Special Education and Disability Services

If you know of a child or suspect a child may have a disability who resides in Yellow Springs school district, please contact the Director of Student Services- Donna First at 937-767-7381.

Public schools are required by federal and state law to find all children with disabilities, ages birth through 21, and provide special education services for ages 3-21 for any child identified as disabled under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA). Disabilities under IDEIA include speech and language, hearing impairments, visual impairments, specific learning disability, emotional disturbance, multiple disabilities, intellectual disabilities, other health impairments, orthopedic disability, autism and traumatic brain injury and developmental disability (preschool only). If after an evaluation, a child is determined to have a disability under IDEIA, the child is eligible to receive special education services through the school district.

All information related to the referral, evaluation, identification and special education services is confidential information. Parents retain specific rights related to confidentiality, review of records, release of information and accuracy of records for any child referred to special education, identified as special education or who receives special education services.

A child’s eligibility for special education is determined through the completion of an Evaluation Team Report (ETR) by a school psychologist and team including the family. Students must demonstrate the need for specially designed instruction and/or related services due to a disability that has an adverse impact on the student’s ability to participate in their educational process. Once a request for an evaluation is provided to the district, the district has up to 30 days to respond to the request. The team will agree to complete the evaluation, or present a prior written notice stating the reasons an evaluation will not be conducted. Most often this process occurs through a team meeting. When the district begins an evaluation, there is a 60 day time period allotted for the completion of the evaluation from the time the parental consent is received for the evaluation. Should a child be found eligible for services, the district will write an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) outlining the student’s needs, current levels of performance, and goals and objectives the team wants the child to achieve. The IEP will also outline the services that will be provided to the child.

More information about the special education process can be found at the link under Procedural Safeguards below.

"The special education procedural safeguards notice, A Guide to Parent Rights in Special Education, is now available for district and parent use. This publication replaces the earlier procedural safeguards notice, Whose IDEA Is This? As of August 1, 2017, districts must no longer use that publication." Ohio Department of Education

A Guide to parent rights in special education

As required by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEIA), Yellow Springs Schools offers a free and appropriate public education to children ages 3 through 21 that meet special education eligibility requirements in one of thirteen disability categories in accordance with applicable state and federal laws, rules, and regulations.

Our continuum of services allows us to meet the unique needs of our students with disabilities. We provide an inclusive educational model, where students with disabilities are educated with their non-disabled peers, in the least restrictive environment (LRE) to the greatest extent possible for each child.

Yellow Springs Schools utilizes a multi-tiered system of support for all learners. The MTSS model allows us to collaborate as educators and with parents to support the unique needs of each child. Teachers provide academic interventions within the classroom, and our MTSS system allows us to monitor a student’s academic progress after these interventions. This system also allows us to recognize student strengths and build on them.

If classroom interventions are needed over a long period of time, or the interventions get more intensive, teachers and administrators may suspect that the student has a disability as defined by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). If this is the case, a multi-factored evaluation will be conducted to determine whether there are educational needs which require special education supports and services.
 

After a multi-factored evaluation, the school team, including parents, meet to discuss the results of the Evaluation Team Report (ETR), at which point the eligibility determination for special education services is made. Students can be found eligible for special education services under the following federally defined disability categories. Additional information regarding services can be found in the Ohio Department of Education (ODE) document A Guide to Parents Rights in Special Education: 

•  Autism

•  Intellectual Disability

•  Deaf-Blindness

•  Deafness

•  Developmental Delay (preschool only)

•  Emotional Disturbance

•  Hearing Impairment

•  Multiple Disabilities

•  Orthopedic Impairment

•  Other Health Impairment

•  Specific Learning Disability

•  Speech or Language Impairment

•  Traumatic Brain Injury

•  Visual Impairment Including Blindness

When the results of an ETR find a student to be eligible for special education services, an Individualized Education Program (IEP) is developed, which sets goals and objectives for educational needs based upon the results of the ETR.  An IEP is a legal document, and services to support a student’s progress toward these goals are determined and are guaranteed by the IEP. Additionally, an IEP documents accommodations within the classroom, participation requirements in district and state testing, and transition services for students 14 years of age and older. An Intervention Specialist (case manager) is assigned to each student on an IEP. The intervention specialist oversees the implementation of the IEP, and may provide some of the supports documented within. Intervention specialists serve as a resource to parents, and help coordinate services and accommodations for students. IEPs are reviewed at least annually in a team IEP meeting.