Special Education FAQs
At what age can my child be referred for special education services?
If the child meets the eligibility requirements, special education services can be provided to children three years of age, as of their third birth date, through five years of age, in a preschool program. Services also are provided to students with disabilities ages five through twenty-one, all gifted students in grades one through eight, and all exceptionally gifted students in grades nine through twelve.
How do I get my child in special education?
If you suspect your child will meet the criteria for one of the special education exceptionalities, contact your child’s teacher or the school administrator. A referral will be made to the Student Assistance Team at the school.
How long will the evaluation take?
Within eighty (80) days of the date the Office of Special Education receives a parent’s signature to evaluate, the district must conduct a full, individual initial evaluation and convene an eligibility committee (EC) to determine the student’s eligibility for special education before the provision of special education and related services to a student with exceptionality.
What are the areas of exceptionalities under which a child may qualify for special education?
Autism, Blindness and Low Vision, Deaf/Blindness, Deafness, Developmental Delay, Emotional/Behavioral Disorder, Gifted, Hard of Hearing, Mental Impairment, Orthopedic Impairment, Other Health Impairment, Specific Learning Disability, Speech/Language Impairment, and Traumatic Brain Injury. Additional information can be found in WV Policy 2419.
What is the Student Assistance Team (SAT)?
Consistent with WV Policy 2510, each public school must establish a student assistance team (SAT) that consists of at least three persons, including a school administrator or designee, a current teacher(s) and other appropriate professional staff.
The SAT addresses the needs of all students who have academic performance, behavior, attendance, and/or social issues which is/are affecting the student’s progress within the general education curriculum.
What does the Student Assistance Team (SAT) do?
The SAT reviews individual student needs that have persisted despite being addressed by instruction and intervention teams, or acts in lieu of an instruction and intervention team, and considers referrals from multi-disciplinary evaluation. In addition, the SAT must collect and maintain data on the activities of the team, including dates of meetings and the results of its recommendations.
What evaluations will be administered to my child in order to determine eligibility?
The number and types of evaluations will vary depending on the recommendations of the committee and individual student needs. A multidisciplinary evaluation team, consisting of qualified personnel representing a variety of disciplines, will meet to determine the areas to be evaluated and will conduct the multidisciplinary evaluation. The parent is included as part of this multidisciplinary team.
What is Extended School Year (ESY)?
Students entitled to receive ESY services are those who require special education and related services beyond the regular school year in order to maintain identified critical skills as indicated on their IEP. Eligible students display documented regression during a break in educational programming, do not recoup those skills in a typical amount of time (6-9 weeks), and therefore qualify for ESY.