Special Education

Students with disabilities were particularly impacted by the closing of schools in spring 2020. In some cases, these students were unable to fully access the programs and services they needed to progress academically, particularly those programs and services that are best delivered in person. School reopening plans must always consider the special needs and requirements of students with disabilities. Our Supported Learning programs and services provide equity and access for students with disabilities to be involved in and to participate and progress in the general education curriculum. In consideration of the health, safety, and well-being of students, families, and staff, school reopening plans must be designed to enable transitioning between in-person, remote, and hybrid learning environments to ensure the provision of FAPE consistent with the changing health and safety conditions that exist. NYSED’s Office of Special Education (OSE) has created guidance documents to address frequently asked questions raised by parents, educators, administrators, and other key stakeholders regarding the implementation of special education programs and services and the provision of FAPE during this public health crisis. The OSE guidance is based on current information released from the United States Department of Education (USDE) as well as information contained in New York State Executive Orders and New York State Department of Health guidance. For your reference, links to the relevant federal and NYS resources are included at the end of this section.

LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT (LRE)

Students with disabilities must have equal access to high-quality programs that are designed, based on their individual needs and abilities, to enable them to achieve the desired learning results established for all students. The Rome City School District will be creative in ensuring that students with disabilities have opportunities for instruction with students without disabilities to the greatest extent possible consistent with their IEP. If providing in-person learning experiences, we must ensure that health and safety requirements do not result in the unnecessary separation of students with disabilities from their non-disabled peers. As schools plan to reopen and make determinations about how students with disabilities will receive access to their learning, the Rome City School District will continue our current practices related to the documentation of these services. In the event that there is an adjustment to a student’s LRE, the parent voice will be an integral part of that decision-making process.

INDIVIDUALIZED EDUCATION PROGRAM (IEP) IMPLEMENTATION

Until schools return to normal operating conditions, the same flexibility with respect to IEP implementation for delivery of services during school closures due to the COVID-19 outbreak continues to apply to the programs and services whether delivered in-person and/or remotely (e.g., flexibility with respect to the mode and/or manner; group or individual sessions; specific group size for related services, frequency, duration and location of related services, and special class size ratio etc.).

• During the first several weeks of the 2020-2021 school year, school staff will work to assess where students are in relation to their learning and any potential gap in learning caused by the COVID-19 school closures in the spring.;

• Teachers will utilize Cleartrack to maintain student records including instructional services provided, related services provided, formative and summative assessment data, and progress related to both areas to help inform CPSE and CSE committees;

• Staff will continue to maintain student contact logs of collaboration with parents to develop any contingency remote learning plans that may be implemented during a school closure;

• Schools must document the ongoing provision of compensatory services to individual students upon the reopening of schools. Documentation will then be available to parents, CPSE/CSE and other relevant parties, in their preferred language or mode of communication.

PROVISION OF SERVICES

Consistent with previously issued OSE guidance, school districts must ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, each student with a disability can be provided the special education and related services identified in the student’s IEP. During the 2020-2021 school year, due to the health and safety requirements that must be in place when schools resume, schools may not be able to provide all services in the same mode and/or manner they are typically provided. The Rome City School District is committed to providing our students with disabilities in-person services, to the greatest extent possible, throughout the 2020-2021 school year. This could be done with a hybrid model for some students where instruction is remote and related services is in-person. If a completely remote learning model is utilized, our district will continue to use the information included in OSE’s March 27, 2020 and April 27, 2020 guidance documents.

PROGRESS MONITORING

Teachers and service providers must continue to collect data, whether in-person or remotely, and use these data sets to monitor each student’s progress toward the annual goals and to evaluate the effectiveness of the student’s special education services. Determining student progress is necessary for understanding the student’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance, and for determining whether, and to what extent, the school closures may have disrupted the student’s learning. Reports of progress to parents may be made via telephone or other electronic means if progress reporting procedures specified in the student’s IEP cannot be met with reasonable efforts.

REFERRALS

Before referring a student for special education, the Rome City School District will take into consideration all factors that may have influenced the student’s progress during school closures due to COVID-19. If the school district suspects a student of having a disability, it must refer the student for an initial special education evaluation and obtain parent consent for the evaluation. However, a referral may not be warranted if the reason for underperformance is due to school closures and a change in the provision of education. All parent referrals and requests for referrals by school staff should be considered as usual per the procedures in Commissioner’s Regulations section 200.4(a).

INITIAL EVALUATION/RE-EVALUATION

School districts must ensure that special education evaluations (i.e., initial and re-evaluations) are conducted whether in-person or remotely within required timelines. The use of technology should be considered to meet timelines for evaluations and re-evaluations that must be conducted remotely. CPSEs/CSEs should review records to determine which students are due for an initial evaluation or re-evaluation and have a plan to address any backlog of evaluations. Schools should continue to follow OSE’s March 27, 2020 and April 27, 2020 guidance for conducting evaluations and re-evaluations during the COVID-19 pandemic to meet the special education timelines.

ELIGIBILITY DETERMINATION/ANNUAL REVIEWS

Consistent with the Rome City School District policy 8401 (Special Education Programs and Services) (https://drive.google.com/8401), the Committee on Special Education (CSE) is responsible for making recommendations to the Board of Education regarding the identification; placement of students with disabilities, the monitoring and evaluation of their academic progress.

• The CSE will convene periodically in accordance with federal laws and regulations to identify and review each student’s IEP at least annually and, if necessary, to make further recommendations to the Board of Education.

• The CSE will develop strategies to ensure the successful application of a student’s IEP and to include measuring academic progress to ensure that the student’s IEP remains confidential and is not disclosed to any person except in accordance with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and applicable regulations.

• The CSE shall ensure that each regular education teacher, special education teacher, related service provider, and other service provider who is responsible for the implementation of a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP) is given a copy or electronic access of such student’s IEP prior to the implementation of such program.

• Other service providers such as certain teachers, assistants, and support staff persons who have direct contact with a disabled student shall be given information of the specific accommodations relevant to their contact with such student.

• The Chairperson of the CSE shall designate a professional employee of the district with knowledge of the student’s disability and the education program, prior to the implementation of the student’s IEP, inform each such teacher, assistant and support staff person of his or her responsibility relating to the implementation of the IEP and the specific accommodations, modifications and supports that the student needs.

When conducting CPSE/CSE meetings, the parent of a student with a disability and a school district may agree to use alternative means of meeting participation requirements, such as video conferences and teleconferences.

PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS/PRIOR WRITTEN NOTICE

• School districts must continue to provide the procedural safeguards notice to parents.

• School districts must continue to provide parents with prior written notice in a reasonable time before a change in the identification, evaluation, educational placement or provision of FAPE to the student.

• The procedural safeguards notice, prior written notice, and CPSE/CSE meeting notice may be provided to the parent by email if the parent elected to receive documents by email.

• Prior written notice is not required if instruction or related services continue to be provided remotely or through a hybrid model because remote learning and tele-practice is considered an alternate mode of instructional delivery and not considered a change in the student’s educational placement. If, however, based on current circumstances, revisions or additions to a student’s IEP need be made to continue to meet the student’s needs while school is closed due to COVID-19, such changes must be made by the CPSE/CSE at a meeting or through a written agreement with the parent to amend the IEP without a meeting (with the expectation that parents must be provided a copy of the document amending the IEP and prior written notice of the proposed changes to the IEP).

ACCOMMODATIONS AND MODIFICATIONS

Schools must review their instructional practices to plan for the necessary accommodations and modifications for students with disabilities to progress in the general education curriculum. Accommodations are alterations in the way tasks and/or assignments are presented. Modifications are changes in what students are expected to learn. Both accommodations and modifications ensure equity and access to the general education curriculum in consideration of a student’s unique disability related needs.

INTEGRATED CO-TAUGHT CLASSROOMS

The Rome City School District currently offers integrated co-taught model classrooms for students in grades k-12 that have been identified for supported learning services. Our current structure for integrated co-taught instruction provides students with support across all grade levels, regardless of a student’s identified subject area of disability. Due to the social distancing requirements in a classroom, students will have to be spread out amongst two (2) classrooms within their respective grade level. The COVID-19 social distancing requirements will adjust our model from providing one (1) classroom or integrated co-taught per grade level, to two (2) per grade level in order to implement IEP’s, to the greatest extent possible. This will also require an adjustment in how the students with disabilities teacher is utilized throughout a specific grade level. Consideration will be given to shifting the co-taught model to more of a direct consultant teacher model.

RESOURCE SERVICES

Students who are classified by CSE may receive resource room services. Resource programs shall be used to supplement classroom instruction of students with disabilities. Instructional groups in a resource program shall not exceed five (5) students per teacher and be clustered based on similarity of individual needs, to the greatest extent possible. Students may be grouped based on the levels of academic or educational achievement and learning characteristics, levels of social or physical development, or management needs of the students. Rome City School District resource teachers address the student's needs as per their IEP goals. They also practice strategies to promote student learning such as pre-teaching vocabulary and concepts, scaffolding knowledge, using graphic organizers and other effective learning strategies. Resource services are designed to focus on the student's disability and are not a tutoring session to help with class assignments and homework. The resource teacher may also consult with the general education teachers to assist with program modifications within the classroom for the student. Identified students that are receiving resource room services may receive these services either in-person or remotely throughout the 2020-2021 school year. Students whose family opt for them to receive their primary learning in-person, will have access to their resource services while attending school during the week. Those students who have chosen to receive their instruction remotely, will also receive their resource services remotely.

SPECIAL PROGRAMS (8:1:1, 12:1:1, 15:1, AND 12:1:3+1)

The Rome City School District is committed to ensuring that these programs operate to the fullest extent possible in 2020-2021. It is our intent that all students involved with this program receive their learning and services in-person, to the greatest extent possible. In situations where families are not comfortable with their student(s) being in a school setting, we will work to develop a hybrid schedule where the student’s IEP programs and services will be met, to the greatest extent possible. Students within these programs will be recommended to wear a face covering throughout the day while working in close proximity to their teachers, however, it is understood that this may not be possible in some situations. If the face covering impedes the learning process and/or the student’s disability, the student will be able to remove the face covering. All staff working with our students will wear a mask at all times, and will wear gloves when appropriate. The Rome City School District recognizes the need for increased safety and health protocols for students and staff in these programs.

Our 12:1:3+1 program provides educational programming and related services within the classroom utilizing an interprofessional practice approach for our students. The interprofessional practice approach assists students with disabilities in maximizing their learning. Related Services staff may spend portions of their day in the classroom working with children and consulting with the special education teacher and teaching assistants.

RELATED SERVICES

Related Services are provided to students with disabilities throughout the district. A student may receive speech/language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing services, and/or counseling services. The frequency, duration, and location of the services are specified within the Individual Educational Plan (IEP). Students may receive any combination of the above services based on qualifying for the service. Related services are provided based on need. The Rome City School District provides related services both in the regular education or special education classrooms, as well as servicing students in a therapy room.

CONTACTS

Ms. Brenna Kosicki Mrs. Catherine Mucurio (preK-5) Dr. Cristin Checchia (6-12)

Director of Supported Learning Asst. Dir. of Supported Learning. Asst. Dir. of Supported Learning

bkosicki@romecsd.org cmucurio@romecsd.org cchecchia@romecsd.org

409 Bell Road, Rome, NY 13440

315.338.6581

https://www.romecsd.org/supportedlearning