|
|
MSAD #37 POLICY
SUPPLEMENTAL STATEMENT OF
RIGHTS FOR PRIVATE SCHOOL/
HOME SCHOOLING STUDENTS
WITH DISABILITIES
If you are the parent of a disabled child, or suspect that
your child may have a disability that is covered by state or federal special
education laws, and your child is in a private school or an approved home
schooling program, you have the following rights:
1. You have the right to have your child
located, identified and evaluated by MSAD #37 as a possible special education
student, including referral of your child to an IEP team to determine whether
your child qualifies as a special education student and to be re-evaluated at
least every three years to determine your child’s continued eligibility for
special education. MSAD #37’s child
find and referral obligations toward your child while he/she is in a private
school/home school program are the same as for students enrolled in public
school, as described in the attached. Special education “Procedural
Safeguards Statement.”
2. Children with disabilities who have
been parentally placed in private schools located within SAD #37 do not have
an individual right to special education and related services while enrolled
in the private school program.
3. When designing and implementing special education services
for parentally placed, private school children attending private schools
within the school unit, the school unit has an obligation to consult in a
timely and meaningful manner with representatives of those children and with
private schools regarding the following issues:
a. The
child find process itself, and whether parentally placed private school and
home school students participate in that process equitably, and how parents
of these children and private schools are notified of the process;
b. How
the public school determines the proportionate share of federal dollars that
will be spent;
c.
The consultation process itself, including how that process will
operate throughout the school year so as to ensure meaningful participation
in services;
d. How, where, and by whom special
education and related services will be provided, including the types of
services and how such services will be apportioned if funds are insufficient
to serve all children, and how and when these decisions will be made; and
e. If the local unit disagrees with
views of private school officials on the provision and types of services, the
local unit will provide a written explanation of the reasons why the local
unit made the decisions that it did.
- MSAD
#37 has a duty to expend on the pool of identified parentally-placed
private school students with disabilities an amount at least equal to
the percentage of federal special education dollars received by MSAD #37
as that group of students represents of our overall number of special
education students. If some of those
funds are not expended in a given year, the school unit must carry over
unspent funds to the following year for expenditure on these services.
- MSAD
#37 shall make the final decisions with respect to the services to be
provided to eligible private school/home schooling students with
disabilities, following timely and meaningful consultation as described
in Paragraph C. above.
- For
any parentally-placed private school student with a disability that MSAD
#37 decides that it will provide services, MSAD #37 shall initiate and
conduct a meeting of the IEP team to develop, review and revise a
services plan detailing the special education and related services to be
provided and including goals for measuring the outcome of such
services. To the extent
appropriate, the Team shall develop the services plan in a manner
consistent with development of an IEP.
- Parents
may file for a due process hearing with the Maine Department of Education,
Division of Special Services (624-6650) alleging that MSAD #37 has
failed to meet its child find duty to locate, identify, and evaluate all
private school/home school students with disabilities. Parents may also file due process
complaints with the same agency regarding the implementation of any of
the rights addressed in this document.
Finally, private school officials may file a complaint with the
Maine Department of Education, Division of Special Services, alleging
that SAD #37 has not engaged in consultation that was timely or
meaningful or did not give due consideration to the views of the private
school official.
- Should the parents of a
parentally-placed, private school student choose to enroll their child
in the public school program where they reside, the disabled child would
have a right to receive a free, appropriate public education and an
Individualized Education Program (IEP) from that public school
unit. Parents of such children
who reside in SAD #37 should contact the Director of Special Services at
1020 Sacarap Road,
Harrington, Maine,
483-2749, if you have any
interest in exploring what special education services your child might
receive if enrolled in the school unit’s public schools. SAD #37 would then convene an IEP Team
meeting to discuss this with you further.
If your child is
enrolled in public school, you and your child are entitled to all the
rights set forth in MSAD #37’s attached special education “Procedural
Safeguards Statement.”
- If you would like a
complete copy of the state and federal regulations addressing the duties
of MSAD #37 toward private school/home schooling students with
disabilities, please contact the special education office at MSAD #37 at
483-2749 or the Maine Department of Education, Division of Special
Services (624-6650). If you have
any concerns about your child, please address those concerns in writing
to:
Director
of Special Education
MSAD
#37
P.O. Box 79
Harrington, Maine
04643
References: 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(10)(A);
34 C.F.R. § 300.130 to .144
(August 2006)
Me. Dept, of Ed. Ch. 101, § II(20),
IV(4)(G) (August 2007)
Adopted: April 24,
2002
Revised: August 27, 2008
-
|
