DID YOU KNOW?PRESENTED BY JAMES G. BROWN
POLICY 2419
Exceptional Student
The term “exceptional” in this policyand procedures manual refers to eligiblestudents with disabilities and eligible
studentswho are gifted.
Policies & Procedures
This manual is provided to each school district
as West Virginia Department of Education
(WVDE) approved policies and procedures
to be adopted by the district’s Board ofEducation.
FAPE
FAPE must be provided to students who are
at least three years old and are eligible for
special education services unless the parent/adult student has refused specialeducation services.
FAPE
FAPE must be provided to students who have
not yet turned twenty-one years of age prior
to September 1 and have not graduated
with a standard high school diploma.
FAPE
FAPE must be provided to students withdisabilities whose suspension(s) orexpulsion(s) results in a change of
placement.
Nonacademic Services
The district must ensure that students with
exceptionalities are afforded an equalopportunity to participate innonacademic and extracurricularservices and activities .
Full Instructional Day
Students with exceptionalities will be provided
an instructional day, a school day and
school calendar at least equivalent to that
established for students withoutexceptionalities.
Medicaid Billing
The district must obtain parent/adultstudent consent if billable services (i.e.,
type,amount and/or duration) are revised atanytime.
Child Find
The Child Find system must include allstudents suspected of needing
specialeducation and related services
within thedistrict’s geographic boundaries.
Child Find
This list includes:• Enrolled in public school;• Home schooled;• Enrolled in private schools, including religious schools,
located in the district; • Not enrolled in school, including children ages birth
through five;• Highly mobile students including migrant students;• Homeless students;• Wards of the state; or• Suspected of having a disability as defined in Chapter
4 even though the student has not failed or been retained in a course or grade and is advancing from grade to grade.
Student Assistance Team (SAT)
Within five school days of receipt of awritten SAT referral for a
multidisciplinaryevaluation, appropriate persons must
benotified of the date, time, location andspecific information needed for the
meeting.
SAT
Within ten school days of receipt of thewritten SAT referral, the SAT must
conduct areview of the area(s) of concern, collect
andanalyze available educational data and
reviewprevious interventions and make adetermination regarding further action.
Evaluation Team
The evaluation team may conduct its business
with or without holding a meeting.However, if requested by the
parent/adultstudent, a team meeting will be held.
SAT Decision to Evaluate
Within five days of the SAT decision torequest an initial multidisciplinary
evaluation,PWN and a copy of the proceduralsafeguards are provided to the parent,
andinformed parental consent is
requested forconducting the evaluation.
Request for Evaluation
When a written request for initialevaluation has been initiated by theparent, determine whether the
evaluation willbe conducted, and provide prior writtennotice (PWN) of the decision and a copy
ofthe procedural safeguards to the
parent.
Date Consent Received
The principal, classroom teacher or otherdesignated individual is responsible fordocumenting the date written parentalconsent for initial evaluation is received
andimmediately forwarding this request to
thespecial education director or designee.
Initial Evaluation
Within eighty days of the documented date,the district must conduct a full, individualinitial evaluation and convene an eligibilitycommittee (EC) to determine the student’seligibility for special education before theprovision of special education and relatedservices to a student with an exceptionality.
The eighty-day timeline will not apply to a district if:
The parent repeatedly fails orrefuses to produce the
student foran evaluation after the
district hasmade and documentedreasonable efforts to
schedule anevaluation.
The student enrolls in anotherdistrict prior to the eligibilitydetermination and the receivingdistrict is making sufficientprogress to ensure a promptcompletion of the evaluation
andthe parent/adult student andreceiving district agree to aspecific time when the
evaluationwill be completed.
Reevaluation
Within three years of the date of the lastEC, or more frequently if the parent or
teacherrequests or conditions warrant, the districtshall conduct, as appropriate, an individualmultidisciplinary reevaluation to determine
astudent’s educational needs and continuedeligibility for special education and relatedservices.
Reevaluation Determination
The evaluation team may conduct its review
with or without holding a meeting but
must document its decisions on theReevaluation Determination form.
Eligibility
The district must also reevaluate a student
with a disability before determining that the
student is no longer eligible for specialeducation, unless:
• The student graduates with a standard high school diploma; or
• The student reaches the age of twenty-one.
Additional Evaluations
Additional evaluations requested by the EC
or IEP Team must be completed and an EC or
IEP Team meeting held within sixty days
from receipt of parental consent for theidentified evaluations.
Additional Evaluations
Upon receipt of a written parental request
for an additional evaluation, the IEP team
considers the request, with or without holding
a meeting, and within ten days of receipt
provides PWN of its response.
Evaluation/Reevaluation
Written consent must be sought for evaluation
and reevaluation.
Evaluation/Reevaluation
If the parent/adult student once again fails torespond, the district must documentreasonable measures taken to obtain
consent,which may include:
• A record of telephone calls made or attempted and the results of those calls;
• Copies of correspondence sent to the parent/adult student and any response received; and/or
• Detailed records of visits made to the parent’s/adult student’s home or place of employment and the results of those visits.
Reevaluation
If the parent/adult student fails to respondafter the district has taken reasonablemeasures to obtain consent for assessmentsand after the passage of thirty schooldays from the initial request for consent, thedistrict may:
• As part of a reevaluation, provide PWN that the district will conduct the reevaluation; or
• As part of an initial evaluation, pursue the evaluation by using mediation or filing a due process complaint.
Areas to Evaluate
For an initial evaluation, the student shall be
evaluated in all areas related to the suspected
exceptionality.
Eligibility
Results of the multidisciplinary evaluation shallbe utilized by the EC as the primary source ofinformation to determine the student’seducational needs and whether the studentmeets the following three prongs :
• Meets the eligibility criteria in one of the designated exceptionalities;
• Experiences an adverse effect on educational performance; and
• Needs special education.
Eligibility
A student cannot be identified as a student
in need of special education services if the
primary reason for such a decision is:• A lack of appropriate instruction in
reading;• A lack of appropriate instruction in math;
or • Limited English proficiency.
Eligibility
A student who only needs a related service
and not special education is not eligible.
Primary Exceptionality
Using the results of the multidisciplinaryevaluation, the EC must determine thestudent’s primary exceptionality
whenmore than one exceptionality condition
ispresent.
Primary Exceptionality
If consensus upon the primary exceptionality
cannot be reached, the district administrator
or designee must make the decision andprovide the parent/adult student with
PWN ofthe decision.
Continued Eligibility
Districts must carefully consider thereevaluation of students initially found eligiblefor special education. Districts must considerthe effect of exiting a student from specialeducation who has received special educationfor many years and how the removal of suchsupports will affect the student’s educationalprogress, particularly for a student who is inthe final year(s) of high school.
Information to Parents
If a student meets the criteria for blindness,
low vision, deafness, hard of hearing ordeaf-blindness on the Eligibility Report,
theparents or guardians shall be providedinformation pertaining to the West
VirginiaSchools for the Deaf and Blind.
Revocation
The revocation of consent rule applies torevocation of all special education and
relatedservices. Consent cannot be revoked for
aparticular service.
Copies of IEPs To Parents
At the conclusion of the IEP Team meeting,
prior written notice and a copy of the IEPmust be provided to the parent/adult
student.
Annual Reviews
Each student’s IEP must be reviewed at least
annually, once every 365 days.
Transfer Students In State / Out State
When a student with a current WV IEPtransfers school districts within the sameschool year, and enrolls in a new school,
thedistrict must make reasonable efforts toconsult with the parent within twoschool days of initial enrollment and toinitiate FAPE for the student within
oneschool day of the parent consultation.
Transfer Students – In State
Within ten school days of the parent or
adult student consultation, the district
must adopt the previously held IEP ordevelop and implement a new IEP.
Eligibility – Transfer From Out of State
If the district decides an evaluation isnecessary to determine the transfer
student’seligibility under West Virginia eligibility
criteria,the district must conduct the evaluation
usingthe requirements and timelines for initialevaluation, including obtaining parentalconsent.
Transition Birth-to-Three
A child three through five years old who is
eligible as a student with developmental
delays must have an IEP implemented by
his or her third birthday.
Procedural Safeguards Notice
A copy of the Procedural Safeguards Noticemust be made available to the parent/adultstudent only one time a year except that acopy will also be given upon:
• Initial referral or parental request for evaluation; • The first occurrence of the filing of a due process or state
complaint; • Issuance of a disciplinary notice of suspension or
expulsion resulting in a change of placement; and• The request of a parent/adult student.
Provision of IEP Information
The student's IEP must be accessible to eachgeneral education teacher, special educationteacher, related service provider and otherservice provider who is responsible for itsimplementation. Each teacher and providermust be informed of his or her specificresponsibilities related to implementing thestudent's IEP.
General Education Teacher
According to WV State Code, the general Educationteacher is entitled to a signed copy of the IEP for thestudent prior to the placement of the student into thegeneral education classroom when the student's IEPrequires an adjustment in either the curriculum,instruction or service to be provided by the classroomteacher including modifications and supports thatmust be provided for the student in accordance withthe IEP.
Provision of Services
The district must provide a continuum ofservice options in order to respond to
theintensity and severity of students’
needs.
Provision of Services
The district must provide classrooms foreligible school age students withexceptionalities in close proximity toclassrooms for age-appropriate non-exceptional peers.
Provision of Services
The district must provide classrooms foreligible students with exceptionalities
that areadequate and comparable to the
classroomsfor students without exceptionalities.
Provision of Services
The district must provide appropriate grouping
of students with exceptionalities for speciallydesigned instruction based upon meeting thestudents’ similar social, functional and/oracademic needs, as specified in their IEPsand without regard to identified
exceptionality.
Adequate Staff
It is the responsibility of the district to provide
adequate staff to implement the IEP of each
student.
Caseload
WV Pre-k classrooms should to the extentpracticable reflect the natural proportions ofstudents with disabilities to those withoutdisabilities within the school or community,but with no more than ten students withdisabilities per session.
Integrated Classrooms
The percentage of students with disabilities,excluding those with speech/languageimpairments, receiving specially designedinstruction in general education settingsshould approximate natural proportions
thatare no more than 30% of the total classenrollment when integrated classrooms areestablished in the four core academicsubjects.
Class Size
When students with different levels ofservice need are provided instruction in thesame class, the minimum staffing ratio for
thehighest level of need applies.
These ratios do not preclude the use ofadditional staff to support a student with
LevelII or Level III service needs.
Prior Written Notice (PWN)
PWN is the act of informing a parent/adultstudent, in writing within a reasonable
amountof time, before the district proposes or
refusesto initiate or change the student’sidentification, the evaluation, educationalplacement, or provision of FAPE.
Prior Written Notice
PWN must be provided to the parent /adultstudent five days prior to implementingthe proposed action or within five daysof the refusal.
This requirement does not apply to notice ofdisciplinary removals, which must beprovided on the same day the decision toremove the student is made.
Surrogate Parent
Any person who is aware a student mayneed a surrogate parent may make a referralfor a determination to the district’s specialeducation director. The district will appoint a surrogate if:
• a parent cannot be identified;• a parent cannot be found after reasonable efforts to
locate the parent;• the student is a ward of the state; or• the student is an unaccompanied homeless youth.
Transfer of Rights
Not later than the student’s 17th birthday,the IEP Team must discuss the transfer ofspecial education rights to the student.
Special education rights will transfer from theparent to the adult student when the studentturns eighteen years of age unless a courthas appointed a legal guardian to representthe educational interests of the student.
Revocation of Services
If at any time subsequent to the initialprovision of special education and relatedservices the parent/adult student revokesconsent in writing for the continuedprovision of special education and relatedservices, the district may not continue toprovide special education and related
services,but must provide PWN.
"Sometimes when I consider what tremendous
consequences come from little things… I am tempted to think…
there are no little things.”
Bruce BartonBruce Barton
Jim Brown, Assistant DirectorOffice of Assessment &
Phone: 304-558-7805