LCSSULivingston County Special Services Unit
Special Education Procedures Assuring the Implementation of
Comprehensive Programming for Children with Disabilities
Section 1. Provision of a Free Appropriate Public Education
Section 2. Child Find
Section 3. Evaluation and Determination of Eligibility
Section 4. Individualized Education Programs
Section 5. Students’ Participation in Assessments
Section 6. Serving Students in the Least Restrictive Environment
Section 7. Provision of Extended School Year Services
Section 8. Transition of Children Served Under Part C of IDEA into Preschool Programs
Section 9. Serving Students Who Attend Nonpublic Schools
Section 10. Procedural Safeguards
Section 10.5 Behavioral Intervention and Discipline
Section 11. Establishing the Goal of Full Educational Opportunity
Section 12. Confidentiality of Personally Identifiable Information
Section 13. The Use of Federal Matching Funds Under The Medicaid (Title XIX) or Children’s Health Insurance (KidCare; Title XXI) Program to Supplement Special Education Programs and Services (if the School District is Participating in One or More of those Federal Programs)
Livingston County Special Services Unit, 920 Custer Avenue, Suite A, Pontiac, IL 61764
Phone: 815-844-7115 Fax: 815-842-3170 Website: lcssu.org
Section 1. Provision of a Free Appropriate Public Education
A. Comprehensive Program
Through membership in Livingston County Special Services Unit (LCSSU), each member School District provides and maintains appropriate and effective educational programs in order to afford every eligible child with a disability who is between the ages of 3 and 21 (inclusive), who is enrolled in the School District, and who requires special education and related services to address the adverse effect of the disability on his/her education, a free appropriate public education (FAPE). As part of this effort, each School District shall make available to all eligible children who are residents of the School District a comprehensive program of special education, which includes each of the following:
1. A viable organizational and financial structure;
2. Systematic procedures for identifying and evaluating the need for special education and related services.
3. A continuum of appropriate alternative placements available to meet the needs of children for special education and related services which may include, but is not limited to, any of the following:
a. Regular classes;
b. Special classes;
c. Special schools;
d. Home/hospital services; and
e. State operated or nonpublic programs.
4. Qualified personnel who are employed in sufficient number to provide:
a. Administration of the program;
b. Supervisory services;
c. Instructional and resource services;
d. Related services; and
e. Transportation services.
5. Appropriate and adequate facilities, equipment and materials.
6. Functional relationships with public and private agencies that can supplement or enhance the special education services of the public schools.
7. Interaction with parents and other concerned persons that facilitates the educational development of children with disabilities.
8. Procedures for internal evaluation of the special education services provided.
9. Continuous planning for program growth and improvement based on internal and external evaluation.
B. Public Awareness
The School District shall create public awareness of special education and related services and advise the public of the rights of children with disabilities pursuant to School District developed procedures. In creating public awareness of special education and related services and advising the public of the rights of children with disabilities, the School District shall comply with the following:
1. Information provided to the public shall be made available in each of the major languages represented in the School District and in the language that will be understandable to parents regardless of ethnic or cultural background or hearing or visual abilities;
2. Annual notification shall be provided to all parents in the School District regarding the special education services available in or through the School District and of their right to receive a copy of § 226.50 of ISBE regulations upon request;
3. Annual dissemination of information to the community served by the School District regarding the special education services available in or through the School District and the rights of children with disabilities;
4. Documentation, including examples as appropriate, of the School District’s efforts in this regard shall be maintained in the School District’s files.
C. Providing Free Appropriate Public Education
Each School District will provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to all children with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21 (inclusive), including children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school for more than 10 consecutive school days during the school year, or who receive a series of removals that constitute a change in placement. In order to meet the requirements of the School District to provide FAPE, LCSSU and the School District shall comply with the following:
1. The School District shall be responsible for actively seeking out and identifying all children from birth through age 21 within the School District (and those parentally-placed private school children for whom the School District is responsible (See Section 9)) who may be eligible for special education and related services.
2. The School District must ensure that FAPE is available to any individual child with a disability who needs special education and related services, even though the child has not failed or been retained in a course or grade and is advancing from grade to grade.
3. The special education and related services shall be provided according to the child’s individualized education program (IEP), which shall be developed in accordance with these procedures, at no cost to the parent. The IEP shall specify the special education and related services needed in order to ensure that the child receives FAPE, including any extended school year services, if appropriate.
4. FAPE shall be made available to all eligible children with disabilities no later than the child’s third birthday.
5. The special education services and placement that constitute FAPE for a particular child shall be identified based on the child’s unique needs and not on the child’s category of disability. These services shall address all of the child’s identified needs for special education and related services.
6. The School District shall provide nonacademic and extracurricular services and activities in a manner necessary to afford children with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in those services and activities.
7. No delay shall occur in implementing a child’s IEP, including any case in which the source of payment or provision of services to the child is being determined.
8. No eligible child from 3 through 21 years of age, inclusive, may be permanently excluded from the public schools, either by direct action by the board of education, by indication of the School District’s inability to provide an educational program, or by informal agreement between the parents and the School District to allow the child to remain without an educational program.
9. The School District need not provide a child with services during periods in which the child has been removed from his/her current placement for 10 school days or fewer in a particular school year, if services are not provided to a child without disabilities who has been similarly removed. However, an eligible child who has been suspended or expelled from school for more than 10 school days during a particular school year shall continue to receive services necessary to enable the child to appropriately progress in the general curriculum and appropriately advance toward achieving the goals set out in the child’s IEP.
10. If a child with a disability who is receiving special education from his/her current school district transfers to this School District, this School District shall ensure that the child receives FAPE. (See Section 3, C for applicable procedures).
11. In providing FAPE to children with disabilities who have been suspended or expelled from school, the School District shall meet the requirements set forth in Subpart E of ISBE regulations.
12. Any child for whom services are sought shall not be denied FAPE regardless of any jurisdictional disputes among Illinois agencies.
13. The School District shall provide an eligible student who requires continued public school educational experience to facilitate his/her integration into society with services through age 21, inclusive (i.e., through the day before the student’s 22nd birthday).
D. Exceptions to Providing FAPE
1. The School District is not required to provide FAPE to a student with a disability who has graduated with a regular high school diploma. Students who have participated in a graduation ceremony but have not been awarded a regular high school diploma continue to be eligible to receive FAPE through age 21, inclusive.
2. The School District is required to provide FAPE to a student with a disability who has fulfilled the minimum State graduation requirements set forth in The School Code but whose IEP prescribes special education, transition planning, transition services, or related services beyond that point. In such case, the issuance of the diploma shall be deferred so that the student will continue to be eligible for those services.
3. Any child 18 through 21 years of age who is incarcerated and who is not identified as eligible and did not have an IEP in his/her educational placement immediately prior to incarceration shall not be provided FAPE.
LEGAL REF.: 20 U.S.C. §§ 1412 (State eligibility), 1413 (local educational agency eligibility).
34 C.F.R. §§ 300.101 (free appropriate public education (FAPE)), 300.102 (limitation -- exception to FAPE for certain ages), 300.300 (provision of FAPE), 300.103 (FAPE-methods and payments), 300.106 (extended school year services).
105 ILCS 5/14-1.02 (children with disabilities).
23 Ill. Admin. Code §§ 226.50 (requirements for a FAPE), 226.700 (general).
Section 2. Child Find
A. Child Find Responsibility
1. Each School District shall be responsible for actively seeking out and identifying all children from birth through age 21 within the School District (and those parentally-placed private school children for whom the School District is responsible – see Section 9) who may be eligible for special education and related services. This requirement relates to homeless children, children who are wards of the state and highly mobile and migrant children. Procedures developed to fulfill the child find responsibility are frequently implemented in collaboration with LCSSU and shall include:
a. An annual screening of children under the age of five for the purpose of identifying those who may need early intervention or special education and related services.
b. Ongoing review of each child’s performance and progress by teachers and other professional personnel, in order to refer those children who exhibit problems which interfere with their educational progress and/or their adjustment to the educational setting, suggesting that they may be eligible for special education and related services.
c. Ongoing coordination with early intervention programs to identify children from birth through two years of age who have or are suspected of having disabilities, in order to ensure provision of services in accordance with applicable timelines. Each local School District shall participate in transition planning conferences arranged by the designated lead agency in order to develop a transition plan enabling the public school to implement an IFSP or IEP no later than the third birthday of each eligible child.
2. When the responsible School District staff members conclude that an individual evaluation of a particular child is warranted based on factors such as a child’s educational progress, interaction with others, or other functioning in the school environment, the requirements for evaluation set forth herein shall apply.
LEGAL REF.: 20 U.S.C. §§ 1412 (State eligibility), 1412(a)(3), 1413 (local educational agency eligibility), 1413(a)(1), 1413(a)(3).
34 C.F.R. §§ 300.111.
23 Ill. Admin. Code § 226.100.
Section 3. Evaluation and Determination of Eligibility
A. Evaluation and Determination of Eligibility
1. Evaluation Procedures
a. Definitions
(1) The “date of referral” shall be the date the School District receives the informed written consent for the evaluation or reevaluation from the parent(s).
(2) Screening procedures used by a teacher or specialist to determine appropriate instructional strategies for curriculum implementation shall not be considered an evaluation.
(3) Domain means an aspect of a child’s functioning or performance that must be considered in the course of designing a case study evaluation. The domains to be considered are health, vision, hearing, social emotional status, functional performance, general intelligence, academic performance, communication status and motor abilities.
b. Procedures for Requesting an Initial Evaluation
LCSSU and each School District shall develop and make known to all concerned persons procedures by which an evaluation may be requested. These procedures shall:
(1) Designate the steps to be taken in making a request for an evaluation;
(2) Designate the persons to whom a request may be made;
(3) Identify the information that must be provided;
(4) Provide any assistance that may be necessary to enable persons making requests to meet any related requirements established by the School District; and
(5) Identify the process for providing the parents with notice of their rights with respect to procedural safeguards.
c. Persons Who Can Make A Request for an Evaluation
A request may be made by a parent of a child or by an employee of a State educational agency, another State agency, a local educational agency, or a community service agency.
d. School District’s Response to Request
(1) The School District Principal or Designee shall be responsible for processing the request, deciding what action should be taken, and initiating the necessary procedures.
(2) To determine whether the child requires an evaluation, the School District may utilize screening data and conduct preliminary procedures such as observation of the child, assessment for instructional purposes, consultation with the teacher or other individual making the request, and a conference with the child.
(3) Within 14 school days after receiving a request for an evaluation, the School District shall determine whether an evaluation is warranted.
(4) If the School District determines not to conduct an evaluation, it shall provide written notice to the parents as required by State and federal law. This decision may either precede or occur as a result of the meeting described in (5)(a) below.
(5) If an evaluation is to be conducted:
(a) The School District shall convene a team of individuals (including the parent(s)) having the knowledge and skills necessary to administer and interpret evaluation data. The composition of the team will vary depending upon the nature of the child’s symptoms and other relevant factors.
(b) The team shall identify the assessments necessary to complete the evaluation as described below and shall prepare a written notification for the parent(s) that describes any evaluation procedures to be conducted. For each domain, the notification shall either describe the needed assessments or explain why none are needed. The team may identify the assessments necessary without a meeting.
(c) The School District shall ensure that the notification of the team’s conclusions is transmitted to the parent(s) within the 14-school-day timeline applicable along with the School District’s request for the parent(s)’ informed written consent to conduct the needed assessments.
(d) Informed written consent for the initial evaluation shall be obtained from the parent(s) of the child before conducting the evaluation.
e. Identification of Needed Assessments
(1) An evaluation shall cover all domains, which are relevant to the individual child under consideration.
(2) The following procedures shall be used for an evaluation:
(a) The IEP Team members shall review and evaluate existing information about the child, including the following if available:
i. Information from a variety of formal and informal sources, including information provided by the child’s parent(s);
ii. Current classroom-based assessments and observations;
iii. Observations by teachers and providers of related services;
iv. Information, if any, provided by the child; and
v. Information from specialized evaluations such as those performed by independent evaluators, medical evaluators, behavioral intervention specialists, bilingual specialists, etc.
(b) The team may conduct its review without a meeting.
(3) After review of the information described above, the IEP Team members shall determine whether additional evaluation data is needed in any relevant domain and from what source(s) to determine:
(a) Whether the child has, or continues to have, one or more disabling conditions;
(b) The present levels of performance and educational needs of the child;
(c) Whether the disability is adversely affecting the child’s educational performance;
(d) Whether the child needs or continues to need, special education and related services; and
(e) Whether any additions or modifications to the child’s special education and related services are needed to enable the child to meet the goals and objectives of his/her IEP and to participate appropriately in the general curriculum.
f. Upon completion of the assessments, but no later than 60 school days following the date of receipt of informed written consent from the parent(s) to perform the needed assessments (or prior to the first day of the next school year if there are less than 60 school days remaining at the time informed written consent is received), the determination of eligibility shall be made at an IEP meeting.
g. If the School District fails to conduct the evaluation, the parent(s) of the child may appeal this failure in an impartial due process hearing.
B. Evaluation Requirements
1. In conducting the evaluation, the School District must:
a. Use a variety of assessment tools and strategies to gather relevant functional, developmental and academic information about the child, including information provided by the parent(s) that may assist in determining:
(1) Whether the child is a child with a disability;
(2) The content of the child’s IEP.
b. Not use any single measure or assessment as the sole criterion for determining whether a child is a child with a disability and for determining an appropriate educational program for the child.
c. Use technically sound instruments that may assess the relative contribution of cognitive and behavioral factors, in addition to physical or developmental factors.
d. Each evaluation shall be conducted so as to ensure that it is nondiscriminatory with respect to language, culture, race, and gender.
(1) The languages used to evaluate a child shall be consistent with the child’s primary language or other mode of communication. Determination of the child’s language use pattern and general cultural identification shall be made by determining the languages spoken in the child’s home and the languages used most comfortably and frequently by the child. If the language use pattern involves two or more languages or modes of communication, the child shall be evaluated by qualified specialists or, when needed, qualified bilingual specialists using each of the languages or modes of communication used by the child.
(2) If documented efforts to locate and secure the services of a qualified bilingual specialist are unsuccessful, the School District shall use an individual who possesses the professional credentials required under 23 Ill. Admin. Code § 226.840 to complete the specific components of the evaluation. This qualified specialist shall be assisted by a certificated School District employee or other individual who has demonstrated competencies in the language of the child.
(3) If documented efforts to locate and secure the services of a qualified bilingual specialist or a qualified specialist assisted by another individual are unsuccessful, the School District shall conduct assessment procedures which do not depend upon language. Any special education resulting from such alternative procedures shall be reviewed annually until the student’s proficiency is determined no longer to be limited pursuant to 23 Ill. Admin. Code § 228.
(4) Tests given to a child whose primary language is other than English shall be relevant, to the maximum extent possible, to his/her culture.
(5) Determination of the child’s mode of communication shall be made by assessing the extent to which the child uses verbal expressive language and the use he or she makes of other modes of communication (e.g., gestures, signing, unstructured sounds) as a substitute for verbal expressive language.
(6) If the child’s receptive and/or expressive communication skills are impaired due to hearing and/or language deficits, the School District shall utilize test instruments and procedures that do not stress spoken language and one of the following:
(a) Visual communication techniques in addition to auditory techniques.
(b) An interpreter to assist the evaluative personnel with language and testing.
(7) The child’s language use pattern, proficiency in English, mode of communication, and general cultural identification shall be noted in the child’s temporary student record, and this information shall be used in the evaluation and in the development and implementation of the individualized education program.
2. Assessments and their evaluation materials must be:
a. Used for the purposes for which the assessments or measures are valid and reliable;
b. Administered by trained and knowledgeable personnel; and
c. Administered in accordance with any instructions provided by the producer of the assessments.
C. Determination of Eligibility
1. No later than 60 school days following the date of receiving informed written consent to conduct an evaluation (or prior to the first day of the next school year if there are less than 60 school days remaining at the time informed written consent is received), an IEP meeting will be held to consider the results of the evaluation and, if the child is determined to be eligible for special education and related services to develop an IEP.
2. The team shall consist of a group of qualified professionals and the parent(s).
3. The IEP Team, after considering the evaluation and other information available regarding the child, shall determine whether the child is or continues to be eligible for special education and related services as a child with a disability as defined by federal and state law and the child’s educational needs. In making this determination, the IEP Team shall:
a. Draw upon information from a variety of sources, including aptitude and achievement tests, parental input, teacher recommendations, physical condition, social or cultural background, and adaptive behavior;
b. Ensure that information obtained from all of these sources is documented and considered; and
c. Ensure that a psychological evaluation has been conducted and a recommendation for eligibility has been made by a school psychologist for all children determined to have a cognitive disability.
4. A child may not be determined eligible if the determinant factor for that determination is lack of instruction in reading or math or limited English proficiency and the child does not otherwise meet the School District’s eligibility criteria.
5. At the conclusion of the meeting convened to consider the results of the evaluation, the team shall prepare a report describing its consideration of pre-existing information about the child, all new evaluation reports obtained, and any other information relevant to the decision about the child’s eligibility. This description shall relate the information considered to the child’s needs and shall further conform to the requirements relating to identifying students suspected of or having a specific learning disability, if applicable. The IEP Team’s report shall also include:
a. The date of the meeting;
b. The signatures of the participants, indicating their presence at the meeting; and
c. Any separate written statement provided by a participant who wishes to be on record as disagreeing with the conclusions expressed in the team’s report.
6. If an assessment is conducted under nonstandard conditions, a description of the extent to which the assessment varied from standard conditions shall be included in the evaluation report. This information is needed so that the team of evaluators can assess the effects of these variances on the validity and reliability of the information reported and determine whether additional assessments are needed.
7. If any needed portion of the evaluation cannot be completed due to lack of parental involvement, religious convictions of the family, or inability of the child to participate in an evaluative procedure, the School District shall note the missing portions in the child’s evaluation report and state the reasons why those portions could not be completed.
8. In the event that the student is determined to be eligible for special education and related services, the IEP meeting shall be conducted within 30 days (and no later than 60 school days from the date the School District receives the informed written consent for the evaluation or reevaluation from the parent(s)) after the date of that determination.
9. A copy of the IEP Team’s report, together with all documentation upon which it is based will be maintained in the child’s temporary education record in accordance with confidentiality requirements.
10. A copy of the completed document will be provided to the parent(s). If requested, a copy of any evaluation reports will also be provided.
11. No later than 10 school days following the IEP meeting, the parent(s) will be provided a written notice of the determination of the team, in compliance with 23 Ill. Admin. Code § 226.520. A copy of the Procedural Safeguards Statement will also be provided to the parent(s) no later than 10 school days following the meeting.
D. Additional Requirements for Identifying Children with Specific Learning Disabilities
1. The criteria for identifying children with specific