The following is a summary of Ms. Allen's presentation, prepared by CAPSO. The presentation focuses on the benefits and services available to children with disabilities enrolled by their parents in private schools when a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is not at issue. (The workshop did not address children with special needs who are placed in non-public schools by public agencies.)

+Glossary: FAPE—Free Appropriate Public Education
State law requires that every child be offered FAPE.+

1. Equitable Services
   
   • The law requires a proportionate share of federal funds to be expended to provide parentally placed private school students with special education and related services.

     Once FAPE has been declined, there exists no individual entitlement to any or all special education or related services. When FAPE is refused, a parentally-placed private school student with a disability becomes a member of an undifferentiated class of students to whom a LEA is obligated to provide service as a group. LEAs are not prohibited from providing individual services, but they are not required to do so. The nature of services provided to parentally-placed children with disabilities when FAPE is not at issue is determined through a consultative process involving the LEA, private school officials and parents. Some parentally-placed private school children with disabilities may receive no services under IDEA.

     The law permits services to be provided on private school sites, including private religious schools.

     All services funded with federal dollars must be secular, neutral and nonideological. This requirement also applies to materials and equipment.

     Direct service to students is permissible.

   • Services are provided either by employees of a local education agency (LEA) or by persons/organizations contracted by the LEA.

+Glossary: LEA—Local Education Agency
A public school district+

+Glossary: SEA—State Education Agency
The California Department of Education+

2. Child Find
   
   • "Child Find" refers to the process through which all children with disabilities, including children attending private schools, are identified, located, and evaluated.

     The 2004–2006 IDEA statute requires Child Find activities to be conducted by the LEA in which a private school attended by children possessing disabilities is located (regardless of where the children attending the school reside).

     The process by which Child Find is conducted must be thorough and complete. Child Find activities must be similar to those used to identify, locate and evaluate public school children and must be completed within the same period of time.

     A LEA must respond to a request for assessment within a period of 15 school days and must complete the assessment within a period of 60 school days.

     The costs associated with the conduct of Child Find are separate from the costs associated with the provision of services. Child Find is conducted at no cost to parents or guardians.

     LEAs must consult with private school officials and parents of parentally placed private school children regarding the nature of the Child Find process. Consultation must be timely and meaningful.

     Parents may opt to have their children evaluated privately (e.g. by physicians, therapists, etc., selected by the parent). Such evaluations may (but are not required to) be utilized by a LEA in assessing a child.

     The presence of a disability doesn't automatically qualify a child for receipt of IDEA services. A child must be found to possess a disability which, by virtue of its nature, necessitates the provision of special education and/or related services.

   • Child Find works best when cooperation exists between parents, private school officials and LEA personnel.

+Glossary: Child Find
"Child Find" refers to the process through which all children with disabilities, including children attending private schools, are identified, located, and evaluated.+

3. Responsible Agency
   
   • IDEA 2004–2006 makes the LEA in which a private school is located the responsible agency for the conduct of Child Find and the provision of special education and related services.

     Under existing California law, it is the LEA in which a child resides that is required to make the offer of FAPE. This creates a "disconnect" between current state and federal laws. Until the discrepancy is resolved, various interim arrangements have been developed. Such arrangements often involve cooperative efforts between districts of attendance and districts of residence. An additional state governmental agency known as a SELPA (Special Education Local Planning Area) may also play a coordinating role.

     The public agency controls and administers the funds and property used to provide special education and related services. Private schools are never the recipient of public funds authorized by IDEA. Private school students receive services that are paid for with public funds.

     Private school officials should become informed as to how Child Find, provision of services and related consultation will be conducted. Such information should either be sought from officials of the LEA in which a private school is located, or from other private school officials who serve as reliable conduits of information between groups of private schools and LEAs. For example, a diocesan representative could serve as a two-way channel of communication between an LEA and all diocesan schools located within its boundaries.

   • Once the existing discrepancies are resolved, the newly reauthorized IDEA will simplify matters for private school officials, as they will need only deal with the LEA in which their school is located, rather than dealing with multiple LEAs (in which students with special needs may reside).

+Glossary: SELPA—Special Education Local Planning Area
A SELPA is a public education entity responsible for the coordination of special education services and collaboration between parents, schools and LEAs. Most SELPAs consist of multiple, geographically contiguous public school districts. Large public school districts, however, usually contain their own SELPA.+

4. Consultation
   
   • IDEA requires each LEA (or, where appropriate, the SEA) to consult with private school representatives and representatives of parents of parentally placed children with disabilities.

     The law does not require LEAs to consult with officials of every private school, or with every parent of a child with a disability. For this reason, private schools would do well to form consortia or to seek representation by the administrative units or service organizations with which they may be affiliated.

     Consultation is to take place during the design and development of special education and related services. The law doesn't specify how often consultation is to occur.

     Topics to be addressed by consultation include:

     • How the Child Find process will be conducted;How the proportionate amount of federal funds available to support the provision of services will be determined;How the consultation process, itself, will operate throughout the school year to ensure meaningful participation of eligible children in special education and related services.
     • Which special education and related services will be provided, as well as how, where and by whom?

       How services will be apportioned if funds are insufficient to serve all children.

   • If the LEA disagrees with the views of private school officials regarding the provision of services, the LEA must provide a written explanation to the private school officials presenting reasons why it chose not to provide services.

   Written Affirmation
   
   • IDEA requires LEAs to obtain written affirmation signed by representatives of participating private schools indicating that timely and meaningful consultation has occurred. This is a new feature of the reauthorized law.

     If private school officials do not provide the LEA with written affirmation within a reasonable period of time, the LEA will forward documentation of efforts to provide for such consultation to the SEA.

   • If a private school official feels that consultation has been provided in a way that is not timely and/or meaningful, written affirmation should be withheld. For instance, if a letter providing notification of a consultative meeting is mailed three days prior to the meeting date, timeliness is in question. Or, if no opportunity for face-to-face consultation is extended to any private school official, one would be hard pressed to attest that meaningful consultation had been provided.

   Data Collection
   
   • IDEA requires LEAs to maintain and provide to the SEA data on the number of parentally-placed private school children who have been:
     • EvaluatedDetermined to be eligible for receipt of service
     • Served

   • This is a new feature of the reauthorized IDEA.

5. Compliance
   
   • Private school officials are entitled to submit a complaint to the SEA if it is believed that the LEA did not:
     • Engage in timely and meaningful consultation; or
     • Give due consideration for the views of private school officials.

1. A parent or teacher is of the opinion that a private school student possesses a disability.

   Parents meet with teachers and members of the school's administration to discuss the student's status and reach agreement regarding next steps.

   It is decided that the child should be assessed for the presence of one or more forms of disability.

   The student's parent(s) contact officials of the nearest appropriate public school located in the district in which they reside and request the conduct of an assessment. The parents may also chose to secure additional assessment information from sources designated by the parents. Such additional sources of information may be considered, at the discretion of the local school district (LEA).

   The LEA finds that an assessment is warranted and assembles an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) team, consisting of LEA personnel, parents, private school representatives and other appropriate persons.

   The LEA creates an Individualized Education Plan that describes the nature of the student's disability and presents a plan designed to meet the student's particular needs. The IEP is presented together with an offer of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE).

   At this point, parents have two choices:

   1. They may accept the offer of FAPE, enroll the child in a public school, and receive the services detailed in the Individualized Education Plan, or;

   2. They may decline the offer of FAPE and maintain their child's enrollment in the private school. When FAPE is declined, the child forfeits entitlement to any or all special education and related services provided by IDEA and becomes a member of an undifferentiated class of parentally-placed private school students with disabilities to whom the LEA in which the private school is located must provide services.

   Through a process of consultation involving private school officials, parents and representatives of an LEA, a determination of those services to be made available to parentally-placed private school children with disabilities is fashioned. Services may be direct (e.g. speech therapy) or indirect (e.g. consultation or professional development provided to teachers). Some children may not receive service.

   An "Individual Service Plan" (ISP) is created by the LEA in which the private school is located for each parentally-placed private school student with a disability receiving service. No reference to ISPs exists in the IDEA statute. The process and term are employed to differentiate students with no individual entitlement to service from those receiving services under an IEP.

2. If a private school official is of the opinion that consultation was not offered in a timely or meaningful manner, or that the views of private school officials were not given adequate consideration by the LEA., a written complaint may be submitted to the California Department of Education (CDE). If the response of the CDE is not considered to be sufficient, a written complaint may be submitted to the U.S. Secretary of Education.

1. Let your LEA know that you'd like to participate in IDEA consultation. Don't wait for an invitation. Be proactive! It's always better to meet at the planning table than in the "complaint department!"

   Don't act in isolation from parents. Work together in the best interest of the student.

   Recognize that LEA staff are caring and committed educators who work with limited resources, often under considerable pressure. Treat them the way you'd like to be treated. Get to know them, face-to-face, if possible.

   Help to form consortia of private schools for purposes of participation in IDEA consultation. This makes life easier for public and private school officials, alike.

   Develop a protocol for handling special needs. Make sure all faculty understand the protocal and are "on the same page" regarding policies and procedures.

   Become more knowledgeable of the law and the benefits and limitations that apply to parentally-placed private school students with disabilities.

2. Be committed to the principle of doing the greatest good for the greatest number with available funds.