Referral
What if there are concerns?
If you or your child’s teacher have concerns about your child’s development (such as communication, academic, social, behavioral, motor, adaptive) and/or progress there are several options available to address them.
Hustisford School District uses a multi-leveled system of support (MLSS) in order to readily provide students with interventions and supports. This can range from academic to social/behavioral interventions and supports. The interventions are continuously progress monitored and evaluated. A consultation meeting can be used to better understand concerns and develop a comprehensive plan for intervention and supports.
If there are concerns that a student displays or has a physical or mental impairment but functioning suggests they likely don’t need specialized instruction and only may need accommodations within the general education setting to provide supports, a Section 504 Evaluation can be conducted.
Typically, the district will initiate a special education referral if it is suspected that a child may have a disability and need special education services. This may be considered if the concerns appear greater than what is available in with general education interventions and supports or there are concerns persist after interventions
Anyone, at any time, despite any intervention recommendations, is able to make a special education referral. To speak to a Hustisford School District staff member regarding your concerns, please contact Dena Serwe, Director of Special Education, at (920) 349-3261 Ext. 268 or by email at serwed@hustisford.k12.wi.us.
Once a special education referral is initiated, the school district will process the referral and complete a comprehensive evaluation consistent with WI DPI requirements.
What is the timeline if a special education referral is initiated?
Within 5 days of a request for a special education referral, the initial papers that include the referral form, notice of referral, and parental rights will be sent to parent/guardians
Within 15 business days of the request for a referral, IEP evaluation team members will determine possible assessments needed, if any, and a consent for assessments will be sent to parents/guardians.
When the district receives that signed consent for assessment, the district has 60 calendar days to conduct the assessments and hold a team meeting.
The school district may ask for an extension to this timeline if the team is possibly considering an initial learning disability and the team does not have adequate intervention data in order to determine eligibility, the child recently transferred to the district, or the child has been repeatedly unavailable for assessments despite attempts.
Special Education Team Members
All special education teams must have a special education teacher, general education teacher, an LEA representative, and the parent/guardian. Students are also invited to meetings for the year they turn 14 and prior to that based on student/parent preference. Additional personnel may be added to the team based on concerns and expertise: such as school psychologist, occupational therapist, speech & language pathologist, interventionist, nurse, counselor, etc.
Parents/guardians are allowed to invite whoever they want to attend the meeting with them; however additional people outside of the identified school personnel, parents/guardians, and the student will not be sent an invitation or be allowed to participate if the parent is not present without prior written consent being received.
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