Child Find:
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is the referral process?
If after your child goes through a developmental
screening, it is felt that a more comprehensive
evaluation may be needed, a referral to the Local
Screening Committee (LSC) will be made. Within
10 working days of the referral, the LSC meeting
will be scheduled and you will be contacted to
participate. The LSC decides whether or not additional
assessments are needed to determine your child’s
eligibility for special education services. If
it is determined that additional assessments
are needed, written parental permission is required.
The evaluations and the eligibility determination
must be completed within 65 working days of the
LSC meeting.
What does eligibility mean?
A child who is found eligible for special education
services has met the criteria for an area of
disability based on delays in one or more of
the major developmental areas: fine and/or gross
motor, cognitive functioning,
communication, social/emotional functioning and
adaptive behavior. The majority of children are
found eligible for services as a child with a Developmental
Delay, but children can also be found eligible
for services with the following areas: Speech/Language
Impaired, Autism, Hearing Impaired, Visually Impaired,
and Severely Disabled.
What happens after
my child is found eligible for services?
All children who are found eligible for special
education services have a document called an Individual
Education Program (IEP), which contains identified
areas of need, goals and objectives to address
those needs, accommodations, a determination of
what is considered to be the least restrictive
environment in which to provide services, a description
of services, the number of hours of service to
be provided and a determination as to whether or
not any related services such as speech/language
therapy, occupational therapy or physical therapy
is required. The IEP is developed by a team consisting
of a preschool special education teacher, an administrator
and the parent, along with related service providers
if appropriate. Once the IEP is agreed to, the
child can begin to receive services.
Who determines
which preschool services my child receives?
The IEP team determines whether a child will receive
resource, class-based or PAC services. The parent
is part of the IEP team and written agreement is
required from the parent for the school system
to implement services.
What if I think my child’s IEP needs to be changed?
Most IEPs are written for a year’s duration not
including the summer. Parents may request an IEP
team meeting at any time by contacting the child’s
teacher.
Will my child receive therapy services?
FCPS provides speech/language services, physical
therapy, occupational therapy and hearing and vision
services. The need for these services will be determined
by the IEP team. There is a continuum of services
from consultation with the teacher to direct services
to the child.
Provision of preschool
therapy services are based on an educational model,
not a medical model provided by most private practitioners.
As a result, they are usually considered “related
services”, secondary to the primary preschool services.
The purpose of the related services is to support
the child in progressing on his or her IEP goals
and objectives. In many cases, the child’s teacher
can address the child’s needs through instructional
activities. In those cases where the child’s needs
cannot be met solely through the primary educational
program, then consultation and direct services
by the related services professionals may be considered
by the IEP team. For children receiving preschool
class-based services and PAC, PT, OT and speech/language
services are generally provided in the classroom
as part of the instructional activities. Services
in the classroom provide a way for the therapist
to model strategies that the teacher and instructional
assistant can include in activities throughout
the day. Therapy services can be provided in the home or other location for children receiving
preschool resource services.
How are children
placed in the preschool class-based program?
Placement decisions are made by the IEP team, of
which the parent is a part. A noncategorical model
is used in the preschool class-based program. This
means that children with a variety of delays are
placed in the same classroom so that their skills
complement each other’s. This gives each child
an opportunity to be a role model for other children.
The IEP team may
also decide that an appropriate placement might
be a preschool class for children who are deaf
or hard of hearing or a preschool autism class
(PAC) for some children with autism spectrum disorders.
How often will my child attend school?
At the IEP meeting, the team will determine the
number of days and hours appropriate for each child
based on his/her IEP goals. Often 2-year-old children
receiving preschool class-based services attend
class only 3 days a week due to their age and developmental
needs. Older children typically attend class 5
days a week. Most children attend either a morning
or afternoon class. The IEP team determines the
number of days in class needed for the child to
progress on their IEP goals and objectives.
How do I know
which school my child will attend?
School location is based on where the child lives.
Each preschool site has a bus boundary area. If
preschool classes are not located in your neighborhood
school, your child will attend a preschool location
based on the home address (or child care pick-up/drop-off
location). If the preschool classes are full in
the school for your boundary area, your child will
receive services at the next closest school that
has space in the preschool class. In all instances,
transportation will be provided.
In some instances,
a child may attend a school other than the one
that is closest to home because that other location
has a class that is more appropriate to meet his/her
individual needs. For example, children with hearing
impairments may receive services at one of three
locations that serve eligible deaf and hard-of-hearing
preschool students. Each location emphasizes a
different communication modality: cued speech,
sign language or auditory/oral. Some children with
autism may require a more intensive level of direct
instruction than may be offered in a non-categorical
preschool class and may receive services at one
of the PAC sites located throughout the county.
What if my child
has special medical or health needs?
The public health nurse will work with you and
the preschool staff to meet your child’s needs
at school. For your child to receive medication
at school, appropriate paperwork must be completed
authorizing the school to administer a specific
dose of medicine at a designated time or frequency.
If your child requires special medical procedures,
such as g-tube feeding or catheterization, written
doctor’s guidelines are required. The nurse will
assist with training at least three staff members
who will be responsible for carrying out approved,
prescribed medical procedures. You may be asked
to help with the training. The teacher will get
information from you about who to contact in case
your child has a medical emergency. For children
with certain chronic medical conditions, such as
seizures, an individual health care plan may be
developed with a step-by-step set of guidelines
about how to respond to the particular medical
condition.
If your child
becomes too ill or unable to attend school for
an extended period of time, he or she can be served
in your home through a process that has been developed
to provide homebound services for the duration
of the time that the child cannot attend school.
What if my child
needs special equipment in school?
A variety of special equipment and assistive devices
are available to support children so that they
can participate in classroom activities. Teachers,
assistants, therapists and technology resource
teachers collaborate to determine what equipment
is needed and to help your child work on motor
and communication skills as outlined in the IEP.
How will my child get to and from school?
FCPS provides transportation for children in preschool
special education classes by special education
school buses equipped with seat belts. Usually
only preschoolers are on the bus. Most buses have
an assistant or an attendant on the bus to help
the children, as needed. Buses pick up children
from the same location (such as home or day care)
each day and drop them off at the same location
(home or day care) each day. Both sites must be
within the same school’s boundaries. Door-to-door
service is provided unless the bus cannot get to
a designated address, as in cases with a narrow
cul-de-sac, pipestem street or a parking lot with
limited turning space. Parents always have the
option to transport their child to school.
If your child
is small and/or requires the support of a car seat,
you should check with your child’s teacher to determine
which care seats are approved for buses. The car
seat will be taken off the bus both at school and
at home, since the buses serve other children throughout
the day.
If your child
uses a wheelchair, a bus with a wheelchair lift
can be arranged through your child’s teacher when
planning for your child to start school.
At school, a preschool
staff member will help your child off the bus and
walk him or her to the classroom.
How often will
my child be re-evaluated?
Teachers monitor each child’s progress on an ongoing
basis. Children are evaluated at the beginning
and end of each school year (pre and post-test
measures) in order to assess progress. Quarterly
progress reports are sent home in November, January/February,
April and June.
The IEP re-evaluation
committee convenes when your child is of age to
transition to a kindergarten level service for
the next school year. This team will decide if
any updated evaluations are needed to make the
decision about your child’s continued special education
eligibility. Federal regulations require children
to go through a formal re-evaluation process every
three years. If your child entered the preschool
program at age 2, the IEP re-evaluation team will
meet to determine what evaluations are needed to
make a decision about the child’s continued eligibility
for special education services.
What happens to
my child’s records?
If your child is found ineligible for preschool
special education services, your child’s records
will be filed at the Preschool Child Find office
at which he or she was evaluated and kept there
until he or she is 5 years of age. At that time
the records will be forwarded to your neighborhood
school.
If your child
is found eligible for special education preschool
services, his or her records will be kept at the
location from which he or she receives services.
If your child is found eligible to continue special
education services after transitioning to kindergarten,
the records will be sent to the school he/she attends.
What if my child
and family speak a language other than English?
The language and cultural diversity of children
and families is respected and considered by school
system staff throughout the course of assessment,
eligibility and instructional services. FCPS provides
interpreters so that someone can provide support
in the native language throughout the referral
and evaluation process. The Office of Dual Language
Assessment provides information to preschool staff
about testing and scoring evaluations appropriately
for children whose primary language is not English.
Interpreters are available for meetings, such as
IEPs. The preschool staff will arrange to have
necessary interpreters available to provide assistance.
What are the credentials
of preschool teachers?
All FCPS preschool teachers are certified by the
Virginia Department of Education in early childhood
special education. Many preschool teachers have
graduate school credits or master’s degrees.
What if I have further questions?
If you have additional questions, please contact
the preschool specialist assigned to your neighborhood
school cluster.
|
