Sylvania City School District
Bylaws & Policies
 

2460 - SPECIAL EDUCATION

The Board of Education, as an expression of its commitment to provide a free, appropriate, public education for students with disabilities in accordance with State and Federal laws, rules, and regulations, does hereby establish the following policies:

 A.Child Identification

It shall be the policy of this School District that ongoing efforts will be made to identify, locate, and evaluate students below twenty-two (22) years of age, who reside within the District and have a confirmed or suspected disability in accordance with all Federal regulations and State standards.

 B.Procedural Safeguards

It shall be the policy of this School District that a child with a disability and his/her parent shall be provided with safeguards, as required by law, throughout the identification, evaluation, and placement process, and the provision of a free, appropriate, public education to the student.

 C.Multifactored Evaluation

It shall be the policy of this School District to provide a multifactored evaluation for students with disabilities by ensuring that:

  1.children are assessed in their native language or other mode of communication;
  2.tests are used for their validated purposes;
  3.children are evaluated in all areas related to their suspected disability;
  4.testing is conducted by a multidisciplinary team;
  5.testing materials and procedures are not racially or culturally biased;
  6.tests are administered by trained personnel qualified in accordance with all Federal regulations and State standards;
  7.tests are administered in conformance with the instructions provided by the producer;
  8.medical evaluation, when required as part of the multifactored evaluation, shall be provided at no cost to the parent by a licensed physician designated by the Superintendent or his/her designee, when other no-cost resources are not available.
 D.Individualized Education Program

It shall be the policy of this School District that an individualized education program (IEP) will be developed for each child with a disability who needs special education. The IEP shall be designed to meet the unique educational needs of the child and shall be developed in a planning conference. Parents of the child shall be strongly encouraged to participate in the planning conference. The IEP shall be reviewed and revised as often as necessary, but at least annually.

 E.Least Restrictive Environment

It shall be the policy of this School District that the education of children with disabilities shall occur in the least restrictive environment; special education programs and services shall be appropriate and designed to meet the unique needs of each child with a disability; to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or private institutions or other care facilities, shall be educated with children who do not have disabilities; special classes, separate schooling, or other removal of children with disabilities from the regular educational environment, shall occur only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.

 F.Confidentiality of Data

It shall be the policy of this School District that the confidentiality of personally-identifiable data relating to children with disabilities and their parents and families shall be protected at collection, storage, disclosure, and destruction, and that one official of this School District shall be assigned the responsibility for protecting the confidentiality of personally-identifiable data. This District follows all Federal regulations and State standards related to the confidentiality of data. (See Policy 8330 - Child Records)

 G.Due Process

It shall be the policy of this School District to utilize procedures that allow differences of opinion between parent(s) and this District or between agencies and this District, to be aired and resolved; and that the procedures shall provide for utilization of case conferences, administrative reviews, impartial due process hearing, and State-level appeals and appeals to the courts that involve the District's proposal or refusal to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child, or the provision of FAPE to the child. Furthermore, the rights of children with disabilities shall be protected when the parents cannot be identified or located, when the child is a ward of the State, or when the child is without a formally-declared, legal representative.

 H.Surrogate Parent

It shall be the policy of this School District that whenever the parent(s) or guardian(s) of a child with a disability are not known or cannot be located, or when the child is a ward of the State, the child's rights shall be protected through the assignment of an individual (who shall not be an employee of the State Department of Education or any local or intermediate education agency involved in the education of the child) who will serve as the child's surrogate parent.

 I.Testing Programs

It shall be the policy of this School District that students with disabilities shall participate in local and State-wide testing programs to the maximum extent appropriate. Individual exemptions shall be determined only during an IEP conference.

The Superintendent shall administer the local implementation of these State procedures, in accordance with State and Federal laws, rules, and regulations, which shall ensure fulfillment of this policy.

R.C. 3323.05, 3323.051, 3323.08
A.C. 3301-51-01 et seq., 3301-51-02(F)
20 USC 1401 et seq.
IDEA, 20 U.S.C. 1400 et seq.

Revised 9/24/96