Complete Staff Listing Guidance Services Nursing Services Home Education English as a Second Language Services for Exceptional Children Gifted Screening Procedures High-End Learner Services Public Notice on Student Records and Confidentiality Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA) Safe and Drug Free and Community Schools Grant

For more information, please contact the Alliance for Infants and Toddlers, Inc. at 412-885-6000 or the Allegheny Intermediate Unit/DART Program at (412) 394-5736.

Services for School Age Exceptional Students
The school district provides a free, appropriate public education to exceptional students according to state and federal mandates. To be eligible, the child must be of school-age, need specially designed instruction, and meet eligibility criteria for mentally gifted and/or one or more of the following physical or mental disabilities as set forth in the Individual with Disabilities Education Act which was re-authorized in 1997 (IDEA –97):

• Autism/Pervasive Developmental Disorder
• Blindness/Visual Impairment
• Deaf Blindness
• Deafness/Hearing Impairment
• Physical Disability
• Emotional Disturbance
• Specific Learning Disability
• Speech and Language Impairment
• Mental Retardation
• Multiple Disabilities
• Orthopedic Impairment
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Other Health Impairment

Identified students are provided with a continuum of services designed to meet the individual needs of eligible students. These services may include supportive intervention in the regular class, supplemental intervention in the regular class or in a special education resource program, placement, in a part-time or full-time special education class in a regular school or placement in a full-time special education class outside of the regular school. The extent of special education services and the location for the delivery of such services are determined by the parents and staff at the IEP team meeting and is based on the student’s identified needs and abilities, chronological age, and the intensity of the specified intervention. The school district also provides related services, such as transportation, physical therapy, and occupational therapy, that is required to enable the student to derive educational benefits.

Parents of public school students who suspect that their child is exceptional and in need of special education may request a multidisciplinary team evaluation of their child through a written request to the district Director of Pupil Personnel.

Screening and Evaluation
South Fayette Township School District has a three-part screening process in place that identifies any student who may need special education.

Level 1: Review of group-based data
The building level guidance counselors review report cards, health records and group-based testing such as the TerraNova Standardized Achievement Test, TerraNova School Ability Test, and Pennsylvania State Assessment results. For incoming kindergarten students, results from the Early Screening Profile are examined. Data gathered through a thorough review of these records may prompt a referral for screening a child for special education.

Level 2: Review of hearing, vision, motor, speech and language
The District routinely conducts screenings of a child’s hearing acuity each year in kindergarten, first, second, third, seventh, and eleventh grade, vision acuity each year, kindergarten through Grade 12, and speech and language mid-year in kindergarten. Gross motor and fine motor skills are assessed by the classroom teacher on an on-going basis. Specified needs from all of these screening sources are noted within the child’s official file.

Level 3: Instructional Support
The Instructional Support Team (IST) is an innovative program whose goals are to maximize individual student success in the regular classroom, while at the same time serving as a screening process for students who may be in need of special education services. IST is a positive, success-oriented program which uses specific assessment and intervention techniques to help remove educational, behavioral or affective stumbling blocks for all students in the regular classroom. At South Fayette, the IST program runs from kindergarten until Grade 8. Referrals for IST intervention may be initiated by the parent or classroom teacher.

The Instructional Support Team includes your child’s classroom teacher, the school principal, the instructional support teacher, the guidance counselor, a Title I teacher, a learning support teacher and a grade level teacher. Parents are encouraged to participate as active partners in the process. The school psychologist, speech therapist, school nurse, and representatives from community agencies also serve on the IST, depending on the needs of the students.

The IST process involves three steps:

(1) Identifying a student’s need for academic and behavior support
(2) Determining strategies needed for assisting the student
(3) Implementing intervention strategies through a continuum of services

After an initial assessment of the student’s academic, behavioral, and/or coping skills, the IST recommends strategies to be implemented to help the student achieve success in the regular classroom. The team determines what support is needed for the student to maintain a level of success in the classroom. These strategies are implemented, monitored and then evaluated by the team after 30 days, based on goals set for the student. If the student’s teachers report a positive change, the strategies are continued. If there is not progress, the student may be referred for a multidisciplinary evaluation (MDE).

The Multidisciplinary Evaluation (MDE)
The MDE is a process to gather information that will be used to find out if children really do need special education and if so, the types of services needed.

Prior to an MDE, the District must obtain permission via the Permission to Evaluate form. Before an evaluation can occur, the form must be signed by the parent or legal guardian.

Evaluations are conducted by a certified school psychologist. Additional information is provided by the parents, classroom teacher, Instructional Support Teacher, and other pertinent individuals that work with the student. All of this information is compiled into an Evaluation Report (ER). This report will recommend whether a child has one or more disabilities or mental giftedness. It also recommends whether or not the child requires special education, and the type of program and services that the child needs. The ER may recommend that a child is not exceptional and therefore does not need special education services. If this is recommended, the report will list changes that may be made in the regular classroom to make the child more successful. All members of the MDT, including the parents, are entitled to review the ER.

Reevaluations for students who are eligible for special education services, are compiled every two years, or when requested by one or more members of the IEP team (please see information on Individualized Education Plan).

Individualized Education Plan
Children who are regarded to be exceptional by the MDT team are entitled to receive special education services. The document that specifically addresses these services is called an Individual Education Plan (IEP). Required members of the IEP team include:

• The child’s parents
• At least one of your child’s regular education teachers
• At least one special education teacher
• A representative from the school district who:
(1) Is qualified to provide or supervise special education programs
(2) Knows about the general curriculum
(3) Knows what resources the Local Education Agency (LEA) can offer
• Someone who can interpret the evaluation results, who may already be a member of the team
• At your request or that of the school, other people who know your child well or who have worked with your child
• Your child (at age 16 when planning will be done for life after graduation or any time before that age when you want your child to be present)
• A representative from a vocational-technical school if a vocational-technical school is being considered for your child

The IEP will review all of the evaluation material and will determine how your child is performing in school now. The IEP team will write annual goals and short term learning objectives that can be measured and which meet the needs of your child.

IEPs for eligible students are developed on an annual basis, or sooner, if requested by one or more members of the IEP team.

Notice of Recommended Educational Placement
Once the IEP has been developed with the IEP team, you will receive a Notice of Recommended Educational Placement (NOREP). The NOREP explains the placement or class recommended for your child and explains your rights. You must approve the NOREP in writing for your child’s first special education placement if you want it to go into effect.

South Fayette Township School District offers a continuum of educational services designed to meet the needs of eligible students including varying degrees of gifted, learning, and speech and language support. In additional, related services such as transportation, occupational therapy, physical therapy, vision support, and deaf and hearing support are available to those students that qualify.

Detailed information regarding special education procedures may be obtained by calling the Special Education Department at South Fayette Schools, (412) 221-4542, ext. 428, 415 or 429.

Services for Protected Handicapped Students
There are instances in which students are identified as handicapped or disabled, but may not qualify for Special Education services. If it is determined necessary, the school district will provide these students, without discrimination or cost to the student or family, those related aids, services or accommodations which are needed to ensure equal opportunity to participate in and obtain the benefits of the school programs and extracurricular activities. These services are outlined in a Chapter 15 Service Agreement. Questions regarding Chapter 15 should be directed to the Special Education Department at (412) 221-4542, ext. 428, 415 or 429.

Services for Students in Nonpublic Schools
Public special education is accessible to resident students attending nonpublic schools by permitting the nonpublic school student to enroll on a part-time, duel enrollment basis in a special education program operated in a public school. Students in a non-public school that are suspected of having a disability will need to be referred for an MDE.

Parents of nonpublic school students who suspect that their child is exceptional and in need of special education may request a multidisciplinary team evaluation of their child through a written request to the district Director of Pupil services.