Guidelines for Private/Home School Children
With Disabilities (IDEA)

Child Find

The Salem School District will locate, identify, and evaluate all private/home school children with disabilities, including religious-school children residing in the jurisdiction of the Salem School District. (Sec. 300.451)

The Salem School District will meet with the Director/Principal/Parent of the Private/home School to conduct child find activities.  

The Salem School District will contact the private/home school on December 1st of each year to get the annual child count number of private/home school children with disabilities.

Funding Formula for Parentally
Placed Private/Home School Students

(Federal Funds) (Number of Private/Home School IDEA Students)  = X
(Total Number of IDEA Students in District)

Example:

($198,556.44) = ($598.06 X 332) (6) = X
332

OR

                       $1191338.64 =  $3588.37
332

{X is the total amount of funding that must be used to meet the needs of private/home school students (not per private/home school student)}.  Sec. 300.453

Expenditures for child find will not be considered in determining whether the district has met its requirements.

Child Find includes locating, identifying, and evaluating the child. (Sec. 300.454)

Providing Services

No private/home school child with a disability has an individual right to receive some or all of the special education and related services that the child would receive if enrolled in a public school.

The Salem School District will provide speech therapy and resource services to private/home school children with disabilities.  Children meeting criteria for Speech / Language or other disability categories under IDEA may receive the services.

The services to be provided will be determined on an individual basis, within the limits of the funding amount designated through the funding formula.  These services will be specified in the service plan and decisions regarding transportation, service site and delivery, and personnel will be specified by the LEA.

The Salem School District will meet the minimum amount that must be spent on the services.  Parentally placed private/home school children with disabilities will be provided the service on a first come, first serve basis.  Once the minimum funding has been spent, services may cease for the children in private/home school.

Parentally placed private/home school children with disabilities who receive special education and related services by the public school will have a service plan that describes the specific special education and related services that the public school will provide.  34CFR & 300.455(b)(1).

Service Plan

The service plan must be developed by the IEP team in the same manner as the IEP’s are developed; with an additional requirement that the public school must ensure that the private/home school representative either attends the IEP team meeting or provides input through other means. 34CFR & 300.454(c).

The service plan must include present levels of education performance, annual goals, short-term objectives or benchmarks, the special education and related services that will be provided, the degree to which the child will not be placed in a regular classroom, the starting date for services and show how the student’s progress will be measured and reported to the parent.

Depending on the public school services provided to the student, the service plan may need to address participation in statewide and district-wide assessments, transition services, or transfer of rights to the student upon reaching the age of majority.

The service plan must indicate the location where the public school services will be provided and who attended the meeting.

The service plan must be developed according to normal IEP procedures and meet general IEP content requirement.

The service plan will be reviewed at least annually, a team must develop the plan, parent notice of meetings to develop the service plan must be provided, and all special factors that would normally be considered in an IEP development process must be considered.  Private/home school representatives are required to attend each meeting, which may also be accomplished through individual telephone or conference calls.

Due Process hearing procedures do not apply to disputed over the contents of the service plans, their quality, or their implementation. 34CFR & 300.457.

The service provided to the private/homeschool children will be evaluated at least annually.  The service plan committee will review the student’s progress and determine if services need to be continued and to what extent they will be continues as allowed in the policy.

Personnel

Services provided to private school children must be provided by personnel meeting the same standards as those providing services in public schools.  This would apply to private school personnel who, under Sec. 300.461, are being used to provide services under Secs. 300.450-300.462 to private school children with disabilities.