Home Hospital

Policies and Procedures for Home Hospital

California Education Code Section 48206.3 requires that Home/Hospital instruction be available to students with temporary disabilities that make attendance in regular day classes or alternative education programs impossible or inadvisable. A temporary disability is defined as “a physical, mental, or emotional disability incurred while a student is enrolled in regular day classes or an alternative education program, after which the student can reasonably be expected to return to regular day classes or an alternative education program without special intervention.” Home/Hospital students can normally be expected to return to their regular classes without special intervention after their disability has been addressed through medical intervention. Home/Hospital Instruction is not normally provided to students who may be out between one and two weeks. Instruction for these students can be handled at the site level through either short-term independent study or regular classroom teacher support with assignments and flexible timelines. School sites must notify parents at the beginning of the school term of the availability of individualized instruction for students with temporary disabilities. In addition, the school site has the obligation to inform a student’s parents of this option in the event that the site is aware of a disability affecting the their child’s attendance. If a student is admitted to a hospital that is outside of the Oak Park Unified School District for a prolonged period of time (two or more weeks), the district where the hospital is located becomes the district of residence for the purposes of instruction. AR6183(b) covers the regulations for this type of situation. As a general rule, teachers should not travel to homes/hospitals outside the attendance area of the Oak Park Unified School District to deliver home/hospital instruction. Due to liability issues, home/hospital teachers should not deliver instruction to a home/hospital student unless a parent/guardian is physically present in the home. This precaution will protect both the teacher and the district with regards to issues that may arise as a result of the lack of parental supervision during the time of instruction. Referral process when a parent inquires about Home/Hospital (HH) instruction, the following procedure should be followed:

● Step 1: Receipt of Parent Referral

○ Parent requests for Home/Hospital instruction should be immediately provided to the site administrator (in elementary settings) or school counselor (in secondary settings).

○ If the student is expected to be absent for less than 2 weeks, short-term independent study may be more appropriate.

○ If the referral is based on a medical situation and the student is expected to be absent for greater than 2 weeks, proceed to Step 2.

○ If the referral is not based on a medical situation (for example, psychological situations such as anxiety, stress, etc.), consider holding an SST to determine whether the student's needs can be addressed through accommodations on campus.

■ If the non-medical student's needs cannot be addressed on campus, or if

an SST meeting can not be held within a reasonable period of time, or if a doctor has already written the request for HH, proceed to Step 2.

○ The administrator/counselor should also consider whether a 504 assessment would be appropriate depending on whether the student may require more permanent accommodations upon returning to school.

● Step 2: Doctor’s Paperwork

○ If the student is expected to be absent for greater than 2 weeks, the administrator/counselor will provide the parents with an “Authorization for Release of Information" form with the doctor listed as well as the "Request for Home Hospital Teacher" form for the doctor and parents to complete.

■ The doctor must include a return date on the “Request for Home Hospital Teacher” form. If the return date approaches and the student is not expected to return on time, the doctor can complete a new form extending the time to a later specific date.

○ On the same day as the referral, the administrator/counselor will send the school nurse and the program specialist an email notifying them of the referral.

■ If needed, the school nurse will begin researching the student’s medical condition.

■ The program specialist will review the referral to determine whether a potential special education issue exists.

● Step 3: Processing Doctor’s Paperwork

○ When the "Request for Home Hospital Teacher" form is returned, immediately send it to the school nurse and the program specialist.

■ Note: The District has 5 business days from the date that the “Request for Home Hospital Teacher” form is returned to make a determination regarding whether HH is appropriate.

■ If an “Authorization for Release of Information" form has been signed and there is need for clarification, the school nurse will contact the doctor.

○ If the "Request for Home Hospital Teacher" form is not returned within 5 days, the administrator/counselor will contact the parent to determine whether the parents are still requesting HH.

● Step 4: Approval of Home/Hospital Services

○ If the paperwork is complete, the school nurse will forward the paperwork to Human Resources (HR).

● Step 5: Assigning a Home/Hospital Teacher

○ HR will work with the school site to identify a teacher and the student will begin receiving Home Hospital services within 5 business days.

■ Note: The total amount of time between the doctor's paperwork being received and Home Hospital services being implemented may not exceed 10 business days.

● The school site has the immediate responsibility to find a classroom teacher to provide services for the student. If possible, the student’s classroom teacher is preferred. In the event that the classroom teacher is

not available, the site should open the position to other credentialed staff on site. Following this, notification is made to other schools in the District and, if not successful, the Human Resources Office will review the current Guest Teacher roles to determine if there is a credentialed staff member available for the position. The school site will generate a Personnel Action Request (PAR) including the name of the student being served by the staff member.

● The assigned Home/Hospital teacher is responsible for filling out a “soft time card” that includes the name of the student receiving services. A student is eligible to receive one hour of Home/Hospital Instruction for every day that instruction is offered by the district in the regular education program. The maximum hours that can be offered to a student in any one week is dependent upon the number of school days in that week. For example, a week where school is held for only four days will result in a maximum of four days of home/hospital teaching. These soft time cards should be reviewed by the counseling/administrative staff at each site on a monthly basis and copies made prior to sending them to the Human Resources Office for verification and approval.

● In the event that a Special Education student is considered for Home Hospital placement, all of the above procedures apply and additionally the IEP team must meet to develop an IEP addressing Home Hospital placement. The IEP team must also ensure that proper notification of this action is given to the parent and to the Pupil Services Department.

● Step 6: Returning to School

○ Both Human Resources and the school nurse are responsible for monitoring the end date of a student’s HH services.

■ For HH services lasting longer than two weeks, the school nurse will contact the family one week prior to the end date in order to determine whether accommodations, a health care plan, or other supports may be needed upon return to school.

○ The school site (in collaboration with the school nurse) should consider holding a reentry SST meeting or 504 meeting (if applicable) just prior to the student returning from HH in order to discuss accommodations that may be needed for the student once he/she returns to campus.