13 - Educational Services Provided in Other Settings

This section addresses procedures for providing educational services to students in other settings (outside of Wellesley Public Schools), including students attending out-of-district placements, enrolled in private schools at private expense within the District, educated in institutional settings, or receiving educational services in the home or hospital.

Out-of-District Placements (SE 37)

If an out-of-district placement is designated by the Team, the Team shall state the basis for its conclusion that education of the student in a less restrictive environment with the use of supplementary aids and services could not be achieved satisfactorily.

When an out-of-district placement is identified by the Team, the determination shall ensure that the student’s placement is as close as possible to the student’s home. The Team shall not recommend a day or residential school program outside of the city, town, or school district in which the student resides unless there is no suitable program within the city, town, or school district. The school district shall implement the placement decision of the Team and shall include consulting with personnel of the school contemplated to provide the program for the student to determine that the school is able to provide the services on the student's IEP. The Team shall not recommend a specific program unless it is assured that the adequacy of said program has been evaluated and the program can provide the services required by the student’s IEP. Team identification of specific schools, however, shall not supersede LRE considerations, IEP considerations, or requirements to give preference to approved programs as provided in 603 CMR 28.06(3)(d).

General requirements for out-of-district placements

For the duration of any student’s placement in an out-of-district setting in Massachusetts, Director of Student Services shall make a good faith effort, to ensure that the student’s IEP is being appropriately implemented and that service delivery in the out-of-district setting is aimed at assisting the student to meet the goals identified on the student’s IEP.

Program oversight

The Department shall determine that programs approved under 603 CMR 28.09 have appropriate policies, procedures, and appropriately credentialed staff as may be necessary to provide special education services to publicly funded students. The Department shall investigate and resolve concerns raised through the Problem Resolution System of the Department. The approval activities and oversight of the Department for the approved programs does not relieve school districts of their responsibility to monitor the programs of individual students enrolled in the approved programs by the school districts. The approval activities and oversight of the Department for the approved programs does not make the Department a guarantor or insurer for services or programs provided to individual students.

Individual student program oversight

The school district monitors the provision of services to and the programs of individual students placed out-of-district. Documentation of monitoring plans and all actual monitoring are placed in the files of every eligible student who has been placed out-of-district. To the extent that this monitoring requires site visits, such site visits shall be documented and placed in the students’ files for review. The duty to monitor out-of-district placements cannot be delegated to parents or their agents, to the Department, or to the out-of-district placement. The school district may, however, contract directly with a person to conduct such monitoring.

Student right to full procedural protections

School districts that place eligible students in out-of-district programs retain full responsibility for ensuring that the student is receiving all special education and related services in the student's IEP, as well as all procedural protections of law and regulation, including but not limited to those specified in 603 CMR 28.09. Any Team meetings conducted during the time that a student is enrolled in the out-of-district program shall be initiated by the school district in coordination with the out-of-district placement.

Approved and Unapproved Out-of-District Placements

Requirement to use approved programs

Wellesley Public Schools first seeks to place a student in a program approved by the Department pursuant to 603 CMR 28.09. Preference is also given to programs located within the state of Massachusetts if the choice of such program is consistent with the needs of the student and choice of such program complies with LRE requirements. When an approved program is available to provide the services on the IEP, the district will make such placement in the approved program in preference to any program not approved by the Department.

Use of unapproved programs

If the Team is unable to identify an appropriate placement in an approved school, the Director of Student Services may request assistance from the Department. Such request will be in writing and will contain copies of all assessments from the evaluation or reevaluation, the complete referral package that had been sent to approved schools, a listing of all approved schools that had been considered, and the decision given by such schools to refuse admission. A school district that places a student in a program that has not been approved by the Department according to the requirements under 603 CMR 28.09 must ensure that such programs and services are provided in appropriate settings by appropriately credentialed staff able to deliver the services on the student’s IEP. Students placed by the school district in such programs shall be entitled to the full protections of state and federal special education law and regulation, including but not limited to those protections specified in 603 CMR 28.09 and in 603 CMR 18.00.

The following documentation is required and may be reviewed by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education at any time:

  • Documentation of the search for and unavailability of an approved program

  • Documentation that the unapproved program has been evaluated for appropriateness and to determine that the unapproved program can implement the student’s IEP.

  • If services in an unapproved program are provided in a school setting, the Director of Student Services will ensure that such school has received approval from the local school committee under M.G.L. c.76, § 1 and that a copy of such approval is retained in the student record.

  • The Director of Student Services will obtain pricing forms required to set program prices for programs receiving publicly funded students. Such pricing forms shall be completed by the proposed placement and shall document that the price proposed for the student’s tuition is the lowest price charged for similar services to any student in that program.

Out-of-state placements

If such services are provided in a placement outside of Massachusetts, and such school has not received approval by the Department under 603 CMR 28.09, the Director of Student Services will ensure that such school has received approval from the host state. No placements of Massachusetts students may be made in out-of-state programs without approval of the program by the host state or, if the host state does not have an approval process, then the program must provide documentation of reputable accreditation.

Written contracts

School districts shall enter into written contracts with all out-of-district placements. Each such contract shall include, but not be limited to, the following terms:

  1. The out-of-district placement shall comply with all elements of the IEP for the student and shall provide, in writing, to the Director of Student Services detailed documentation of such compliance through completion of required student progress reports.

  2. The out-of-district placement shall allow the placing school district to monitor and evaluate the education of the student and shall make available, upon request, any records pertaining to the student to authorized school personnel from the school district and the Department in accordance with MA Student Records regulations.

  3. The out-of-district placement shall allow the placing school district and/or the Department to conduct announced and unannounced site visits and to review all documents relating to the provision of special education services to Massachusetts students at public expense. Access to documents will include general documents available to the public, documents specifically related to the student placed by such district, and other documents only to the extent they are necessary to verify and evaluate education services provided at public expense.

  4. The out-of-district placement shall afford publicly-funded students all the substantive and procedural rights held by eligible students.

  5. Wellesley will not contract with any out-of-district placement that discriminates on the grounds of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin, or that discriminates against qualified persons with disabilities.

Private School / Private Pay (SE 39)

Students whose parents have placed them in a private school are entitled to an evaluation by the public school district where they reside. The school district of residence must evaluate private school students upon referral to determine eligibility and develop an IEP / propose Placement should the child be found eligible. IEPs developed for students in private schools must include special education and related services comparable in quality, scope, and opportunity for participation as IEPs developed for in-district students. All services must be described in a properly developed IEP and the student has individual rights and full access to the state due process procedures.

Identification and Evaluation of Private School Students/Child Find

On an annual basis, the district will meet with private schools (including parochial schools) in the Town of Wellesley and parent of private schooled and homeschooled students to engage in “timely and meaningful” consultation about the opportunity for these students to access special education.

Child Find activities for students attending private schools will follow the same procedures for in district students. All evaluations of private school students should follow the same protocols as for Wellesley Public School students. Upon parent consent to conduct the evaluation, the private school should be contacted to participate by contributing academic performance information.

Note: Prior to an evaluation of a private school/private pay student, the parents must register the child as a student in the WPS and provide appropriate documentation or residency (see Parent Letter).

The Team Meeting for Private School Students

Representatives from the private school must be invited to the Team meeting and indicated on the Team Attendance form (N3A). WPS is responsible for ensuring that private school representatives are invited and encouraged to attend.

Reporting

Private school students receiving services from the Wellesley Public Schools must be reported to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) as part of the SIMS reports. These students must be properly entered into our PSSE data.

Service Provision

To the extent that special education services are offered to private school students, such services must be “comparable in quality, scope, and opportunity for participation” to services in public schools. This means that a private school student who is receiving public special education services has a right to expect that services (a) will be provided by qualified individuals, (b) will address the student’s individual needs, and (c) will be provided in a reasonable and accessible fashion. Special education services will be provided at a mutually agreeable time during the school day at a mutually agreeable location within the Town of Wellesley. Only those services financed with federal funds may be provided on the premises of the private school. The Anti-Aid Amendment to the Massachusetts Constitution prohibits the use of state or local funds to “found, maintain, or aid” a private elementary or secondary school. Therefore, the public schools district must use care in determining the appropriate location of services funded with state or local funds.

If the district is using federal funds to fund special education services at a private school, the district may use private school personnel to provide the identified services. The district must ensure that the employee of the private school provides the district proposed services outside of his or her regular hours of duty and under district supervision and control.

Students Who Live Out-of-State but Attend Private School in Wellesley

The Wellesley Public Schools must evaluate out-of-state students who attend a private school in Wellesley if the child is referred by the school or the parents. The WPS may choose to accept evaluations conducted by the student’s district of residence if the evaluations are considered current enough to make a decision regarding eligibility.

Under state law, services described in the IEP that are funded with state or local funds must be provided in a public school facility or in another public or neutral site (603 CMR 28.03 (1)(e)(3)). Services may be provided at the private school only when federal funds are used. Questions regarding funding sources need to be directed to the Director of Student Services.

Proportionate Share Funding (SE 39)

Massachusetts districts are required to calculate and spend a proportionate share of federal special education entitlement funds on services for parentally placed private school students who have been found eligible for special education. After completion of timely and meaningful consultation, child find activities, and eligibility determinations, districts conduct the child count to be used in calculating proportionate share. Districts must determine the child count of students ages 3-21 on any date between October 1 and December 1, inclusive, of each year.

Each school year, the Director of Student Services will meet with the following groups to share their entitlement rights and the district's proportionate share of available funds for the given school year.

  • Private Schools within Town of Wellesley

  • Homeschooled students

The Director of Student Services will then consult with families regarding their right to proportionate funds and consult with the private schools about their recommendations of service. It is the sole discretion of the Director of Student Services to determine how funds will be appropriated. Should a non-resident student be provided services through federal funds, they will receive them through an individual service plan instead of the IEP.

Should there be disagreement between the district and private school regarding the recommendations of service for the student, the district will put into writing to both the parent and the private school, an explanation of the reasons why the district is not adopting the private school recommendations.

Educational Services in the Home or Hospital

Upon receipt of a physician’s written notice verifying that a student enrolled in a public school or placed by the district in a private setting must remain at home or in a hospital on a day or overnight basis, or any combination of both, for medical reasons and for a period of no less than 14 school days in any school year, the principal (or designee) must arrange for the provision of educational services in the home or hospital. Such services should be provided with sufficient frequency to allow the student to continue his/her educational program. These services need to be scheduled to allow flexibility when considering the student’s medical condition. These services are coordinated with the Director of Student Services. These services are not considered special education unless the student is on an IEP. The Principal (or designee) should discuss any special education services for eligible students with the Department Head of Special Education.

If, in the judgment of the student’s physician, a student with an IEP is likely to remain at home or in a hospital for medical reasons for more than 60 days in a school year, the Special Education Department Head must schedule a Team Meeting without undue delay (within 10 school days). The Team must consider possible evaluation needs and, if appropriate, amend the existing IEP or write a new IEP suited to the student’s unique needs. This provision applies to all eligible students including students in private placements.