Special Education Services
Yukon Public School 's Special Education Department seeks to provide a free and appropriate public education for all students with disabilities, from 3 years of age through twenty one or the completion of the twelfth grade. Special education programs are designed to provide students with disabilities the opportunities to learn and develop the skills necessary to be contributing member of our community. We have thirty highly trained special education teachers, six speech pathologists, an occupational therapist, a physical therapist, a behavior intervention specialist, a consultant for the visually impaired and hearing impaired a transition specialist, a school psychometrics and a school psychologist on staff to meet the needs of our students with disabilities.
In order to meet the needs of our students with disabilities, we provide special education services and specially designed instruction.
"Special Education Services " means specially designed instruction, provided at no cost to the parents, necessary to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability to allow them to benefit from their educational program.
"Specially designed instruction" means adapting the content, methodology, or delivery of services, as appropriate to meet the needs of an eligible child resulting from the disability.
Specially designed instruction includes:
- consultation by qualified special education personnel; and
- programs monitoring by qualified special education personnel to ensure that the IEP is being properly implemented and that the child is progressing in accordance with the IEP
Yukon Public Schools provide special education services in the least restrictive environment. The purpose of the least restrictive
environment is to ensure that, to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities receive instruction with children who do no have disabilities. The removal of a student with disabilities from the regular educational environment occurs only if the nature and severity of the disability is such that education in the regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
Child Find
The Yukon Public Schools makes a continuing effort to locate any children in the district ages 3-21 who may be disabled and/or developmentally delayed who are not currently being served by the school. State law recognizes the following qualifying conditions: autism, deaf-blindness, hearing impairment, other health impairment, serious emotional disturbance, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment, or developmental delay.
Notification of Rights under FERPA for Elementary and Secondary Institutions
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents and students over 18 years of age ("eligible students") certain rights with respect to the student's educational records. They are:
- The right to inspect and review the student's education records within 45 days of the day the District receives a request from for access.
Parents or eligible students should submit to the school principal (or approve school official) a written request that identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect. The principal will make arrangements for access and notify the parent or eligible student of the time and place where the records may be inspected. - The right to request the amendment of the student's education records the parent or eligible student believes are inaccurate or misleading or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights.
Parents or eligible students may ask the district to amend a record they believe is inaccurate or misleading or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights. They should write the school principal, clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it is inaccurate or misleading or otherwise in violation of the student's privacy rights.
If the district decides not to amend the record as requested by the parents or eligible student, the district will notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and advise them of their right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing procedures will be provided to the parent or eligible student when notified of the right to a hearing. - The right to consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student's education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure without consent.
One exception which permits disclosure without consent is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational interests. A school official is a person employed by the district as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support staff member (including health or medical staff and law enforcement unit personnel); a person serving on the school board; a person or company with whom the district has contracted to perform a special task ( such as an attorney, auditor, medical consultant, or therapist); or a parent or student serving on an official committee, such as a disciplinary or grievance committee, or assisting another school official in performing his or her task.
A school official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review and education record in order to fufill his or her professional responsibility.
Upon request, the district discloses education records with out consent to officials of another school district in which a student seeks or intends to enroll. (NOTE: FERPA requires a school district to state in its annual notification that it intends to forward records on request.) - The right to file a complaint with United States Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the district to comply with requirements of FERPA. The name and address of the office that administers FERPA is: Family Policy Compliance Office, United States Department of Education, 600 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C.
20202-4605
Referrals and Evaluations
If a parent or teacher suspects a child may have a disability, they can initiate a referral for an evaluation by contacting the child's home school's principal or counselor, or the Director of Special Education. (Click on "Contact Us") Qualification for special education services is based on the results of a comprehensive evaluation. A multidisciplinary team of knowledgeable people, including the parents, will review all the existing data and identify what additional evaluation procedures are necessary to determine if a student is eligible for special education. A student is identified under one of the following categories: autism, deaf-blindness, deafness/hearing impairment, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, emotional disturbance, speech/language impairment, or developmental delays.Once the comprehensive evaluation is complete, the team will meet to review all the information and determine whether or not the child meets the federal and state guidelines for special education services. If the child is determined eligible, the team will write an Individualized Education Program, (IEP) for the students. The IEP for a child with a disability is a written document, which must be developed, reviewed, and revised in order to meet the child's individual needs. The IEP outlines the child's goals and objectives and identifies what services are necessary for the student to benefit from their educational plan.
