If your child has a disability, lives in Gilchrist County, is between ages three and twenty-one, and has not graduated from high school, he is entitled to receive educational services beginning with pre-kindergarten.

Since every child has his own needs, the services offered by the school will be different for different children. The school will want your help in designing the best program for your child. You will be asked to work with the school by

• giving information
• asking questions
• making suggestions
• helping to make decisions

As a parent you will want to know what to expect...

There are a number of things that must happen before your child can receive a special program. Most children will go through all of the steps described below. As a parent, you will want to know what to expect.

As a part of each step, the student, parents, and schools have due process rights. Due process rights have to do with how decisions about your child’s education are made. The right to due process is the right to be treated in a way that is fair. Due process gives parents and schools a set of tools to help them work together. It gives them ways to solve problems and settle disagreements. Due process rights are provided to parents at each step of the decision making process. The school will explain these rights to you.

Procedural Safeguards in English
Procedural Safeguards en Español

Addendum to Safegaurds in English

Step 1: REFERRAL

The first thing that will happen is that your child will be referred for evaluation. Referral means that someone tells the school that your child may have special learning needs. There are different ways to refer children.

• You may tell the school that you think your child needs special help and ask in writing that he be evaluated.
• A teacher may refer a child for individual evaluation.
• A student may not do well on tests called screenings - for example, tests of vision or hearing - and may be referred because of the test results.
• A doctor, social worker, or other such person may contact the school about your child.
• Older students may ask for special help themselves.
• A school’s child study team may think that your child needs help.

You will know when the referral is made and why.

Step 2: EVALUATION

After a referral is made, the school will decide whether to give your child a full, individual evaluation. The school guidance department will collect state required documentation that may support the need for the referral. This is called “pre-referral” documentation. This “pre-referral” information plus the referral and your written consent for evaluation will be forwarded to the District Special Programs Office for review. This “referral packet” will be assigned to an appropriate evaluator(s) when the review for compliance is completed. An evaluator(s) will go to your child’s school and complete the individual evaluation in one or more sessions.

More than one person will help to do the evaluation. People who may do parts of the evaluation are

• teachers
• occupational or physical therapists
• school psychologists
• speech-language pathologists

The evaluator will prepare a written report of the evaluation results and submit the report to the District Special Programs Office for review.

Step 3: DETERMINING ELIGIBILITY

The evaluation report will then be picked up by the designated person from the school and you will be invited and encouraged to attend an Eligibility Staffing. The people at the staffing meeting will recommend whether your child is eligible for exceptional student education. A child is eligible when he meets the requirements listed in the State Board of Education Rules for exceptional student education.

Step 4: DEVELOPMENT OF A PLAN

If the members of the eligibility staffing team decide that your child has a disability and needs an exceptional student education program, the next step is to write an individual educational plan. This is often called an IEP. This IEP could be developed the same day the eligibility determination is made or at a mutually agreed upon time within 30 days of the eligibility staffing date. The IEP is a plan that tells you, the teachers, and other school staff what special programs and related services will be provided to your child. These services will be designed to meet your child’s learning needs.

Your child cannot receive exceptional student education services and related services until the IEP is written.

Step 5: CONSENT AND THE PROGRAM STARTS

After the IEP has been developed and you have given your written consent for your child to receive special programs and services, these should start right away. Of course the school may need a few days to get everything ready.