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The
Steel Valley School District uses the following procedures for locating,
identifying, and evaluating specified needs of school-aged students
requiring special programs or services. These procedures, as required
by law, are as follows:
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The
district, as prescribed by Section 1402 of the School Code, routinely
conducts screenings of a child;s hearing acuity in the following grades:
kindergarten, 1, 2, 3, 7, and 11. Visual acuity is screened in every
grade. Speech and language skills are screened in kindergarten and on
a referral basis. New students are screened annually. Gross motor and
fine motor skills, academic skills, and social-emotional skills, are
assessed by classroom teachers on an on-going basis. Specified needs
from all of these screening sources are noted within the child's official
file. School records are always open and available to parents, and only
to school officials who have a legitimate "need to know" information
about the child.
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School
records may be released to other schools, without written permission,
in which the student would enroll.
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Parents
with concerns regarding their student may contact building principals
at any time to request a screening or evaluation of their child. Communication
with parents and the exceptional student shall be in English or the
native language of the parents.
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Screening
information will be used by the Child Study Team within the student's
school to meet his or her specific needs or to document the need for
further evaluation. If it is determined that a child needs additional
services, the Child Study Team will make adjustments relative to such
things as the child's learning style, behavior, physical inabilities,
and speech problems to be more in keeping with traditional classroom
experiences. If a student does not make progress, parents will be asked
to give written permission for further individual professional assessments.
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After
all the assessments are completed, a Comprehensive Evaluation will be
compiled with parent involvement and include specific recommendations
for the types of interventions that are appropriate to the child's specified
needs. Parents are then invited to participate in a meeting where the
determination of an appropriate educational program will occur and an
Individualized Education Program (IEP) will be developed for specialized
services for the students if necessary.
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The
Steel Valley School District IEP Team will consist of at least two of
the following district staff: the building principal, the special education
teacher, the regular education teacher, the psychologist, director of
pupil services, other teachers or specialists as needed and other administrative
staff when appropriate. One person may fulfill two or more roles.
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Parents
are an integral part of the IEP team and need to be physically present
at the IEP meeting. The district will make every effort to insure parent
participation. The district will notify the parents in writing, make
documented phone calls, and make home visits, if necessary, to make
parents aware of the IEP conference and the need for parental participation.
Parents are then presented a Notice of Recommended Assignment (NORA)
with which they may agree or disagree. If parents disagree with the
program begin recommended, the issue may be taken to mediation or a
due process hearing.
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Information
about Early Intervention,parental rights, mediation or Due Process Procedures,
specific Special Education Services and Programs offered by the district,
and the district's educational Records Policy are available upon request
from the building principal in a child's school.
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A
parent may request that the district initiate Child Study intervention
at any time by contacting the building principal. Request for an MDT
will be done through a form provided to the parent. Further information
about these procedures may be obtained by calling Mrs. Diana L. Borges,
Director of Pupil Personnel and Special Services at (412) 464-3670.
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