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Annual Notices

ANNUAL NOTICE

Plum Borough School District provides a free, appropriate, public education (FAPE) to exceptional students consistent with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) of 2004 (P.L.108- 446). To qualify as an exceptional student, the child must be of school-age, in need of specially-designed instruction, and meet eligibility criteria for one or more of the following physical or mental disabilities: autism, deaf-blindness, emotional disturbance, hearing impairment including deafness, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment including blindness, and in the case of a child that is of preschool age, developmental delay. 

Identification procedures ensure eligible students receive an appropriate program consisting of individualized special education and related services. At no cost to the parents, these services are provided in compliance with state and federal law and planned to ensure meaningful educational benefit and student progress.

To identify students who may be eligible for special education, various screening activities are conducted on an ongoing basis. These screening activities may include: hearing, vision, physical and speech/language screening; a review of group-based data (cumulative academic records, ability and achievement test scores, enrollment records, report cards, and health records); and a review by the building-level team. When screening results suggest that a student may need special education services, Plum Borough School District will, with parental consent, conduct an evaluation. Parents who suspect their child may need special education services may also submit a written request for an evaluation to the school principal. Services designed to meet the needs of exceptional students include: a timely evaluation and the annual development of an Individualized Education Program (IEP). Parents are an integral part of the IEP process and should be present at IEP meetings. Plum Borough School District will make every effort to ensure parent participation. 

The extent of special education services and the location for the delivery of those services are determined by the IEP team and based on student’s identified needs and abilities. Consideration also is given to the student’s chronological age and level of intensity of the specified intervention. The district provides supplementary aids and services, such as transportation, physical therapy and occupational therapy, as necessary for the student to benefit from the special education program. Parents may obtain additional information about special education services and programs and parental due process rights by contacting the child’s school principal or the Special Education Office at 412-798-6368.


PROTOCOL MAINTENANCE
From the National Association of School Psychologists Principles for Professional Ethics (2010), "School psychologists maintain test security, preventing the release of underlying principles and specific content that would undermine or invalidate the use of the instrument. Unless otherwise required by law or district policy, school psychologists provide parents with the opportunity to inspect and review their child’s test answers rather than providing them with copies of their child’s test protocols. However, on parent request, it is permissible to provide copies of a child’s test protocols to a professional who is qualified to interpret them." Testing protocols shall be kept in school psychologist files, not in a student's special education file, until June of their graduation year. After which, all protocols will be shred.