Public Notice on Screening and Evaluation

The Elizabeth Forward 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:

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.

Information from the records is released to other persons or agencies only with appropriate authorization that involves written signed permission by parents. 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 exceptional students shall be in English or the native language of the parents.

Screening information will be used by a 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 to begin a multidisciplinary evaluation.

After all this evaluation is completed, a Comprehensive Evaluation Report will be compiled with parent involvement and include specific recommendations for the types of intervention necessary to deal with the child's specified needs. Parents are then invited to participate in a meeting where the results of the multi-disciplinary evaluation will be discussed. An Individual Education Program (I.E.P.) will be developed for specialized services for the student.

The Elizabeth Forward School District I.E.P. Team will consist of at least three staff members: the building principal, a special education teacher and the regular education teacher(s), The district psychologist/liaison, and other teachers or specialists and other administrative staff will be involved when appropriate.

A parent may request that the district initiate a screening or evaluation of their student's specified needs at any time by contacting the building principal. Further information about these procedures may be obtained by calling Mr. Matthew J. Stromberg, School District Director of Pupil Personnel Services at 896-2374.

After this evaluation is completed, a Comprehensive Evaluation Report will be compiled with parent involvement and include specific recommendations for the types of intervention necessary to deal with the child's specified needs. Parents are then invited to participate in a meeting where the results of the multi-disciplinary evaluation will be discussed. An Individual Education Program (I.E.P.) will be developed for specialized services for eligible students.

The Elizabeth Forward School District I.E.P. Team will consist of at least three staff members: the building principal, a special education teacher and the regular education teacher(s). The District psychologist/liaison, and other teachers or specialists and other administrative staff will be involved when appropriate.

Parents are an integral part of the I.E.P. team and need to be physically present at the I.E.P. 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 I.E.P. 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 being recommended, the issue may be taken to mediation or a due-process hearing.

Information about Early Intervention, parent 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.