ANNUAL PRIVATE, RELIGIOUS, HOME SCHOOL MEETING

WELCOME!

Sowmya Kumar Assistant Superintendent Houston Independent School District Office of Special Education Services February 18, 2011

Advisory Committee

Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004)

Children with Disabilities Parentally Placed in Private Schools

Definition: §300.130

Parentally Placed Private School Children with Disabilities means children with disabilities enrolled by their parents in private schools or facilities that meet the definition of elementary or secondary schools other than children with disabilities placed in a private school or other facility by a public agency.

Definition: §300.133 (a)(2)(ii)

Children aged 3 – 5 are considered to be parentally placed private school children with disabilities enrolled by their parents in private, including religious, elementary schools, if they are enrolled in a private school that meets the definition of elementary school in 34 CFR 300.13

TEA Commissioner’s Rules

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A preschool may be included as a private school if considered a part of a facility meeting the definition of an elementary school Private and Religious Schools must meet the definition of a private school and must also meet the definition of a nonprofit entity Home schools must meet certain criteria, but do not need to meet the definition of nonprofit Parents of children 3 or 4 years old (as of September 1) may decline dual enrollment and seek private school services from the district in which the private school is located under the proportionate share provisions

Texas Administrative Code 89.1096(a)(1)

In Texas, what should a school district consider when determining whether an entity is a private school?

In determining whether a school/entity is a private school, school districts must determine if the private school: is a non-profit entity provides elementary or secondary education that incorporates an adopted curriculum designed to meet basic educational goals, including scope and sequence of courses, and; conducts formal reviews and documentation of student progress

Texas Administrative Code 89.1096(a)(1)

What should a school district consider when determining whether a pre-school facility is a private school?

In determining whether a preschool facility is a private school, Texas school districts must determine if the facility: is a non-profit entity provides elementary education that incorporates an adopted curriculum designed to meet basic educational goals, including scope and sequence of courses, and; conducts formal reviews and documentation of student progress

Texas Administrative Code 89.1096(a)(2)

Does a home school need to be a non-profit entity to be considered a private school?

A home school is not required to be a non-profit entity to be considered a private school. However, in order to be considered a private school, a home school must provide elementary or secondary education that incorporates an adopted curriculum designed to meet basic educational goals, including scope and sequence of courses, and formal review and documentation of student progress

Texas Administrative Code 89.1096(a)(2)

TEA Guidance regarding home schools states “School districts which become aware of a student who is potentially being home schooled may request in writing a letter of notification from the parents of the student regarding their intention to home-school the student. This letter may require assurance that the home-school curriculum is designed to meet basic education goals including reading, spelling, grammar, mathematics, and a study of good citizenship.”

TEA Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) Guidance

Parentally-Placed Private School Students with Disabilities: Requirement to Report The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004), Section 618, requires states to collect and report data annually on students with disabilities. Pursuant to 34 CFR §300.133(c), local education agencies (LEAs) are required to provide to the State information related to parentally-placed private school children covered under 34 CFR §§300.130-144.

Title 34: Education

Part 77 – DEFINITIONS THAT APPLY TO DEPARTMENT REGULATIONS

§ 77.1 Definitions that apply to all Department programs.

(c) Unless a statute or regulation provides otherwise, the following definitions also apply to the regulations in this title: Nonprofit, as applied to an agency, organization, or institution, means that it is owned and operated by one or more corporations or associations whose net earnings do not benefit, and cannot lawfully benefit, any private shareholder or entity.

Texas Administrative Code 89.1096(d)

What options other than dual enrollment are available to a parentally-placed private school student with a disability?

A parent of a private school student age 3 – 5 may choose to be considered for a services plan or may choose dual enrollment. A services plan consists of limited special education and related services as determined by representatives of the school district and private school. While a parentally-placed private school student with a services plan may receive limited services, no parentally-placed private school student with a services plan has a right to receive some or all the services the student would receive if enrolled in a public school.

Child Find §300.131

(a) General Each Local Education Agency (LEA) must locate, identify, and evaluate all children with disabilities who are enrolled by their parents in private, including religious, schools located in the school district served by the LEA… (b) Child Find Design Must ensure the equitable participation of parentally placed private school children and an accurate count of those children

Child Find §300.131

(c) Activities Activities must be similar to the Child Find activities undertaken for the district’s public school children (d) Cost Cost may not be considered (including the cost of individual evaluation) in determining if the LEA has met its obligation

Child Find §300.131

(e) Completion Period Child Find process must be completed in a time period comparable to that for other students in the LEA (f) Out-of-State Children Child Find process must include children attending a private school in a state other than the state in which they reside

The Referral Process

The LEA has an obligation under Child Find activities to :

Locate Identify Evaluate

all students with disabilities who are enrolled by their parents in private schools.

The Referral Packet

A completed Child Find referral packet will consist of: • Complete Referral Committee Report (3 pages) with interventions • Record of Communication with parent or guardian • Notice of Full and Individual Evaluation and Test Description • Screening for Assistive Technology • Language & Behavior Rating Scales • Home Language Survey • Most Recent Report Card • Most Recent Standardized Test Results • Checklist for Cultural, Environmental or Economic Exclusionary Factors • Sociological Form • 5 Work Samples

The Referral Packet

   When the referral packet is received, it will be processed and screened for completeness. Missing items/information will be requested. Once the referral for evaluation is completed, the Child Study Private/Religious/Home School staff will contact the parents to advise them of the next step in completing the referral process.

IDEA Required Interventions

IDEA 1997: Set the stage for the RtI or “Response to Intervention” language that appears in IDEA 2004 IDEA 2004: Sets out explicit expectations for whole-school approaches, high-quality early reading programs, positive behavioral interventions and supports, and early intervening services to reduce the need to label children in order to assess the learning and behavioral needs of such children

The Intervention Assistance Process

The Intervention Assistance Process stresses collaborative problem solving at both the system level and at the individual student level. It builds teacher capacity to meet the needs of students that vary widely in their cultural, linguistic, and social backgrounds, as well as in their academic ability.

Response to Intervention (RtI)

The Region 4 Education Service Center provides training sessions for school personnel related to the Response to Intervention process. Contact Carol McManus at Region 4 at 713-744 6360 or [email protected]

information.

or consult the Region 4 staff development catalog for further

Child Find ~ Referral ~ IAT Questions? Input?

Provision of Services §300.132

(a) General To the extent consistent with the number and location of children with disabilities who are enrolled by their parents in private, including religious, … schools located in the district served by the local education agency, provision is made for the participation of those children in the program assisted or carried out under Part B of the Act by providing them with special education and related services, including direct services…

Provision of Services §300.132

(b) State Education Agency (SEA) Responsibility - Services Plan …a Services Plan must be developed and implemented for each private school child with a disability who has been designated by the LEA in which the private school is located to receive special education and related services under this part (c) Record Keeping Each LEA must maintain in its records, and provide to the SEA, the following information… (1) The number of children evaluated (2) The number of children determined to be with disabilities (3) The number of children served

Expenditures §300.133

(a) Formula 1) For children aged 3 - 21 2) For children aged 3 - 5 3) Carry-over provision for non-expended funds (b) Calculating Proportionate Amount After consultation with private, religious, and home school representatives, in order to calculate the proportionate amount a thorough and complete Child Find process will be conducted to locate parentally placed students with disabilities attending private schools in the LEA

IDEA-B Formula Calculation for Proportionate Share

Step One: Calculating Average Allocation per Eligible Child Total Allocation ________________________________________________ = Average Allocation Total Number of Eligible Children (as of last the last Friday in October, annual child count) Include: ▪ enrolled in public school, ages 3 – 21 ▪ dually enrolled in public and private school, ages 3 – 4* ▪ parentally placed in private school, ages 3 – 21 * Ages 3 – 4: an eligible student ages 3 or 4 shall have the right to “dual enroll” in both the public school and the private school beginning on the student’s third birthday and continuing until the end of the school year in which the student turns five or until the student is eligible to attend a district’s public school kindergarten program, whichever comes first.” (TAC §89.1096)

IDEA-B Formula Calculation for Proportionate Share - Continued

Step Two: Calculating the Amount to be expended for Parentally-Placed Children with Disabilities Average Allocation x Number of Parentally Placed Children with Disabilities (as of last the last Friday in October, annual child count) = Amount to be Expended Include: ▪ parentally placed in private school, ages 3 – 21 Exclude: ▪ dually enrolled in public and private school, ages 3 – 4*

IDEA-B Preschool Calculation for Proportionate Share

Step One: Calculating Average Allocation per Eligible Child Total Allocation _________________________________________ = Average Allocation Total Number of Eligible Children* (as of last the last Friday in October, annual child count) Include: ▪ enrolled in public school, ages 3 – 5 ▪ dually enrolled in public and private school, ages 3 – 4* ▪ parentally placed in private school, ages 3 – 5

IDEA-B Preschool Calculation for Proportionate Share

Step Two: Calculating the Amount to be expended for Parentally-Placed Children with Disabilities Average Allocation x Number of Parentally Placed Children with Disabilities** (as of last the last Friday in October, annual child count) = Amount to be Expended Include: ▪ parentally placed in private school, ages 3 – 5 Exclude: ▪ dually enrolled in public and private school, ages 3 – 4*

Expenditures §300.133

c) Child Count 1) LEA must consult with representatives of private schools in deciding how to conduct the annual count and must ensure the count is conducted on any date between October 1 and December 1 of each year.

2) Child count must be used to determine the amount the LEA must spend on providing special education and related services to parentally placed private, religious, and home school children in the next subsequent fiscal year.

Expenditures §300.133

(d) Supplement, not Supplant State and local funds may supplement, and in no way supplant, the proportionate amount of Federal funds required to be expended for parentally placed private school children

Services, Proportionate Share & Expenditures Questions? Input?

Consultation §300.134

To ensure timely and meaningful consultation, an LEA must consult with private school representatives and representatives of parents of parentally placed private school children with disabilities during the design and development of special education and related services for the children regarding the following: a) Child Find b) Proportionate Share of Funds c) Consultation Process d) Provision of Special Education and Related Services e) Written Explanation by LEA Regarding Services

Written Affirmation §300.135

As a requirement of IDEA… a) When timely and meaningful consultation has occurred, the LEA shall obtain a written affirmation signed by the representatives of participating private schools b) If the representatives do not provide the affirmation within a reasonable amount of time, the LEA must forward the documentation of the consultation process to the SEA

Compliance §300.136

(a) General A private school official has the right to submit a complaint to the SEA that the LEA: 1) Did not engage in consultation that was meaningful and timely; or 2) Did not give due consideration to the views of the private school official (b) Procedure 1) If a private school official wishes to submit a complaint, the official must provide to the SEA the basis of the noncompliance by the LEA with the applicable private school provisions in this part; and

Compliance §300.136

2) The LEA must forward the appropriate documentation to the SEA.

3) If the private school official is dissatisfied with the decision of the SEA, (i) the official may submit a complaint to the Secretary by providing the information on noncompliance described in paragraph (b) (1) of this section; and (ii) the SEA must forward the appropriate documentation to the Secretary.

Consultation, Affirmation, Compliance Questions? Input?

Equitable Services Determined §300.137

(a) No individual right to special education and related services (b) Decisions about the services to be provided must 1) be made in accordance with paragraph (c) of this section and 2) the LEA must make the final decision (c) Services Plan must be developed

Services Plan

1) LEA must initiate and conduct meetings to develop, review, and revise a services plan for the child. 2) LEA must ensure that a representative from the private, religious, or home school attends or otherwise provides input, including individual or conference telephone calls. Due process rights for parents do not apply to services plans.

State complaint procedures exist to resolve issues.

Equitable Services Provided §300.138

a) General 1) Service delivery personnel must meet same standards except teachers do not have to meet highly qualified special education teacher requirements 2) Amount of services may differ b) Services to be Provided in Accordance with Services Plan c) Provision of Equitable Services 1) The provision of services must be provided by employees of the LEA or through contract by the LEA 2) Services and materials provided by the LEA must be secular, neutral, and non-ideological

Location of Services §300.139

a) Services on private school premises may be provided, to the extent consistent with law. LEAs are encouraged to serve students on site at their school when possible

Transportation §300.139

b)(1) General i) When services are not on the private school site, transportation must be provided if necessary for the child to benefit from or participate in the services provided under IDEA.

ii) LEAs are not required to transport children from home to the private school.

(2) Cost of Transportation The cost of transportation may be included in the total proportionate share of federal IDEA funds

Services/Services Plan Questions? Input?

Due Process and State Complaints §300.140

a) Due Process not applicable, except for Child Find b) Child Find Complaints are to be filed in the LEA in which the private school is located: 1) Procedures in §§300.504 – 300.519 apply to complaints that an LEA has failed to meet the Child Find requirements 2) Due Process complaints regarding Child Find are to be filed in the LEA in which the private school is located and a copy forwarded to the SEA

Due Process and State Complaints §300.140

c) State Complaints 1) Any complaint that a SEA or LEA has failed to meet the requirements in areas other than Child Find must be filed in accordance with procedures found in §300.151 - 300.153

2) A complaint filed by a private school official under §300.136 must be filed with the SEA in accordance with the procedures in §300.136 (b)

Other Requirements

§300.141 Requirement that funds not benefit a private school §300.142 Use of public and private school personnel §300.143 Separate classes prohibited §300.144 Property, equipment, and supplies

Complaints Process, Other Requirements Questions? Input?

HISD Procedures

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All private schools must certify their facility meets the state and federal definition of a private school or home school by completing and returning the 2011 – 2012 Affirmation Form to the district Private schools, except for home schools, must also certify their nonprofit status on the Affirmation Form

HISD Procedures

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Children 3 or 4 years old as of September 1 of the school year may dually enroll OR decline dual enrollment If parents decline dual enrollment they may request private school services from the proportionate share if the preschool facility their child attends is located within the boundaries of HISD and meets the definition of a private school Procedures to request services will be identical to the procedures for elementary and secondary private school students

Forms and Deadlines

Affirmation Form Special Education Services Procedures Individual Child Needs Form Child Count Form Must be submitted before a child may be considered for services For Consideration at Services Determination Meeting By: March 11, 2011 Then Ongoing For Count to Determine Proportionate Share on: October 28, 2011 Child Find Procedures Referral for Evaluation

ONGOING

For More Information about Services to Children with Disabilities in Private, Religious, Home Schools:

HISD Office of Special Education Services Special Education Compliance Ardalia Idlebird, Director

Private, Religious, Home School Contact: Kay Jackson, Manager, Accountability & Compliance 713-556-7071 e-mail: [email protected]

For More Information about Child Find, Referral, Evaluation: HISD Child Study Department Dr. Michael Webb, Senior Manager

Evaluation Specialists: Suzanne Chamberlain Jean Treider 812 West 18 th Houston, Texas 77008 713-293-1000 Street

For More Information: Federal/State Compliance

http://www.ed.gov/index.jhtml

http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/,root,dynamic,TopicalArea,5, http://www.tea.state.tx.us/ http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/special.ed/private/ http://www.tea.state.tx.us/rules/tac/chapter089/ch089aa.html#89.1096