REPORT TO THE BOARD

This Board Report will focus on information regarding Natomas Unified’s Special Education Program and will provide an overview of the IEP process as outlined in Individuals with Disability Education Act (IDEA). NUSD is a single-district Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA). A SELPA is responsible for providing a full continuum of special education services to students in a designated region. In NUSD’s case, our “region” is our district, which also includes charter schools (Leroy Greene Academy and Natomas Pacific Pathways Prep) who are considered schools of the district for the purpose of Special Education services because they don’t participate in another SELPA.

Throughout this report, there will be references to acronyms that are commonly associated with Special Education. Included below is a list as a reference guide:

• CAC: Community Advisory Committee
• DP: Due Process
• Ed Rights Holder: Person who has the legal rights to make educational decisions.  This is often parent, but not in all situations.
• FAPE: Free Appropriate Public Education
• IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
• IEE: Independent Educational Evaluation
• IEP: Individualized Education Program
• LRE: Least Restrictive Environment
• PLOP: Present Levels of Performance
• SELPA: Special Education Local Plan Area (NUSD is a single district SELPA)
• SWD: Student with a Disability 

Our work is grounded in our Vision and our Core Values and BP/AR 0100:

“It will be the district’s practice that students are supported not as where they were or solely where they are academically, but where they can be. As such, student access will be focused on where students can be and the support needed to help them get there.”

We do this by the following actions:

• Since 2014-15, we have strived to be “inclusive”, meaning we include our students with IEPs in General Education in the least restrictive environment (LRE) to the maximum extent possible, determined by each student’s IEP.
• In July 2019, we became a Single-District SELPA in order to maximize our services to Natomas students and educate them in-house and at their home school, to the maximum extent possible. This change also allowed us to receive increased funding to provide these services in-house.
• Students are educated in the “least restrictive environment” (LRE). This means ensuring students with IEPs are included in the general education classroom to the maximum extent possible. We will talk more about LRE later in this report.
• We are currently focusing on systems of change for inclusive schools. For example, NUSD has 19 TOSAs working with a third-party who trains extensively on the practices of co-teaching.  While the concept of co-teaching in NUSD originated with a focus on delivery of special education services, co-teaching benefits all students.

Natomas Unified’s Special Education Program

Historical Information

In 2011, School Services of California completed a review of our special education department. The report’s major areas focused on ensuring student placement in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE), reducing budget waste, improving staffing ratios, and returning students from Non Public School (NPS). In 2013, we gathered stakeholder input and utilized information from a verification review from CDE to further identify clear focus areas:

• communication/collaboration,
• graduation rates,
• transition plans, and
• ELA/Math progress

After identifying our priorities, we streamlined the budget process, brought back a significant number of students from outside placements, opened our SES classrooms, launched the inclusion process and established staffing ratios which were then included in the collective bargaining agreement, as well as based on individualized student needs. As of our last data report from the state, our transition plans are compliant, we have greatly improved LRE (which had never met state standards), and now exceeds state requirements.

In 2018, School Services completed another review with a focus on special education. At that point, based in part on the School Services report, in addition to a flawed funding model that continually left us receiving less special education funds then we should, and a desire to provide increased services for students, we began the process of becoming our own single-district SELPA. This process allowed us to directly receive the funds allocated based on NUSD’s student enrollment that would otherwise be distributed among many schools in a multi-district SELPA, which we were a part of at the time. In 2019, we met our long-standing goal to become a single-district SELPA, allowing us to further reduce our placements for students in programs outside the district, strengthen our budget, and create an avenue to be independent with staffing.

Currently, we are continuing our efforts with inclusive practices with a significant investment approved by the Board in utilizing Teachers on Special Assignment (TOSAs) who are focused on working with their colleagues in a co-teaching model. Our focus on co-teaching and inclusive practices in general education allows us to utilize effective practices with all students, not just students with an IEP, thereby improving the practice of all teachers by extending more individualized support for students.

Current Data:

• Currently, we serve around 1800 students (including LGA and NP3). Excluding those two charter schools, we have 1630 students receiving special education services, with students identified in each of the 13 disabilities that are addressed through IEPs.

• We have 81 teachers and 147 classified support staff, and 31 related service providers (speech, OT, PT, etc.). In addition, we have school psychologists who provide a broad range of services to support all students with social emotional needs as well as a portion of their time conducting special education assessments.
• Throughout the district, we serve our students with moderate to severe disabilities in 28 Special Day Classes (SDC) spread throughout the district. These classes are self-contained ranging from preschool through adult (age 22).
• In order to support our most significant students with their social emotional learning, we have six social emotional support (SES) classrooms grades kindergarten through twelfth throughout the district.

Legal Framework for Special Education:

IDEA: The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act is a federal law (20 USC 1400) that requires districts to provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE), that provides Educational Benefit, in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) to eligible children with disabilities.

• Special education services are required for all eligible students, ages Birth-22.
• Natomas Unified is responsible for students aged 3-22.  
• Students aged 0-3 receive services from the county.
• Districts are required to follow the law that provides the most benefit to the student.

Child Find Obligation:

IDEA requires districts to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities who are in need of special education. This is the first step in the IEP process.

Referrals for Special Education can be made through the following venues:

• Student Success Team (SST) - Site-based team that reviews student information and makes recommendations. If this is the group making a referral, it is expected that there has been work done to provide interventions for the student prior to ever making a referral to be assessed for special education.
• Written request from parent or staff member. A written request does not automatically trigger the assessment to begin.
• Community Partners (Alta Regional, Public Health, etc.)

The Six Principles of Special Education found in IDEA:

The IDEA has six foundational principles, and school districts must comply with all parts. These six principles are:

1. Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE):

Under the IDEA, every child with a disability is entitled to a FAPE. The IDEA emphasizes special education and related services, which should be designed to meet a child’s “unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living.” FAPE must be provided at public expense. At no cost to the parents (other than ordinary costs charged to all students), FAPE should be designed to meet the unique needs of each eligible student according to the written Individualized Education Program (IEP). FAPE is provided to students from preschool through high school, ages 3 to 22. In addition, FAPE is required to be provided to students who have been suspended or expelled from school.

2. Appropriate Evaluation:

The IDEA requires that schools conduct appropriate evaluations of students who are suspected of having a disability. An appropriate evaluation must be implemented by a team of knowledgeable and trained evaluators, must utilize sound evaluation materials and procedures, and must be administered on a non-discriminatory basis. The evaluators must evaluate in all areas of suspected disability based on the referral and input from the parent and staff. Parents must give permission for evaluation and for services.

Examples of evaluations that are conducted related to a suspected disability:

• Psycho-educational
• Speech and language
• Occupational therapy
• Physical therapy
• Adaptive PE
• Health
• Social emotional
• Behavior
• Assistive technology

There are 13 areas in which a student can be found eligible for special education:

• Intellectual Disability (ID)                      
• Hard of Hearing (HH)
• Deafness (D)
• Speech Impaired (SLI)
• Visually Impaired (VI)                          
• Emotional Disturbance (ED)
• Other Health Impaired (OHI)
• Specific Learning Disability (SLD)
• Deaf/Blind (D/B)
• Autism (AUT)
• Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)
• Multiple Disabilities (MD)
• Orthopedic Impairment (OI)

Natomas Data on Disability:

2021-2022 Natomas District Data

Ethnicity data compared for special education and overall district percentages. Data is being monitored by our special education administrative team. Now that the CAO team encompases student service and support, moving forward, the team will collaborate with the whole CAO team regarding data.

2021-2022 NUSD data broken down by primary disability and ethnicity.

3. Individualized Education Plan (IEP):

The IEP is a written document, developed by an IEP team, which draws upon existing evaluation information in order to meet a student’s unique educational needs. An IEP team must consist of, at minimum, the administrator, general education teacher, special education staff and members of the assessment team. An IEP must include information regarding a student’s present levels of educational performance, measurable annual goals, services and supplementary aids to be received, and a detailed explanation of instances where a student is not participating in the general classroom and why.

An IEP is also required to include information regarding consistent reporting on student progress as well as “transition” to adult life. Finally, it is required that an IEP accounts for the planning concerns of the parents and child, the strengths of a particular child, and the specific “academic, developmental, and functional needs” of the child.

There are numerous types of IEP meetings.  For the purpose of this report, we will be addressing initial placement, plan review and eligibility evaluation as these are the most common.

Special education is not a place. The goals and services should be designed without preset expectations for where the services will be provided. The educational program is determined first; the placement or educational setting is determined second to provide the most appropriate environment for the student.

4. Least Restrictive Environment:

To the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities are educated with their nondisabled peers.  Students with disabilities are only removed from the general educational environment when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in the general education environment with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily. Therefore, an IEP team must explore a number of alternatives for enabling a student to participate in the general education classroom. These may include: classroom modifications, supplemental aids and services, alternative instructional methods, etc. If an IEP team determines that a student cannot be satisfactorily educated in a general education setting, then the team must make responsible efforts to determine the LRE for that student outside of the general classroom.

5. Parent Participation:

Parents have the right to equal participation in the IEP process and are entitled to notification of a planned evaluation, access to planning and evaluation materials, and involvement in all meetings regarding their child’s placement. Additionally, parents retain the right to refuse further evaluation of their child.

Parents and, whenever appropriate, the student must be invited to the IEP meeting at a mutually agreed upon time and they must be meaningfully involved in: the development, review, and revision of the IEP, all educational placement decisions, providing information regarding what data needs to be collected during evaluation, reviewing evaluation data and transition planning and services starting by age 16.

6. Procedural Safeguards:

The IDEA includes important procedural safeguards to ensure that the rights of children with disabilities and their parents are protected and that they have access to the information needed to effectively participate in the process. Parents have a right to review all educational records pertaining to their child, receive notice prior to meetings about their child’s evaluation, placement, or identification, and to obtain an Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE) for consideration at such meetings.

If disagreements arise, parents must be informed of their procedural protections they can invoke when they disagree with educators.

The IEP Process                

                                                                                      ✽

✽ Child find is the first step in the initial IEP process

Pre-IEP Meeting Steps

• A child is identified as struggling and prereferral interventions have not been shown to be successful, which triggers Child Find
• This leads to a referral to initiate the assessment process: Parent/ed rights holder have a right to be included and informed (We must give them a copy of Parental Rights)
• An assessment plan will be provided to parent/ed rights holder to provide consent if the team determines an assessment is appropriate
• Assessment (Parental Rights)

• Copy of Parental Rights
• Assessment plan including all areas of suspected disability
• Parental input and written consent required
• 60 days to complete assessment and hold an IEP meeting once received from the district

Initial IEP meeting

IEP team members must include, at minimum, the administrator, general education teacher, special education staff and members of the assessment team.

• Parental Rights and parental participation and input required
• Review all assessment results (must be in parent-friendly language and explained in the meeting)
• Review present levels of educational and social functioning
• Consider information provided by the team (including the parent)
• Review school-based performance, including academics, attendance, behavior, etc.
• Questions considered by team (two-prong test):

• Is there eligibility based on the Education Code when reviewing the results of the standardized testing?
• Is there an impact to the student’s education?

The team will determine if the student is eligible for special education based on how both questions are answered.

If the student is eligible the IEP team will:

• Agree upon goals, which includes input from parents and staff
• Based upon the agreed-upon goals, the team will determine provide an offer of FAPE-a Free and Appropriate Public Education
• Determine the most appropriate placement in the least restrictive environment
• Determine areas to address that will provide educational benefit to the student
• All of these components are truly a team decision that requires collaboration and discussion within the team

At the end of the day it is a parent’s right to say they do not agree that their student requires special education.

Alternatively, the team determines that a student doesn’t meet eligibility, there are avenues a parent can pursue that is outlined in their parental rights if the parent disagrees with the team’s findings.

Plan Review/Eligibility Evaluation (previously were called annual/triennial) IEP meetings

Every year, an IEP must be reviewed to determine progress on goals and development of a new IEP plan. Areas reviewed to help determine a student’s progress:

• Present levels of academic achievement  
• Parental concerns/strengths
• Progress on goals established in the IEP
• Develop new goals as appropriate
• Determine supports required including accommodations
• Determine FAPE

Every three years, the IEP must be reviewed to determine continued eligibility with updated assessments and continued need for special education services.

2021-22 Family Opportunities for Training and Support:

To engage parents and families, to help assist them in order to support their student to be successful, we have offered 32 parent specific trainings throughout the school year with multiple opportunities to attend either in-person or virtually. Information is included in school newsletters, Parent University and , we announce upcoming trainings at our Community Advisory Committee (CAC)  

Topics include, but are not limited to:

• Trauma
• PBIS
• IEP process
• Behavior
• Options for parents/guardian when student turns 18
• Curriculum for our Moderate/ Severe classrooms
• Augmentative Alternative Communication (AAC)

• Other opportunities that are very specific and involved a limited number of families

In addition to these family trainings, we have our Community Advisory Committee (CAC) monthly meetings. The CAC’s responsibilities include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Advising the policy and administrative entity of the district regarding the development,

amendment, and review of the local plan.

• Recommending annual priorities to be addressed by the local plan.
• Assisting in parent education and in recruiting parents
• Encouraging community involvement in the development and review of the local plan.
• Supporting activities on behalf of individuals with exceptional needs.
• Assisting in parent awareness of the importance of regular school attendance.

Next Steps:

At the March 23, 2022 Board Meeting, we will present the IEP process through the lens of two fictional students. One student will end up being identified as being eligible for special education services through the process. The other student will not be found to be eligible for special education. Our goal is to provide families with a view of the IEP process that is from the perspective of the family and student in an effort to help explain what can seem like a complex process.