Special education is not a specific program or place. Children with disabilities (birth to age 21) have a wide range of services/programs available based on their unique need(s). In compliance with federal and state law, students with disabilities are served in the least restrictive environment to the maximum extent possible. Special education services are delivered in regular classrooms, in self-contained and resource room settings, on a Burlington-Edison Site, or at another educational location. Services are available at all schools including speech/language therapy, occupational and physical therapy, and psychological assessment.
All special education students participate, as appropriate, in general education classrooms and receive core academic instruction by highly qualified general education teachers. Some special education program offerings in the district are very restrictive and these placements, while appropriate for some students, must be weighed carefully and viewed critically by an informed Individual Education Plan (IEP) team, which includes a student’s parent(s). All placement decisions are formally reviewed and revised at the annual IEP meeting.