Child Find Notice

According to state and federal special education regulations, annual public notice to parents of children who reside within a school district, PSA or Charter School is required regarding child find responsibilities. School districts, intermediate units and charter schools are required to conduct child find activities for children ages 3-26 who may be eligible for special education programs and services. If parents believe that the child may be eligible for special education,  the parent should contact the school district where the child attends. Private School- The school district within whose boundaries the non-profit private school is located is responsible for child find activities. The school district responsible for child find activities for students placed by their parents in a for-profit private school is the district of residence.

Whitefish Township Community Schools Child Find Policy requires that all children below twenty-six years of age residing within the district who have a disability and who are in need of special education and related services are located, identified, and evaluated in accordance with all federal regulations and state standards. If you suspect that your child may have a disability, please contact:

Consent

Schools cannot proceed with an evaluation or reevaluation, or with the initial provision of special education and related services, without the written consent of the parents.  The school district, Charter, PSA or nonpublic will ask for parents written consent to evaluate a child. A procedural safeguards document will be provided to the parent upon the district receiving parental consent to evaluate a child for a suspected disability.

For students transferring from in state or out of state- the school will review enrollment data and educational performance in the prior district. If the student is already special education eligible, the district will implement the current IEP or hold a new IEP within 30 school days of enrollment.  IF the student has had a history of poor performance in school, the student will be processed through the SAT process for consideration of a need for support and ultimately an evaluations for special education eligibility.

Evaluation Process

When parental consent is obtained, the district has 30 school days in which to conduct the evaluation(s) and hold an Individualized Education Planning (IEP) meeting.  

Documentation of Child Find activities- required to maintain documentation of identification procedures, dates of entry into school, or notification by parents of concerns regarding developmental or education progress by their child, and dates of screening in the student’s permanent records.

If you have any questions about this, please contact Thomas McKee at (906) 492-3353 or tmckee@eupschools.org.