Our MISSION is to help students meet their individualized goals with staff in partnership with parents and community members. This partnership is committed to providing quality education in a safe environment giving students the opportunity to prepare for today's challenges and realize tomorrow's dreams.
It is our VISION and belief that students need to be prepared for their future as they leave high school, whether it be a job in the workforce, enrollment in a technical school, or attending a university. It is our goal to help students realize that the educational process is a life-long endeavor. We strive to help students realize the importance of becoming contributing members of society.
Our offices are located in the Washington Education Center, in Great Bend, where we coordinate services for the school districts listed above. We have staff members located in each school building and some staff who are itinerant, traveling between buildings and the school districts in the cooperative. Special education and related services are provided to students with disabilities who qualify for services ages 3 to 21, and to students who qualify for gifted services in Kindergarten to grade 12. All BCSS employees are employed by USD 428.
Proudly Serving:
Special Education Services:
The Barton County Special Service Cooperative offers a range of special education services based on an individual’s needs and in accordance with the participating districts’ obligation to ensure a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). Special education and related services are available to resident children attending public, private, and parochial schools who are identified as being educationally disabled in any of the following areas:
Specific learning disabilities
Emotional disturbance
Intellectual disability
Speech or language impairment
Orthopedic impairment
Other health impairments
Autism
Visual impairment/blind
Hearing impairment and deafness
Deaf/blindness
Traumatic brain injury
Young child with a developmental delay
Multiple disabilities
Special education and related services are offered to eligible students starting on their third birthday and continuing to age 21. Services are provided within the local districts, through State School Programs for Severely Disabled, by contractual agreement with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education-approved not-for-profit agencies, or purchase of services from neighboring school districts.