Adoption Date: 7/19/1994, Revised: 6/20/2000; 4/4/06; 10/2/07; 12/4/07; 7/1/2008; 4/26/16; 2/25/2020
7000 - STUDENTS
STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
7650 IDENTIFICATION AND REGISTER OF CHILDREN WITH DISABILITIES (CHILD FIND)
The
District will locate, identify, and evaluate all students with
disabilities who reside within its boundaries, including homeless
children, children who are wards of the state, home-schooled children,
and children attending private schools. Further, it is the policy of the
Board of Education to conduct a census in order to locate and identify
all children with disabilities within the District under the age of
twenty-one (21), including those children as described above, and to
establish a register of such students entitled to attend school or
receive preschool services.
The Committee on Special Education
(CSE) or Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) will maintain
and annually revise the register of such students and others referred to
the committee as possibly having a disability, as appropriate. In
addition, census data shall be reported by October 1 to the CSE or CPSE
as appropriate.
The District understands that its Child Find
obligations have been expanded to include notification to every parent
or person in parental relation, upon enrollment of their child in the
District, of their rights regarding referral and evaluation for the
purposes of special education services or programs pursuant to
applicable federal and state laws. The notification will contain the
name and contact information for the chairperson of the District's CSE
or other individual who is charged with processing referrals to the
committee in the District. The District may, in its discretion, provide
such notice by directing parents or persons in parental relation to
obtain information located on the State Education Department's website
relating to a parent's guide to special education in New York State for
children ages three (3) through twenty-one (21).
Any student
suspected of having a disability should be referred to the applicable
CSE or CPSE for evaluation and possible identification as a student with
a disability.
Nonpublic School Students with Disabilities Who are Parentally Placed
If
the District boundaries encompass a nonpublic school, it must develop and implement
methods to identify, locate and ensure the identification and evaluation
of students with disabilities who have been, or are going to be,
parentally placed in such nonpublic school.
The child find
activities must be similar to activities for students with disabilities
in the public schools and must be completed in a time period comparable
to that for other students attending public schools in the District.
As the district of location, the District must consult
with representatives of the nonpublic schools and parents of parentally
placed students to determine an accurate count of students with
disabilities attending such schools and receiving special education
services.
These requirements only pertain to students with
disabilities parentally placed in elementary and secondary nonpublic
schools, not to parental placements of preschool children with
disabilities in private day care or preschool programs, or to CSE
placements of students with disabilities in approved private schools,
Special Act School Districts, State-supported or State-operated schools;
or to Charter schools.
Provision of Special Education Services for Child under Age Seven
It
is the responsibility of the CSE to
provide special education services to a child with a disability under
the age of seven who is eligible for school-age services, not subject to
compulsory attendance requirements and not on a regular school
attendance register. These are children with disabilities who are
eligible for school-age special education services that are no longer
eligible for preschool special education services, but are not
parentally placed in a nonpublic elementary school and not being home
schooled.
Policy References:
Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, Public Law 108-446 Section 612
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), 20 United States Code (USC) Section 1400 et seq.
34 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 300
Education Law Sections 3240-3242, 3602-c(2)-(a), 4401-a, 4402(1)(a), 4404, 4405 and 4410-6
8 New York Code of Rules and Regulations (NYCRR) Sections 200.2(a) and 200.4 and 200.6(m)(3)
Policy Cross References:
» 7130 - ENTITLEMENT TO ATTEND - AGE AND RESIDENCY
» 7140 - ASSIGNMENTS OF STUDENTS TO SCHOOLS/TRANSFERS WITHIN THE DISTRICT