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Screening Evaluation and Placement

The Pine-Richland School District uses the following procedures as required by law for locating, identifying, and evaluating the specialized needs of school-age students who may require special programs or services and identifying and evaluating specialized needs of school-age students who may require special programs or services.
 

Routine Assessments

Classroom teachers continually assess:
 
  1. Gross motor and fine motor skills
  2. Academic skills
  3. Social-emotional skills

The district routinely conducts screening of:

  1. Children's hearing acuity (grades K, 1,2,3 and 7)
  2. Visual acuity (all grade levels)
  3. Speech and language skills (kindergarten and teacher referral)

Identified needs from all of these screenings sources are noted within the child's official file.

  1. These school records are available to parents and to school staff who work with the child on a direct and indirect basis
  2. Information from the records is released to other persons or agencies only with appropriate authorization which requires written signed permission by parents
If Additional Support is Needed

If a child required additional services, the child's team will make modifications to accommodate the child's learning style, behavior, physical limitations, or speech problem.

  1. Parents/guardians will be notified if their child is receiving instructional support
  2. If a child does not make progress with intervention, parents will be asked to give written permission for a multidisciplinary evaluation. (MDE)
  3. The evaluation will be coordinated by the district school psychologist who will also participate in the evaluation process.  

Evaluation Record

An evaluation report will be completed with parent involvement after all evaluations are completed.
  1. This record includes specific recommendations on how to help the child as well as whether the child is eligible for any special education program
  2. Parents/guardians are then invited to participate in a meeting where the results of this multidisciplinary evaluation will be reviewed and an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) will be developed for those students who are eligible for special education services.
IEP

IEP or Individual Education Plan, is a written statement for each child with a disability that is developed, reviewed, and revised in accordance with this section and includes:

  1. The child’s present levels of academic achievement and functional performance.
  2. How the disability affects the child’s involvement and progress in the general education curriculum.
  3. A description of benchmarks or short-term objectives for children who take alternative assessments.
  4. A statement of measurable annual goals, including academic and functional goals designed to meet the child’s needs that result for the child’s disability to enable the child to be involved in and make progress in the general education curriculum.
  5. A statement of the special education and related services and supplementary aids and services, based on peer-reviewed research to be provided to the child or on behalf of the child.
  6. An explanation of the extent, if any, to which the child will not participate with children who are non-disabled in the regular class.

The IEP Program team is a group of individuals composed of: parents/guardians of the child with a disability, one or more regular education teachers, one or more special education teachers, an LEA representative, any related service providers, and when appropriate the child with the disability.

The IEP team can review a child's IEP periodically, but not less than annually.

At the conclusion of an IEP meeting, the child's educational placement is determined, and a notice of recommended educational placement (NOREP) is issued. The NOREP is issued only when there is a significant change in placement.

Notice of Recommended Placement

All parents/guardians are presented with a Notice of Recommended Educational Placement  (NOREP) which formally specifies the school district's special education recommendations.
  • Parents/guardians may agree or disagree with the recommended program or may wish to suggest other alternatives
  • Either the parent/guardian or school district may use mediation or due process hearing as an impartial method to arrive at an appropriate program for their child

Transition

Transition should be thought of as a bridge from the security and structure of school to the challenges and risks of adult life

Transition is a coordinated set of activities for a student that:

  • Is designed within an outcome-oriented process, which promotes movement from school to post-school activities.  Post-school activities include post-secondary education, vocational training, integrated employment, continuing and adult education, adult services, independent living and community participation.
  • Is based on the individual student’s needs, taking into account the student’s preferences and interests.
  • Includes instruction, related services, community experiences, the development of employment and other post-school adult living objectives, and, when appropriate, acquisition of daily living skills and functional vocational evaluation.

PA regulations require planning to begin at age 14.

ESY

For all students with disabilities, ESY eligibility must be considered at each Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting.
  • This determination must be made even if the child's parents have not specifically requested that their child be evaluated for ESY programming.
  • This consideration also applies to students who are attending Approved Private Schools (APS), or other such facilities, and charter schools.
  • APSs must share necessary information with the responsible LEA so that a timely decision can be made by the IEP team.
  • However, the ultimate responsibility for time IEP review and revisions rests with the LEA.

Know Your Rights

Notice of Parents' Rights (Basic Education Circular 8-94 Standard Special Education Forms and Formats)
  • State and federal laws and regulations outline your rights and the safeguards to be followed in providing a free appropriate public education.
  • At any time you feel that the program is not appropriate, you may initiate due process procedures by forwarding a written statement to the school district. You may also request a reevaluation of the student and/or revisions to the individualized education program. Your request to initiate your rights to a due process hearing means that your child must remain in his/her present educational placement unless you and your school district both agree to a change while any disagreement is resolved through these procedures. Additionally, if your child has not started school at the time you initiate these due process procedures, your school district cannot deny your child admission to attending public school.
  • Before the recommended placement and program is implemented, you have the right to further discuss the recommendation. When this discussion does not resolve differences, you have the right to request a prehearing conference, mediation, or an impartial due process hearing. You may also request a combination of these alternatives. Each of these alternatives is described in the link below, in addition to other parental rights.

If You Have Concerns

Parents/guardians who have concerns regarding their child may contact the building principal at any time to request a screening or evaluation of their child.
 
  • All communication with parents and guardians and students shall be in English or the native language of the parents.
  • Screening information will be used by the IEP team or Child Study Team within the child's school to meet his or her specific needs or to document the need for further reevaluation.

Available upon request from the building principal in your child's school:

  • Parents' Rights
  • Mediation
  • Due Process Procedures
  • Specific Special Education Services and Programs offered by PRSD
  • Pine-Richland's Educational Records Policy