Policies, Practices, Programs and Procedures:
Applicable to sponsoring District USD 305 Salina and Cooperating Districts USD 435 Abilene, USD 112 Central Plains, USD 473 Chapman, USD 307 Ell-Saline, USD 327 Ellsworth, USD 487 Herington, USD 239 North Ottawa County, USD 481 Rural Vista, USD 393 Solomon, USD 306 Southeast of Saline and USD 240 Twin Valley.
Individual with Disabilities Act (IDEA 2004) requires school districts to have in place written policies, practices and procedures for Public Notification of Availability of Special Education Services, Child Find, Screening for Children age 3 to 5 and General Education for School Age Students, Making Referrals for Initial Evaluations, Notice and Consent, and Eligibility. As part of the annual LEA Application, sponsoring District USD 305 Salina and Cooperating Districts USD 435 Abilene, USD 112 Central Plains, USD 473 Chapman, USD 307 Ell-Saline, USD 327 Ellsworth, USD 487 Herington, USD 239 North Ottawa County, USD 481 Rural Vista, USD 393 Solomon, USD 306 Southeast of Saline and USD 240 Twin Valley agree to adopt policies and implement procedures and practices. The following policies of Central Kansas Cooperative in Education (CKCIE) are aligned with the KSDE Special Education Services Process Handbook and adopted by the twelve school districts that make up CKCIE.
Public Notification of Availability of Special Education Services K.A.R. 91-40-7(d):
Public notices will be provided in both English and Spanish annually, each August, in the local newspapers, continually on the CKCIE website which is linked to each district website and in the school handbooks. The information provided to the public will include the availability of special education services for exceptional children, including child find activities. The director of CKCIE will retain copies of all public notices.
As part of the annual LEA Application, districts are required to provide assurances to adopt and implement policies which conform to state and federal statutes and regulations regarding special education. § 300.200 Condition of assistance.An LEA is eligible for assistance under Part B of the Act for a fiscal year if the agency submits a plan that provides assurances to the SEA that the LEA meets each of the conditions in §§ 300.201 through 300.213. (Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1413(a)) § 300.201 Consistency with State policies. The LEA, in providing for the education of children with disabilities within its jurisdiction, must have in effect policies, procedures, and programs that are consistent with the State policies and procedures established under §§ 300.101 through 300.163, and §§ 300.165 through 300.174.
CHILD FIND:
Each district within the cooperative implements policies and procedures to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with exceptionalities residing in its jurisdiction, including children with exceptionalities who meet any of the following criteria:
1) are attending private or parochial schools;
2) are highly mobile, including migrant and homeless children; or
3) are suspected of being children with disabilities even though they are advancing from grade to grade.
The director of CKCIE will annually consult with each private and parochial schools within the CKCIE boundaries to provide information of the requirements and accessing special education services and retains documentation of the consultation with the schools.
Annual meetings will be held with community organizations that are likely to interact with highly mobile populations to provide information and describe the process that parents and/or staff from that organization can use to assist parents in requesting additional support through special education services an outline in the general education intervention process. In addition, district at‐risk and ESL staff will receive the same information. The CKCIE office will retain documentation of the annual meetings including dates, location and which organizations participated.
The students in all CKCIE districts will be monitored to insure they are making progress toward proficiency on state and local assessments. Any student who is not demonstrating growth will enter the general education intervention process.
Screening for Children age 3 to 5 and General Education Interventions for School Age Students:
Screening for children younger than age 5 experiencing difficulty in a developmental area(s) is requiredand accomplished for the cooperative area by holding monthly early childhood screening clinics using a variety of developmentally appropriate screening tools. These screenings also includes vision and hearing. Coordinating meetings with Part C are held bi‐annually to identify children being served by Part C that will potentially need an initial evaluation under Part B. In addition, Part C staff will provide the CKCIE administration with a list of children receiving Part C services that will be turning age 3 within the next 60 days on a monthly basis to ensure that evaluations are completed by the child' s 3rd birthday. Any child who demonstrates evidence of potential exceptionality will be immediately referred for an initial evaluation. Monthly screening information is provided in the local newspapers, in schools, in doctors and other health providers' offices, in health clinics, and on the CKCIE website.
For children in kindergarten through age 21, CKCIE uses a variety of instruments, procedures, observations, and strategies designed to identify those children with possible physical, intellectual, social or emotional deviations which may influence his/her learning, and perceptual (visual, auditory, and motor) deviations. These screening procedures include mandatory hearing and vision screening‐‐vision at least every two years, hearing at least every three years.
Documentation of building level, general education interventions (GEI) is required for children prior to evaluation for special education eligibility. The GEI is carried out through either a school‐wide approach of providing a multi‐tier system of scientifically, research‐based interventions, for all children or through an individual child problem solving approach. Collaborating with general educators the focus is on designing supports for children who need additional assistance in order to be successful in the general education curriculum and environment.
GEIs will follow the description provided in the Kansas Special Education Services Process Handbook (June 2011) and the Special Education Reimbursement Guide State Categorical Aid (revised annually).
MAKING REFERRALS FOR INITIAL EVALUATIONS:
CKCIE requires there be a data base documentation that an evaluation is necessary. In situation when extensive data-based documentation
exists (e.g., medical reports specific medical conditions) that demonstrate that the student has needs beyond what is available in general education it is appropriate to make a referral for initial evaluation without conducting general education interventions to not delay appropriate special education services.
For students that have been within the general education intervention process data-base documentation indicating a need for referral is provided to the appropriate special education staff. Student specific documentation includes
(1) Documentation showing the student was provided instruction in regular education settings delivered by qualified personnel,
(2) the results of frequent progress monitoring assessments that reflect the impact of the intervention,
(3) evidence as to how intervention results were shared with the student parent(s) and
(4) other assessment results indicating that an initial evaluation is appropriate.
Parent request for initial evaluation will follow the description provided in the Kansas Special Education Services Process Handbook (June 2011).
NOTICE AND CONSENT:
Parent permission for evaluation is obtained and notice of consent is provided to the parents describing evaluation procedures. When conducting the evaluation a variety of assessments tools and strategies are used to gather relevant functional, developmental and academic information including information provided by the parent, that may assist in determining whether the child is an exceptional child or in the case of a reevaluation, the content of the child' s individualized education program, including information related to enabling the child to be involved, and progress, in the general education curriculum or, for preschool children, to participate in appropriate activities.
No single measure or assessment is used as the sole criterion for determining whether a child is an exceptional child or determining an appropriate educational program for the child. Technically sound instruments are used to assess the relative contribution of cognitive and behavioral factors, in addition to physical or developmental factors. Assessments and other evaluation materials used to assess a child are selected and administered so as not to be discriminatory on a racial or cultural basis and are provided and administered in the language
and form most likely to yield accurate information on what the child knows and is able to do academically, developmentally and functionally, unless it is feasible to so provide or administer.
ELIGIBILITY:
Each evaluation team, in determining whether a child is an exceptional child and what the educationalneeds of the child are draw upon information from a variety of sources, including aptitude and achievement tests, parent input, teacher recommendations, physical condition, social or cultural background and adaptive behavior. The information obtained from all of these sources is documented and considered.
Upon completion of the administration of assessment and other evaluation materials the determination of whether the child is an exceptional child is made by the team of qualified professionals and the parent of the child and a copy of the evaluation report and the documentation of determination of eligibility is given to the parent. The initial evaluation should be completed within 60 school days.
In making a determination of eligibility, a child is not determined to be an exceptional child if the determinant factor or such determination is lack of instruction in reading, including instruction using the essential components for reading instruction, math or limited English proficiency.
Should the evaluation team decide the student is eligible for, and needs, special education services; an initial IEP is scheduled. Parent(s) must be given a Notice of Meeting with a parental rights form at least 10 days prior to the IEP meeting. Attempts should be made to contact the parents to schedule a mutually convenient time to meet. It is the responsibility of the school to contact parents to schedule the initial IEP, to send the IEP Notice and Parental Rights, notify staff and complete the NetIEP procedures.
It is the responsibility of the IEP teamto write the IEP using data and information collected during the evaluation. A Draft IEP must be developed for review at the IEP meeting. It is the responsibility of each service providerto develop goals and objectives based on data collected during the evaluation.
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
The information contained in this transmission, as well as any accompanying documents, constitutes confidential and/or legally privileged information which is the property of Central Kansas Cooperative in Education. The information is intended solely for the individual entity named on this transmittal sheet. If you are not the designated recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying distribution or taking any action in reliance on this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please notify us by telephone at 785-309-5100 or the above email address immediately so that we can arrange for the return of the original documents.
NON-DISCRIMINATION NOTICE:
Unified School District #305 does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in admission or access to, or treatment or employment in, its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups. Any person having inquiries concerning Unified School District #305 compliance with the regulations implementing Title VI, ADA, Title IX, or Section 504 is directed to contact the Unified School District #305 Executive Director of Human Resources, P.O. Box 797, Salina, Kansas 67402, 785-309-4726.