Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools' CTE Special Populations program is designed to offer comprehensive support services to students who experience barriers that could hinder them from succeeding in their educational goals within CTE classes.  Our Special Population Program offers additional assistance to support students in achieving their educational goals. CHCCS CTE strives to enrich the educational experience, promote success, and contribute to the economic self-sufficiency of Special Population students. Assistance is provided for special populations to ensure equal access to recruitment, enrollment, and placement activities. The Special Populations Coordinator (SPC) supports the Career and Technical Education department by identifying students within special populations each semester who are taking any CTE courses and providing support to those CTE teachers with possible teaching strategies.  The role of the SPC also includes collaborating with other service providers to assist the members of special populations in academic, social, and personal development. The SPC is available to work with students who need assistance accessing or maintaining CTE knowledge.

Laws and Policies

The Basics of Special Education

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) mandates a “free appropriate public education” for students with disabilities — as defined by the statute — and ensures special education and related services to those children. IDEA outline the process of how a student in need of special education services is identified and tested, as well as how their curriculum and classroom placement should be modified.  

Students with disabilities should learn alongside other students in the classroom as much as possible to promote inclusion. Aids or extra services must be provided by the district to make this inclusion a reality. This might include a variety of accommodations, including technical support, teacher training, or extra assistance. If a student ends up with a placement outside of the traditional classroom, there must be proof by the district of the setting not benefiting the student.  

Section 504 and 504 Plans

Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities, including in public education. While IDEA provides funding for the education of students with disabilities defined by that law, Section 504 is an anti-discrimination regulation that is not tied to funding.

Section 504 is different from the Exceptional Children’s Program in that the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) has a defined list of disabilities that may qualify under IDEA. Section 504 is much broader in that it has no list. Each potentially qualifying disability must be assessed individually. A student qualifying to be served by Section 504 is one that has:

1. a physical or mental impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities,

2. a record of such impairment, or

3. is regarded as having such an impairment.

Section 504 is enforced by the Office of Civil Rights. Please contact your school or district coordinator of Section 504 for additional information.

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) was signed by President Obama on December 10, 2015, and represents good news for our nation's schools. This bipartisan measure reauthorizes the 50-year-old Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the nation's national education law and longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students.

The previous version of the law, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, was enacted in 2002. NCLB represented a significant step forward for our nation's children in many respects, particularly as it shined a light on where students were making progress and where they needed additional support, regardless of race, income, zip code, disability, home language, or background. The law was scheduled for revision in 2007, and, over time, NCLB's prescriptive requirements became increasingly unworkable for schools and educators. Recognizing this fact, in 2010, the Obama administration joined a call from educators and families to create a better law that focused on the clear goal of fully preparing all students for success in college and careers. 

ESSA includes provisions that will help to ensure success for students and schools. Below are just a few. The law:

• Advances equity by upholding critical protections for America's disadvantaged and high-need students.

• Requires—for the first time—that all students in America be taught to high academic standards that will prepare them to succeed in college and careers.

• Ensures that vital information is provided to educators, families, students, and communities through annual statewide assessments that measure students' progress toward those high standards.

• Helps to support and grow local innovations—including evidence-based and place-based interventions developed by local leaders and educators.

• Sustains and expands this administration's historic investments in increasing access to high-quality preschool.

• Maintains an expectation that there will be accountability and action to effect positive change in our lowest-performing schools, where groups of students are not making progress, and where graduation rates are low over extended periods of time.

The Future Ready Core Occupational Course of Study

The Future Ready Core Occupational Course of Study (FRC-OCS) is one of two courses of study a student with disabilities may complete to graduate with a high school diploma in North Carolina. The FRC-OCS is available for those students with disabilities who are specifically identified for this program. The requirements are listed in Section II of the current graduation policy, GRAD-004, for students entering grade 9 for the first time in 2021-2022. See Sections II, IV, VI, and VII for previous OCS graduation cohorts.

The FRC-OCS is intended to meet the educational and career development needs of a small group of students with disabilities who require a variety of substantive instructional supports and accommodations throughout the school day to access and make progress towards grade level standards. Most students with disabilities will participate in and complete the Future Ready Core Standard Course of Study (FRC-SCOS) with the use of accommodations and supplemental aids and services as identified in the student’s IEP. The FRC-OCS is intended for students whose primary goal is to go directly into employment or to attend a post-secondary education program resulting in a licensure or credential upon graduation from high school. The IEP Team should complete the OCS Considerations document, which is located in the OCS LiveBinder, to determine the appropriateness of this course of study.  

For more information about the FRC-OCS parents and students should contact the Exceptional Children department and/or guidance department at their local high school.