What do I do if I suspect my child
needs Special Education Services?
Initiate Contact with your
Child’s Teachers
Contact your child’s teachers to find out exactly where you child is having
difficulty, and to determine what accommodations your child’s teachers have
implemented in the regular classroom environment. Oftentimes,
simple accommodations such as changing a child’s seat, or initialing their daily
homework agenda is enough to help your child improve his or her grade.
Schedule a Student Study Team
(SST) Meeting
If your child is still struggling in their classes, contact your child’s counselor to schedule an SST meeting. The SST is comprised of you, your child, your
child’s counselor, the District Program Specialist, a representative from the Special
Education Department, and your child’s teachers. All
members of the SST will meet in an informal meeting to review records and teacher comments
and to develop suggestions and accommodations that may help your child learn better. Once the SST has met, your
child's counselor
will forward a copy of all suggestions and accommodations to your child’s teachers so
they can implement them and determine whether or not they work.
Submit a Written Request to
Have your Child Assessed for Special Education
If after the accommodations and suggestions from the SST are implemented and your
child is still struggling, you can request your child be assessed for possible Special
Education Services. To do this, you must
submit a written request to the District Program Specialist. The written request must state that you want your
child assessed for special education services in all areas of suspected disability. It is helpful if you include in this letter the
specific areas you are concerned about as well as any accommodations you have tried at
both home and school to try to help you child academically.
Once the District
Program Specialist receives your written request, he or she will
develop a proposed Evaluation Plan within 15 calendar days. This Evaluation Plan will outline the tests and
assessments TPHS is proposing to administer to your child.
The Evaluation Plan will be mailed to your home address for signature.
As soon
as you receive the proposed Evaluation Plan, please complete the
Parent Acknowledgment Section. Return the
Evaluation Plan the District Program Specialist.
Once the District
Program Specialist
receives the signed Evaluation Plan, testing will commence. TPHS has 60 calendar days from the date the signed
Evaluation Plan is received to complete all testing and to hold
an Individual Education Plan (IEP) meeting. The
assessment process can be lengthy and require your child to miss approximately five hours
of class time.
The IEP Meeting
During the IEP meeting, all testing results will be reviewed and the IEP team
will determine whether or not your child qualifies for Special Education Services. The IEP team is comprised of an Educational
Specialist, Administrative Designee, your child’s counselor, a
regular education teacher, and the School Psychologist and Speech and Language Pathologist
if they completed testing on your child. If
your child qualifies and you chose to access Special Education Services, an IEP will be
developed including academic, speech and language, and/or social emotional goals. Your
child will also be assigned a case manager who is responsible for ensuring your
child’s IEP is followed.
If your child does not qualify
for Special Education, the IEP team will offer you suggestions for helping your child
academically. Any suggestions offered will
also be provided to your child’s teachers.
Annual and Triennial IEP
Meetings
If
your child qualifies for an IEP, this IEP will be reviewed at least annually. At the annual review, your child’s IEP case
manager will review the goals and rewrite or change these goals as needed. Additionally, every three years, your child will be
reassessed in all areas to suspected disability to determine whether or not he or she
continues to qualify for special education. If
you have any questions regarding your child’s IEP, you can request an IEP at
any time. Once your case manager is notified you
would like an IEP meeting, he or she has 30 calendar days to schedule
and hold this meeting. Additionally,
any member of the IEP team can also request a meeting if they have concerns about your
child’s educational progress.
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