Child Find
The Appleton
Area School District must conduct activities to locate, identify, and evaluate
all children with disabilities within the district, including children
attending private schools. Child find activities include an individualized
education program (IEP) team evaluation when a request for an evaluation (referral)
has been made. Referral requests are usually made by a parent or by school personnel.
It is recommended that requests for an IEP team evaluation be made in
consultation with district personnel.
Special Education and Related Services
Other than
child find, children with disabilities enrolled in private schools by their
parents do not have an individual entitlement to receive some or all of the
special education and related services they would otherwise receive if enrolled
in a public school. If a private school student, grade 4K-12, is identified as
a child with a disability and the Appleton Area School District determines that
some services will be provided by the district, the IEP team will develop a
Private School Services Plan (PSSP) to represent what will be provided.
Services may be provided in a public school or private school setting. The team
must also inform parents that the child’s district of residence is responsible
for providing a free appropriate public education if the student leaves the
private school and enrolls in public school.
When an IEP
team determines that the disability-related needs of a private school student
cannot be meaningfully addressed through the limited services the district can
make available through a PSSP, the team may deny services and, instead, recommend
that the student be enrolled in a public school to receive all necessary special education and related services. The type,
amount, and frequency of services recommended for the child, if enrolled in
public school, will then be discussed with parents. In such circumstances, it is not the goal of
the Appleton Area School District to gain enrollment at the expense of private
schools. Rather, this difficult
recommendation reflects the team’s determination that the child will not make
reasonable progress in the skill areas affected without receiving all of the services needed.
Equitable Participation
The Appleton
Area School District must provide for the equitable participation of private school
students with disabilities. Like other public school districts, the Appleton
Area School District must do this by spending a proportionate share of its
federal IDEA funds on the provision of special education and related services
to private school students with disabilities. Expenses related to child find
are not included in the proportionate share spent on behalf of private school
students.
Proportionate
share calculations are based on the total number of children with disabilities attending
public and private schools within the boundaries of the Appleton Area School
District. Historically, special
education and related services provided annually to private school
students have exceeded the requirements of equitable participation.
The Appleton Area School District determines what special education and related services it will
provide to private school students through annual consultation with private
school officials. As previously described, services may not be provided to
every private school child with a disability.
Contact
Sara Hechel
Program Support Teacher
(920) 997-1399 Ext. 2111