Special Education Process

What is the HCS Special Education Process?

The Referral Process

• If a child’s teacher, parent/guardian/family member, or other school staff member has a concern about a student's school performance, they can contact the school administrator to request a special meeting to discuss these concerns. These meetings could include:

  1. • SIT (Student Intervention Team)

     • Section 504

     • Child Find

• If referred to the SIT team prior to or after Child Find...

  1. • The SIT team should review existing data and determine appropriate interventions to put in place to support the struggling student.

     • The SIT team should monitor the implementation of the plan and meet to review progress. The SIT plan can be reviewed and revised to make adjustments as needed to ensure the student is making progress.

     • If the student is not making progress with the interventions in place, the SIT team can refer a student for a “Child Find Meeting.”

• If referred for a plan under Section 504 prior to or after Child Find...

  1. • The 504 team should review existing data and determine appropriate interventions to put in place to support the struggling student.

     • The 504 team should monitor the implementation of the plan and meet to review progress. The 504 plan can be reviewed and revised to make adjustments as needed to ensure the student is making progress.

     • If the student is not making progress with the interventions in place, the 504 team can refer a student for a “Child Find Meeting.”

The Child Find Process

• 1. • The school-based team (Special Education teacher, General Education teacher, school psychologist, school social worker, administrators, and parents) will convene a Child Find meeting (within 10 business days from the referral to Child Find) to determine if the student requires assessments for purposes of determining if evaluations should be completed for eligibility of special education services.

     • If the school team determines evaluations are required, the school system has 65 days to complete the evaluations and to convene an eligibility meeting. Parent(s) must give written consent before evaluations can be conducted.

The Eligibility Process

• 1. • IF the student was referred for evaluations, the school system has 65 business days to complete the evaluations and to convene an eligibility meeting.

     • At the eligibility meeting, the school team will review the results of the evaluations and make an eligibility determination. School teams use eligibility criteria as determined by federal and state regulations. Students are found eligible if they have an identified disability, the disability has a substantial impact on their ability to access the curriculum, and they require specially designed instruction.

     • If the student is found eligible for special education services based upon the criteria under one of the IDEA disability categories, an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) will be written, with a meeting held within 30 calendar days from the date of the eligibility meeting. The parent must provide written consent to both the eligibility determination and the IEP before the student can receive special education services.

What is the difference between diagnosis and identification?

• Diagnosis refers to a provider outside of the school system (Doctor or Psychologist) testing and diagnosing a student with a disability.

• School systems do not diagnose a student with a disability.

• School systems test students based on a suspected disability and then identify those students that meet the criteria under IDEA for special education.

• School teams use a process dictated by federal and state guidelines to identify students for special education.

• The Child Find team determines if a student should be evaluated based on a suspected disability.

• The eligibility team determines whether a student meets the criteria for special education services for an identified disability under IDEA.

• If a student has a documented disability, but he/she does not meet the criteria for special education services, they can be considered for 504 eligibility or a SIT plan at the school-based level.