Blacklick Valley School District
Special Education Department
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SPECIAL EDUCATION
Under Pennsylvania and federal law, a child with a disability has a right to special education and related services that are provided:
At public expense
Under public supervision and direction
Without charge to preschool (ages 3-5), elementary or secondary school students
In conformity with an Individualized Education Program (IEP). This means that students with disabilities who need special education must receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE).
In the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).
FAPE includes related services that help your child get to school and benefit from the special education program. These may include:
Special transportation
Physical or occupational therapy
Other services which help or support your child as your child grows and learns
YOUR CHILD'S INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM (IEP)
The IEP team writes the Individualized Education Program (IEP). This plan will be written at a meeting and will include a description of all the programs and services necessary to help your child be successful. The IEP team uses information that is contained in the ER to write the IEP.
As a parent, you are an IEP team member. It is important that you attend these meetings. Meetings will be scheduled to fit in with your schedule and school official's schedules. You will get a written notice of when, where, and why the meeting will be held and a list of the other people who are invited to attend. The IEP meeting is to be scheduled at a time and place that is mutually agreed upon by you and your school district. If the date or time is not convenient, you may ask for a change. Parents may also be included by telephone if it is impossible for them to attend the meeting in person.
Required members of each IEP team are:
1. The child's parent(s)
2. At least one of your child's general education teachers (if your child is, or might become, part of general education classes)
3. At least one special education teacher
4. A representative of the school district who:
a. Is qualified to provide or supervise special education programs
b. Knows about the general curriculum
c. Knows about the availability of the resources the local education agency(LEA) can offer
5. Someone who can interpret the evaluation results, who may already be a team member
6. At your request or that of the school district, other people who know your child well or who have worked with your child. You may bring an advocate to advise you or anyone else who will be able to add information about your child's educational experience.
7. Your child at age 16 when planning will be done for life after graduation or any time before that age when you want your child to be present, and it is appropriate.
8. A representative from a vocational-technical school if a vocational-technical school is being considered for your child.
One person may fill more than one of the above roles. The minimum number of people at the IEP meeting should be four in most circumstances: you, the local education agency (LEA) representative, a special education teacher, and a general education teacher (if your child will participate at all in general education). The general education teacher may not attend all meetings or stay for the entire meeting time, but must be a team member. Mandated members of the IEP team may be excused from the meeting if you and the school district agree in writing. If a member is excused and his/her area of expertise is being discussed, he/she must provide written input before the meeting.
If you choose not to attend the IEP meeting, it may be held without you.
IEP TIMELINES
The IEP must be completed within 30 calendar days after the evaluation team issues its Evaluation Report. the IEP plan must be put into action as soon as possible, but no later than 10 school days after the IEP is completed.
Your child's program is reviewed every year at an IEP meeting or more often if requested by you or any other IEP team member. Additional evaluations (reevaluations) are conducted at least every three years (but parents and school officials may agree in writing that reevaluation is not necessary) or every two years if your child has mental retardation.
IEP CONTENTS
The IEP team will review all the evaluation material and will determine how your child is performing in school now. The IEP team will write annual goals and short term learning objectives (for students with disabilities who take the alternate statewide assessment aligned to alternate standards) that can be measured and are designed to meet the needs of your child.
The IEP team will determine:
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Where, what kind, how much, and how often special education and related services will be provided. For example, the IEP may say "individual speech therapy, 30-minute periods, three times per week, in the speech room." Special transportation utilized by other children in the neighborhood, also falls under this category. For example, the IEP may say "a bus that will lift a wheelchair from the curb taking Jimmy from his home to school with a ride no longer than 30 minutes."
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The tests or other methods of evaluation that will be used to decide if the student is meeting the annual goals and learning objectives and how and when this progress will be reported to you. Progress on meeting annual goals must be reported periodically, such as through the use of quarterly reports.
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How much, if any, the student will NOT participate in the general class, or in the general education curriculum; when your child will be in settings with other special education students only; when your student in special education will NOT be studying skills of knowledge that are directly linked to the skills and knowledge studies by the children in general education.
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The adjustments and supplemental aids and services in the general education setting, if any, for your child to succeed in a general education class. This could include, for example, giving the child untimed tests or having someone help the child take class notes.
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The adjustments needed, if any, for the child to participate in statewide or districtwide tests. If the child is not able to participate, even with adjustments, another assessment will be done that will show the child's skills. Participation in this alternate assessment will be documented in the IEP.
In developing the IEP, the team must consider:
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Your concerns
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Whether a child exhibits behavior that interferes with the child's learning or the learning of others and therefore needs a behavior management plan
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The needs of children with limited English language skills
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The use of Braille for children with visual problems
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The communication needs of students, including students who are deaf or hard of hearing
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Whether the child needs assistive technology devices or services to communicate or participate in the activities which are going on around the child.
Information on the following must be provided in the IEP, if appropriate for your child:
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Extended School Year - In some cases, interruptions in the school schedule, such as summer break, will result in children with disabilities losing many of their basic skills, and taking a long time to get those skills back once school begins again. Extended School Year (ESY) services are to be provided during breaks in the educational schedule to prevent this loss as part of a free appropriate public education.
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Special or modified physical education (adaptive physical education) for children who cannot take part in regular physical education because of their disabilities.
PLANNING FOR LIFE AFTER GRADUATION
As your child gets older, the IEP team will design a program to help your child prepare for life when your child is finished with school. This is called transition planning because planning is done through the IEP to facilitate the transition from school to the world of work or other activities in which the young adult may be involved. Your child will learn the skills needed in the future while he or she is still in school.
By the time your child is 16, or sooner if the IEP team agrees, the IEP team must decide what kinds of courses your child will take. Examples include art courses, vocational courses, or courses to prepare your child for higher education, which may include college.
Planning for transition from school to adult living must begin when your child turns 16 or sooner if the IEP team thinks early planning would be appropriate. The IEP team (including your child, if possible) must discuss what you and your child want your child to be doing when high school is competed. These plans must include the kind of education training your child will receive, the kind of job your child might have, where your child will live, and how your child will spend time in the community.
EDUCATIONAL SETTING
The special education program will be completely developed before the IEP team decides where the program will be provided. The IEP team will look at different classes or school to see where that program can be delivered. The first place it will consider will be the general classroom in the neighborhood school where your child would attend if your child were not eligible for special education.
The law requires that children with disabilities be placed in situations that will give them as many opportunities as appropriate to be with students who are not disabled. This is called placing the student in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). The LRE is the general class in the neighborhood school unless the IEP team determines that the special needs of the child cannot be met there even with supplemental aids and services.
THE APPROPRIATE CLASS
The classroom chosen for your child will depend upon the amount and kind of special instruction or services your child needs. A special education teacher may be able to give instruction in the general classroom.
For some children, placement in a special education class for some of the day is necessary. Students who receive most of their instruction in basic academic subjects in special education classes will have opportunities to participate in other activities in school with general education students. These opportunities might include participation in elective subjects such as art or music, belonging to a general homeroom, socializing in the lunchroom, and attending assemblies and other enrichment programs with general education students.
School districts in Pennsylvania must make available the following types of classes for the placement of their children with special needs if an IEP team decides that a particular type of class is necessary. these classes are formed around the the learning needs of children who are assigned to them:
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Learning support class - for children whose greatest need is for help in academic areas such as reading and math.
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Emotional support class - for children whose greatest need is for social, emotional, and behavioral help.
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Life skills support class - for children whose greatest need is to learn skills that will allow them to live and work independent of their families.
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Sensory support skills class - for children who require help in dealing with disabilities resulting form limited vision or hearing.
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Speech and language support class - for children who have difficulty speaking and communicating.
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Physical support class - for children who need programs that consider their physical disabilities.
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Autistic support class - for children with autism.
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Multiple disabilities support class - for children with more than one disability, the combination of which results in needs requiring many services and much support.
Children with different disabilities can be placed together in one class if their learning needs are similar and they can all benefit form the same level and manner of instruction.
The law requires that special education students by places in classes with students of the same age range. At the elementary level (grades K - 6), a class cannot have children who vary in age by more than three years. At the secondary level (grades 7 - 12), an age range of no more than four years is allowed. An exception can be made by the IEP team for an individual child based on the child's needs. It must be explained in writing in the IEP.
NOTICE OF RECOMMENDED EDUCATIONAL PLACEMENT (NOREP)
Once you have developed the Individualized Education Program (IEP) with the IEP team, you will received a Notice of Recommended Educational Placement (NOREP). The NOREP explains the educational placement or class recommended for your child and explains your rights. You must approve the IEP and educational placement in writing for your child's first special education placement before the school is allowed to begin implementation. For subsequent IEPs services will continue without your signature on the NOREP.
If you are placing your child in a private school and are asking the school district to pay for this private school because you believe your child is not receiving a free appropriate public education, you must give advance notice to school officials. This notice can be given at the IEP meeting or in writing 10 business days before you remove your child from public school. If you do not give this notice, the reimbursement to you may be reduced or denied. If the school district gave notice of their intent to evaluate your child for special education prior to your removal of your child, reimbursement may be reduced or denied if you did not make your child available for the evaluation. Reimbursement may be reduced or denied for the private placement if a court thinks your actions have been "unreasonable." An exception to the reducation or denial of reimbursement will be made if you are unable to read or write in English, physical or serious emotional harm to the child may result if the parent adhered to the prior notice requirements, the school prevented the parent from providing the notice to the school, or the school failed to give the parent notice of these rights and procedures.
Additional information may be obtained through the booklet entitled "Pennsylvania Guide to Special Education for School Aged Children". This booklet is available by contacting the Blacklick Valley School District Special Education Office using the email links below.
Nichole Kolarik, Special Education Director
Renee Williamson, Administrative Assistant
