The Scoop
Special Services Update - January 14, 2022
SSES Notifications to be provided to all eligible parents
SSES notification letters in English and Spanish are included in Frontline under "ARD Forms", under the screen "Forms". Please begin to attach these letters to all special education students at annual ARD meetings.
This information was also sent to parents of special education students via Messenger. Please continue to encourage parents to apply for these funds.
Special Rodeo
Special Rodeo will be on January 26th from 8 AM – 12 PM at the Show Barn at Tomball High School. There will be more information coming from Kalli Wakefield with details on which campuses are attending at what times. Please come out if you are able to that day!
If you have pre-ordered a t-shirt from Kalli, you will be getting these before the event! They should be delivered to Special Servies sometime next week. We could use any help available to sort and deliver for campuses.
We will be setting up the night of January 25th. If you are wanting to come help set up, please contact Kalli Wakefield kalliwakefield@tomballisd.net
HB 785
TEA has recently released a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document in regard to House Bill 785, that deals with restraint, timeout, functional behavior assessments, and behavior intervention plans. Please review and share with all applicable staff. To access FAQ, click here.
Update HERE.
Finalizing the move to Tomball Innovation Center
There are some materials we will be moving to the storage facility located on the premises as well such as mats and larger items. If you have questions about anything regarding this please let me know.
You Be The Judge!
Did Calif. district's failure to assess teen's social-emotional needs deny him FAPE?
A 17-year-old student received special education and related services as a student with a specific learning disability. As part of his triennial reassessment, his California district proposed that a school psychologist assess the teen's intellectual development as well as his social-emotional and behavioral needs. A credentialed school psychologist evaluated the student, primarily to determine whether he still met the eligibility criteria for SLD. The psychologist acknowledged that he did not specifically assess the teen's social-emotional and behavioral needs.
As a result, the IEP team did not develop any social-emotional goals for him. However, the IEP developed in the spring of 2018 included extended time and alternate locations for tests, and also continued the 10 30-minute individual counseling sessions per year that had been included in the prior year's IEP. The parent signed off on the IEP.
During the fall of 2018, the teen began to miss a lot of school, complaining of headaches and stomach aches. His grades plummeted. He reported to a teacher that his friends told him he was "so weird," that he should just kill himself and expressed that maybe he should kill himself. A few weeks later, his mother asked the school to assess him and provide additional mental health services. The special education coordinator interpreted the mother's request as asking for a suicide risk assessment, not a special education evaluation, so the district did not reevaluate his needs.
The mother filed for due process alleging, in part, that the district's failure to conduct an appropriate social-emotional assessment after the student disclosed suicidal thoughts denied him FAPE. The district responded that it addressed the teen's social-emotional issues by including counseling sessions in his IEP.
An IDEA evaluation must be sufficiently comprehensive to identify all of the student's needs for special education and related services, whether or not commonly linked to the identified disability category. See 20 USC 1414 (b)(3) and 34 CFR 300.304 (c)(6).
Did this teen receive FAPE despite the district not assessing his social-emotional needs? Click HERE to see how the administrative law judge found.
TIP OF THE WEEK
Review requirements of PWN to ensure IDEA-compliant placements
When actions constitute "change in the placement" for students with disabilities, districts must follow IDEA procedural safeguards that include steps toward providing prior written notice described under 20 USC 1415.
Special education program directors and team leaders should be familiar with the IDEA requirements for districts to notify parents of impending placement decisions and provide them with the procedural safeguards notice described at 34 CFR 300.504.
The procedural safeguards notice includes the prior written notice, or PWN, that districts must provide to parents before: 1.) proposing to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the provision of FAPE to the child; or 2.) refusing to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the child or the provision of FAPE to the child. 34 CFR 300.503 (a).
Find the full article HERE
Student Support Shout Outs
Thank you to all Special Services staff for going above and beyond this week to get the work done for our students. With campus and department shortages, we appreciate all the additional support you are providing when you are able.
More Information
Be sure and check out and read the other Smore Newsletters being produced by Student Support Staff: