What’s Required Each school district shall develop a system to notify the population in the district with children who are at least three years of age but younger than six years of age and who are eligible for enrollment in a special education program of the availability of the program (TEC 29.009). Pursuant to state and federal law, services provided in accordance with this subchapter must be available to all eligible students ages 3-21. Services will be made available to eligible students on their third birthday (19 TAC § 89.1035(a)). A student is eligible to participate in a school district's special education program if the student is at least three but not more than 21 years of age and has one or more of the following disabilities that prevents the student from being adequately or safely educated in public school without the provision of special services (TEC 29.003(b))
In accordance with the Texas Education Code (TEC), §§29.003, 30.002(a), and 30.081, a free appropriate public education must be available from birth to students with visual or auditory impairments (deaf/hard of hearing). What We Do Students Enrolled in an Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) Program For children ages 0-2 who are enrolled in an ECI program, no less than 90 days prior to the child turning 3 years old, the ECI program/ECI Caseworker will contact the Spring ISD Instruction and Early Childhood Special Education Services Coordinator and provide to the district a consent to release confidential information signed by the parent along with the Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) from the ECI Program. Upon receipt of the notification of ECI services, a designee from the Early Childhood Assessment team will schedule a transition conference with the parent and ECI caseworker. During this transition conference, Spring ISD will inform the parent about the referral, and testing process as well as possible services for the child should they be eligible for special education services under IDEA B. If a special education referral is recommended, provide procedural safeguards in the parents mode of communication, prior written notice, a notice of proposal to evaluate and special education consents will be provided. During this transition conference as well as during the evaluation process, Spring ISD will support family involvement in the transition planning process. For children receiving ECI services, the Full & Individual Initial Evaluation, as well as the child’s Admission, Review & Dismissal Committee will be held prior to the child turning 3 years of age. On the child’s 3rd birthday, pending their eligibility for services, the child will transition from IDEA Part C to IDEA Part B. At the child’s Initial ARD meeting, with parental consent, the ECI Caseworker or Instruction and Early Childhood Special Education Services Coordinator may participate. For children ages birth to 2 years old who have been identified as having a Visual Impairment or who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing, the ECI Program contacts the Instruction and Early Childhood Special Education Services Coordinator & Related Services & Technology Coordinator immediately upon enrollment with ECI. ECI, with parent consent, will provide Spring ISD with a vision report or hearing report, as well as any other pertinent medical documentation, needed in order for the district to begin to provide services. All new ECI referrals for students with a visual impairment will receive a Functional Vision Evaluation, Learning Media Assessment, and an Orientation and Mobility Evaluation. Once the evaluation for birth-2 for children with a Visual Impairment or who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing is completed, the child will enroll with Spring ISD and will begin to receive services for Vision, Orientation & Mobility or Deaf/Hard of Hearing, dependent upon their eligibility under an ECI Individual Family Service Plan. No fewer than 90 days prior to the child turning 3 years old, the ECI program/ECI Caseworker will contact the Spring ISD Early Childhood Special Education Services Coordinator and provide to the district a consent to release confidential information signed by the parent along with the Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) from the ECI Program. The same procedure described above for the transition from IDEA Part C to IDEA B will begin. Non-ECI Students Information regarding child find is dispersed in the community in accordance with TEA. Informational flyers are provided to daycares, private schools and Spring ISD campuses. Requests for evaluations for children age 3 and up start with the assigned General Education Designee at the child’s home campus based on Spring ISD attendance zones. From the date of the Parent’s request for an evaluation, the district has 15 school days to schedule a referral meeting to offer consent for initial testing or Notice of Refusal. When the parent’s request is made, the campus general education designee will contact the parents and notify the Early Childhood (EC) assessment team of the request for special education testing. Within this timeframe, a vision and hearing screening will be conducted. Upon receipt of the request for evaluation, the Early Childhood (EC) team will schedule an intake session with the child. Upon completion of the intake meeting, a Referral Committee reviews the child’s data and the parent will be notified of the committee’s recommendations. If an evaluation is not recommended, a Notice of Refusal is provided to the parents. If it is recommended that a special education evaluation be completed, then the ECSE Multidisciplinary Team (e.g. Educational Diagnostician, Speech Language Pathologist, and/or Licensed Specialist in School Psychology) will complete the assessment to include interview with the parent, the Child’s daycare/preschool data gathered, and Assessment within arena and play-based settings. Upon completion of the evaluation, the Evaluation Team interprets data and provides an integrated FIIE report addressing disability findings and possible needs for Sped supports/services. IEP Development and Considerations for Age 3-5
External Resources Texas Health and Human Services Early Childhood Intervention MOU TEA Technical Assistance Guide: Child Find and Evaluation Spring ISD Child Find Flyer (English) Spring ISD Child Find Flyer (Spanish) Procedural Safeguards and Notice of ARD Process Internal Resources |
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