within ten days of the Team meeting. This is done using the N2 (Notice of School District Decision) and the Notice of Procedural Safeguards.
As part of the eligibility discussion, the parent will be asked whether he or she is satisfied with the school’s evaluation. If the answer is no, a discussion should be held regarding a possible Extended evaluation and the parent’s rights to an Independent Educational Evaluation.
INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM
Once the child is determined to be eligible for special education services, the Team will write an Individualized Education Program (IEP) for the child, delineating his or her needs and how they will be addressed. The complete IEP packet consists of the Administrative Data Form (ADM1), the Individualized Education Program (IEP 1-8), and the Team Determination of Educational Placement (PL1). All fields on these respective forms must be completed and the forms should be stapled together in the order listed.
The IEP is developed by the Team and a draft or summary of the IEP is given to the parent at the end of the IEP Team meeting. The final IEP must be sent to the parent within three days of the Team meeting, or within five days if a weekend intervenes. Beginning at least by age 14 for each eligible student with a disability, the IEP will include a statement of needed transition services.
Whenever a paraprofessional will be involved in providing services to a student with an IEP the parent will be so informed when the IEP is developed.
The Team will determine whether the child requires any assistive technology devices or services in order to make adequate progress. If the Team so determines, those services or devices will be made available to the student.
Upon the conclusion of the Team Meeting the Team chairperson will complete the Administrative Placement Form (PL2) and submit it to the office of Special Education Director. This form records specifics about the child’s needs, services and placement that are needed to complete various state reports. It does not need to be filed in the student’s cumulative record.
Special Education providers must report on the progress of their special education students at least as frequently as grade reports are provided to the parents of regular education students.
Progress toward the achievement of each goal on the IEP must be addressed in the progress report by answering the following questions for each goal:
1. What is the student’s progress toward the annual goal?
2. Is the progress sufficient to enable the student to achieve the annual goal by the end of the IEP period?
Amendments may be used to make minor changes to an IEP using form IEP-A 1-2. Once an amendment is approved by the parent the amendment form must be attached to the IEP that it amends. Changes to the child’s IEP cannot be made until the parent has approved the changes in writing.
The District offers a range of services to special education students, as determined through the IEP process. The primary educational model is to include all special education students in the regular education classroom, with necessary supports and specialized instruction provided within that setting as needed, whenever possible. This is designed to maximize expectations, provide appropriate peer role-modeling, and assure that students are provided the opportunity to have their instruction consistently linked to the Curriculum Frameworks and provided by appropriately licensed teachers in the content area.
As necessary, students may be provided services and specialized instruction outside the regular classroom to support skill development, providing increased structure not available in the inclusive setting. This may include instruction and assessments in all academic areas and social-emotional support through individual and group counseling.
All students on Individual Education Plans are assigned a liaison to oversee specific service delivery, monitor overall progress and its connection to practical skills academically and vocationally, and serve as a primary communication link to parents/guardians.
The District does not currently provide services within resource settings, consistent with the philosophy that instruction in regular education settings is more valuable and practical than skill development in isolation. The District has the ability to alter programming to address severity of need, based on decisions made by IEP Teams.
The District will make available related services to students in need to assure their access to FAPE. These services will be provided, as determined to be necessary, through the eligibility and IEP process.
Audiology
Counseling Services
Occupational Therapy
Orientation and Mobility Services
Parent Support and Training
Physical Therapy
Psychological Services
School Health Services
Social Work Services in School
Speech and Language Services
Transportation Services
The School District is committed to placing students in the least restrictive environment possible. Placement decisions are made at Team meetings after service needs are determined. Placement considerations will start with the student’s needs and how they can be addressed in a regular classroom with modifications. Only if the student’s needs are unable to be successfully met in a regular classroom with modifications, or if the student’s presence could have a harmful effect on either himself or other students if placed in a regular classroom should placement outside of a regular classroom be considered.