Southern Tioga School District
Public Notice on Screening and Evaluation
Southern Tioga School District uses the following procedures, as required by law, to locate, identify, and evaluate specified needs of school-aged students requiring special programs or services.
The district, as prescribed by section 1402 of the School Code, routinely conducts screenings of a child's hearing acuity in grades kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, and in grades 4th through 12th on a referral basis. Visual acuity is screened in every grade. Speech and language skills are screened in kindergarten and at any time on a referral basis. Gross motor and fine motor skills, academic skills, and social-emotional skills, are assessed by classroom teachers on an on-going basis. A parent may request that the district initiate a screening or evaluation of their child at any time during their school career, by contacting the building principal. Specified needs from all of these screening sources are noted in the child's official file. School records are always open and available to parents, and only to school officials who have legitimate "need to know" information about the child.
Screening information will be used by the Building Level Support 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 requires additional services, the Building Level Support/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, the parents will be asked to give written permission for further individual professional evaluations. All communication with parents shall be in English or their native language.
After all the evaluations are completed, an Evaluation Report will be compiled with parent involvement and will include a determination of eligibility for special education services. In addition the report will make recommendations for the types of interventions necessary to meet educational needs, and the extent of participation in the general curriculum. Should special education eligibility be established, an Individualized Education Planning Team meeting will be held to determine whether the child is in need of specially designed instruction.
The Southern Tioga School District I.E.P. Team will consist of at least three of the following district staff: a representative of the local education agency (LEA), special education teacher, regular education teacher(s), school psychologist, other teachers or specialists as needed, and other administrative staff when appropriate.
Parents are an integral part of the I.E.P. team and should be present at the I.E.P. meeting. The district will make every effort to ensure parent participation. The district will notify the parents in writing, make documented phone calls, and home visits, if necessary, to make parents aware of the I.E.P. conference and the need for parental participation. After the I.E.P. is developed, the parents are presented a Notice of Recommended Educational Placement (NOREP) with which they may agree or disagree. If parents disagree with the program recommendation, the issue may be taken to mediation or a due process hearing.
To meet the needs of eligible students, services are available in the following buildings:
All Buildings:
Learning Support
Vision Support (as needed)
Hearing Impaired Support (as needed)
Speech/Language Support
Warren L. Miller Elementary, Mansfield High School, and North Penn High School at Laurel Health Campus:
Emotional Support
Warren L. Miller Elementary and Mansfield High School
Life Skills Support
Information from the records may be released to other persons or agencies only with appropriate authorization that involves written signed permission by parents. The only exception is when a student enrolls or seeks enrollment in another school in Pennsylvania, then educational and personally identifiable information may be released without parental permission.
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 of your child's school.
Chapter 15/Other Protected
Handicapped Students
A protected handicapped student is a student who is school age with a physical or mental disability which substantially limits or prohibits participation in or access to any aspect of the school program.
In compliance with State and Federal Law, Southern Tioga School District will provide to each protected handicapped student without discrimination or cost to the student or family, those related aids, services, or accommodations which are needed to provide equal opportunity to participate in and obtain the benefits of the school program and extracurricular activities to the maximum extent appropriate to the student's abilities. These services and protections for "protected handicapped students" are distinct from those applicable to all eligible or exceptional students enrolled (or seeking enrollment) in special education programs.
For further information about evaluation procedures, special education programs, or provision of services to protected handicapped students, contact:
Barbara J. Kelly
Supervisor of Special Education
Southern Tioga School District
241 Main Street
Blossburg, PA 16912
638-2183 or 659-5521
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