Philadelphia Community Services for Children and Adolescents

II. Special Education

Your child's mental health needs can be supported by the public school system (both traditional schools and charter schools) through "special education." Special education services must be provided to children whose mental health problems prevent them from making "meaningful progress in their education." You, as the parent or guardian, are in the best position to begin and follow through with the process from identification to obtaining an appropriate special education program for your child.

A. Laws and Regulations

A federal law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), gives children with disabilities the right to a "free appropriate public education," at no cost to parents or guardians.

In order to be found eligible, the law requires that a child have a disability, and, because of that disability, requires a special education program and related services in order to make meaningful educational progress.

The IDEA defines each disability. Disabilities include:

Hearing Impairments
Vision Impairments
Physical Impairments
Mental Impairments
Emotional Disabilities
Autism

Children with emotional/behavioral disorders may be eligible for special education services under the definitions of Emotional Disturbance (ES), Other Health Impairment (OHI), or, in some cases, Autism. It is important to remember that these are educational definitions and not medical ones.

The IDEA defines these disabilities as follows:

Autism means a developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age 3, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experience. The term does not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance.

Emotional Disturbance means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics over a long period of time and to a marked degree, which adversely affects the child's education performance:

An inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors.
An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers.
Inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances.
A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression.
A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

The term includes schizophrenia. It does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance. For more information about "emotional disturbance," see the Glossary.

Other Health Impairment means having limited strength, vitality, or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli, that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment. Some children with asthma, attention deficit disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, diabetes, epilepsy, a heart condition, or sickle cell anemia may fit into this category.

The Pennsylvania Special Education Regulations are similar to the IDEA requirements.

B. To Begin

There are steps to follow in securing special education services through the school district, charter school, or other administrative organization which runs your child's public school. The first step in obtaining special education services through the schools is to make yourself aware of you and your child's rights. Become familiar with the special education process and the language used in that process. An excellent resource for this information is The Right to Special Education in Pennsylvania-A Guide for Parents published by the Education Law Center. This guide describes the special education process, including parent and student rights in securing an appropriate special education program and related services through the public school system. The guide is available in English or in Spanish and single copies are free to parents and advocates.

To order, CONTACT:

Education Law Center, Inc.
1315 Walnut Street, 4th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215) 238-6970
www.elc-pa.org

As you go through the process of obtaining special education services, always keep records. Create files for school documents, your correspondence with the school, and your phone calls.

The following section gives information for children attending public schools in Philadelphia. If your child attends a charter school, please refer to Section J at the end of this chapter. If your child is not in a public school, Act 89, a state regulation, provides for auxiliary educational services in participating nonpublic schools at no cost to parents. Please refer to these agencies to provide a variety of services including, evaluation, tutoring, and therapy in the Philadelphia area.

C. The School District of Philadelphia

Note: The public schools in Philadelphia are now operated by a variety of educational organizations after the state takeover of the district. Whether your child's school is a traditional public school or one administered by an Education Management Organization (EMO) such as Edison or a local university, the school must follow federal and state special education regulations. For information about charter schools, please see Section J of this chapter.

The School District of Philadelphia and its designated administrative agencies are responsible for providing a "free appropriate public education" for children with disabilities guaranteed by IDEA. This applies to children 4.7 to 21 years whose parents or guardians live in Philadelphia.

Children from birth to five years old are eligible for early intervention services if they have a significant delay in their speech, cognitive, emotional, adaptive, orthopedic, or sensory development. Public schools provide early intervention for children three to five years of age. The Mental Health/ Mental Retardation System provide programs for children from birth to 3 years. Refer to Special Services for Children for more information about Early Intervention and Preschool Services.

The public schools are also required to educate children who (a) live in institutions located within the district, regardless of where in Pennsylvania their parents or guardians reside; (b) live with foster parents and (c) live full time with adult residents of the district, including foster parents who are supporting them financially.

D. The Special Education Process

For you, the parent(s) of a child who may need a special education program and related services, an understanding of the special education process will clarify your role at each step of the process, from evaluation to placement of your child. The federal law, IDEA, requires that you be a part of the evaluation team and, if your child is found to be eligible, a part of the team that writes your child's Individualized Education Program (IEP).

The special education process consists of several steps:

Identification
Evaluation
A Multidisciplinary Evaluation (MDE)
Development of the Individualized Education Plan (IEP)
The Notice of Recommended Educational Placement (NOREP)
The placement of your child

1. Evaluation

If you feel that your child has a disability and would benefit from a special education program, you may request that the school conduct a Multi-Disciplinary Evaluation (MDT) of your child. Make the request in writing and be sure to date the request. Keep a copy of the request for your files. Send or give the letter to the principal of your child's school. You can see the Education Law Center's handbook for a sample letter requesting an evaluation. The school must then send you a form to sign which gives the school permission to evaluate your child.

Parents/guardians are part of the evaluation team. You will be given a Parental Input Form to fill out stating your concerns about your child and your child's strengths. The evaluation team must consist of at least: your child's teacher, a certified school psychologist and yourself. When the evaluations are complete, an Evaluation Report (ER) will be sent to you. You must receive the ER no later than 60 days after you signed the form giving the school permission to evaluate your child. The report should give the grade level in at least reading and math on which your child is working and your child's IQ. Most importantly, the report should state how your child learns and what types of teaching strategies (Specially Designed Instruction) should be used. The MDT recommends whether your child has a disability and because of that disability need a special education program and related services. If so then your child is eligible and an Individualized Education Program will be written for your child.

2. The Individualized Education Program (IEP)

The IEP must be written within 30 days of the date you received the ER. The IEP team must include: your child's teacher; a special education teacher; someone who is able to interpret the evaluations; a Local Educational Agency representative (someone who has knowledge about the special education options and the general education curriculum); and the parents or guardians.

The IEP is a written plan for the education of a student with a disability. It is based on what the evaluations state your child needs to learn and how your child should be taught. Using the information from the evaluation, the IEP team writes the IEP. The IEP will include your child's current educational levels, annual (yearly) goals, benchmarks or short term objectives, and how your child's progress will be measured. If needed by your child, his or her IEP must also describe behavior programs, assistive technology, vocational programs, adaptive physical education, extended school year (ESY), transition plans, health concerns and graduation planning. The IEP must state how often (number of sessions per week) and the length of any related service sessions (number of minutes per session) your child will receive. The IEP must be rewritten at least once a year.

For a child who exhibits behaviors which impede his/her learning or that of others, the IEP team must consider doing a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA) and writing a Behavioral Plan. A Behavioral Plan may be included in an IEP without having an FBA.

Transition Planning must begin when a youngster with a disability is 14 years old. At that time, his/her post high school plans must be discussed at the IEP meeting. Students must be invited to these meetings. When the student reaches 16 years of age, a full Transition Plan must be part of the IEP. Again, the student has to be invited to the IEP meeting at which this plan is developed. The Transition Plan addresses plans for post-high school life including college or other forms of schooling, work, housing arrangements, medical issues, and finances. Questions are asked such as "Where is the student now?" and "What skills does the student need to acquire in order to meet the goals in his or her adult life?" The answers become the transition plan.

3. Notice of Recommended Educational Placement (NOREP)

Decisions about how much of the school day your child will spend in a special education program and where your child will receive his or her special education program are made only after the IEP team has decided upon the program. These decisions are written on the NOREP. The team must check off all options for placement which they considered for your child. You will then be asked to sign the NOREP indicating whether you approve of the IEP and the proposed placement. If you do not approve the IEP and proposed placement, you can request a pre-hearing conference, a due process hearing, or mediation. The IEP must be implemented within 30 days after it is written.

E. Special Education Options Available to Children with Disabilities

The public school system provides a range of special education services and programs. The decision about which programs and services your child will receive must be based on your child's "unique" needs, as determined by the evaluations done on your child. The goal of a special education program is to ensure that your child will be able to function as independently as possible as an adult. In addition, under both federal law (IDEA) and Pennsylvania special education regulations, a child with a disability must be educated in "the Least Restrictive Environment" in which their educational needs can be met. This means that your child is educated as closely as possible with his or her peers in regular education classes.

The environment in which your child could be placed varies in terms of restriction. A setting that is the "least restrictive environment" for one child with special needs may not be the most appropriate setting for another child. Options include the following:

1. Regular Education Classroom

The first choice of placement for a child with a disability is the "regular" classroom with special supports. This option involves the least amount of separation from fellow classmates. The IEP must state exactly what supports a child will receive, who will provide those supports, and when and for how long during the day the supports will be given.

2. Resource Room

In this option, a child may leave the "regular" classroom to receive special educational support for up to 40% of the school day.

3. Part-Time Programs

In this environment, your child may spend up to 60% of the school day receiving special education services. Examples of part-time programs include teaching support classes, emotional support classes, some autistic support classes, life skills classes, multi-handicapped classes, and hearing or vision impaired classes. Children in these programs usually attend some subjects, such as music, art, gym and lunch, with regular education students.

4. Full Time Programs

In this setting, your child will spend 61% to 100% of the school day receiving special services. The public school district operates some full time special education classes. However, most children who attend full time programs do so in Approved Private Schools (APS).

Regardless of the environment selected, children in special education programs must participate in all extracurricular activities that they choose. They are also entitled to attend regular functions and activities such as lunch in the cafeteria and assemblies.

Follow the link for a list of full time special education classes Approved Private Schools.

F. Related Services

Related services are those services which a child needs "in order to benefit from a program of special education." Some examples of related services include the following:

Transportation
Speech and Language Therapy
Physical therapy
Occupational therapy
Orientation and Mobility training
Counseling

Remember, however, that the school district must only provide those related services which your child needs in order to make educational progress. Related services are not provided by the schools in order to address a medical need. Also, keep in mind that any related service needed by your child must be stated on the IEP under "Related Services" and must include the number of times per week and the length of each session.

G. When Your Child's Program Is Not Working

A child may be properly evaluated, have a complete IEP, and be receiving special education services, but he or she may not be making progress. The first step would be talking to the teacher and possibly observing your child's class. You may also be able to find the answer by asking the following questions:

Is there some difficulty with the IEP?
Are the objectives appropriate?
Does my child need more or other related services?
Is there a problem with the placement?
Does the size or composition of the class affect my child's ability to progress?
Is there a need to do further evaluations in order to identify the problem?
Are the specially designed instruction techniques being implemented?

If you are feeling stuck, the advocacy agencies listed below can help. Your child's IEP may need to be revised. In that case, you may request an IEP meeting by contacting your child's principal and requesting an IEP review in writing. You may also use the pre-hearing conference, special education mediation, or a due process hearing to resolve your differences. In any case, the clearer you are about the problem and possible solutions, the greater your chance of obtaining a remedy that will benefit your child. For help, contact:

Parents Involved Network
1211 Chestnut Street, 11th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-751-1800
www.pinofpa.org

Education Law Center
1315 Walnut Street, Suite 400
Philadelphia, PA 19107
215-238-6970
www.elc-pa.org

H. Due Process

Children with disabilities and their parents are entitled to special protections sometimes called due process rights. If the school plans to change your child's program or evaluate/re-evaluate your child, for example, the school must give you written notice in your native language or whatever form of communication you use.

You also have the right to disagree with school officials concerning the need to evaluate, their refusal to evaluate, the details of your child's program, etc. If you disagree with the school, you may request a Pre-Hearing Conference, Special Education Mediation, or a Due Process Hearing. The Education Law Center's handbook explains these options. Throughout the due process procedures, however, your child will remain in his or her current educational program and placement (due to the "stay put" provision).

1. Pre-hearing Conference (PHC)

The pre-hearing conference is an informal opportunity to negotiate with school district administrators about your position regarding an appropriate special education program for your child. You may request the pre-hearing in writing any time that you disagree with any proposed actions or refusal to act concerning your child's evaluation, program, or placement. You may request that any school employee attend the conference (psychologist, therapist, counselor etc.) The PHC must be held within 10 school days of the school's receipt of your request. Parents have the right to bring anyone to the PHC, such as a friend, an outside evaluator, an advocate, or a lawyer.

2. Special Education Mediation

If you disagree with school officials about your child's special education program, you may request mediation to resolve the matter. Mediation is a free, voluntary process that uses trained mediators to help the disputing parties reach an agreement. The mediator listens to both sides and assists the parties in finding a satisfactory solution. Mediation is an informal method of settling disputes privately and confidentially. If the problem cannot be solved through mediation, you may request a due process hearing. Mediation does not interfere with your due process rights; it is an alternative to the more formal hearing process.

To request mediation or a copy of the booklet, Your Guide to the Mediation Process, contact:

PA Department of Education
Office for Dispute Resolution
6340 Flank Drive, Suite 600
Harrisburg, PA 17112-2764
800-992-4334
717-541-4960
The Office for Dispute Resolution (ODR) coordinates and manages the state's special education mediation and due process systems. ODR also provides help concerning procedural safeguards to parents, advocates, school districts, and intermediate units. Contact ODR for a copy of the booklet, Your Guide to the Mediation Process.

3. Due Process Hearings

A due process hearing is a chance to have an impartial person resolve a dispute between you and the School District about your child's educational program. You can request a hearing addressing any issue related to the provision of educational services for your child. The hearing must be held and a decision made within 45 days of the request for a hearing. This may be extended for good cause.

To request a due process hearing, you should contact your child's principal in writing. For help, contact:

PA Department of Education Office for Dispute Resolution Due Process Information Center 6340 Flank Drive, Suite 600 Harrisburg, PA 17112 800-222-3353

a. What Happens At a Due Process Hearing?

The hearing is conducted by an impartial hearing officer. The hearing officer generally opens the hearing by reviewing the issues. Each party is then given a chance to present their case, hear the testimony of witnesses, cross-examine the other party's witnesses, and present evidence to support their argument. Such evidence might include test results and medical reports. (All documents and the names of witnesses must be disclosed to the other side at least five days before the hearing.)

After hearing the testimony of witnesses and reviewing the supporting documents, the hearing officer makes a decision. Typically, the decision has to be sent to the parent within 20 school days of the hearing.

b. Do You Need A Lawyer At the Hearing?

The school district will have a lawyer at the hearing. If you are requesting a hearing, we advise you to have legal support.

c. What Happens If You Lose At the Hearing?

If you are dissatisfied with the results of the hearing, you can file an appeal with the State Department of Education within 15 days of receiving the hearing officer's decision. The School District can also appeal if it loses a decision.

d. What Happens If You Win The Appeal?

The final written appeal decision of a local level hearing must be put into effect not sooner than 14 days and not longer than 30 days after the decision. Again, the School District can appeal when it loses a decision.

I. Where to Turn For Help

1. School District Resources

Your primary contact with the School District is through your child's principal and counselor. It is also wise to be in contact with the teacher, since your concerns may often be worked out with the teacher directly.

Each school is a member of a specific Area Academic Office (AAO)-formerly known as "clusters." Each AAO has a support staff familiar with the needs of students and the special education referral process and programs. The AAO responsible for the schools in your neighborhood is listed below.

Remember to contact the principal of your child's school. You must put your concerns in writing and keep a copy of all letters for yourself.

For more information about what schools belong to what AAO, please refer to the Web site for the School District of Philadelphia.

2. Other Resources

J. Charter Schools

Charter schools are public schools that are managed by someone other than a school district. Charter schools may be operated by parents, teachers, community members, business people, museums, universities, and others. The group wishing to start a charter school must create an agreement-the "charter"-with a local school board.

Charter schools must be operated as non-profit organizations, and they cannot teach religion or charge tuition. In addition to being free, charter schools cannot limit admission on any basis that would be illegal if used by a school district. Any child who is a resident of Pennsylvania is eligible for admission to a charter school.

Charter schools first opened in Pennsylvania in 1997 as a means to provide an alternative to traditional public schools. As such, charter schools do NOT have to follow all of the laws and regulations that govern other public schools.

Charter schools must participate in Pennsylvania's state assessment system; must comply with laws protecting civil rights and student health and safety; and, must obey federal special education laws such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Charter schools do not have to comply with the state's special education laws.

Refer to this list for more information on charter schools including how to take action if you have a problem with your child's charter school.