Who makes the eligibility decision?
There are two choices in team selection for making eligibility decisions. If the choice is the Eligibility Committee, it must be comprised of a group of qualified professionals including the parent. This will necessitate an additional meeting by the IEP Team to develop the IEP for an eligible student. If the IEP Team is used to determine eligibility and the student is determined eligible, that team may also develop the IEP at the same meeting if the Notice of Proposed Meeting/Consent for Agency Participation informed the parent this might take place by checking it as a purpose of the meeting or if the parent is in attendance and in agreement to move forward. All purposes of the meeting must be documented.

 

Can a student receive special education services during the evaluation process while the system is waiting to determine eligibility?
The only way a student may receive services during the evaluation process is if he/she is an out-of-state transfer student and the LEA is implementing the previous IEP until eligibility in Alabama has been determined.

 

How many assessments must be available to determine eligibility?
The IEP Team determines what evaluations the student will receive; however, at a minimum, the required evaluative components outlined in the AAC must be administered.

 

What are the requirements for the eligibility determination of students suspected of having a specific learning disability?
When determining whether a child has a specific learning disability, a public agency will not be required to take into consideration whether a child has a severe discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement. A public agency may use a process based on the child’s response to scientific, research-based intervention (RtI). A public agency may use other alternative research-based procedures for determining whether a child has a specific learning disability. Refer to the AAC, 290-8-9.03(10) for all the requirements.

 

When must children with disabilities who become three years old be served?
For children who are transitioning from Part C (Early Intervention) to Part B (preschool programs), the public agency is required to make FAPE available to each eligible child residing in its jurisdiction no later than the child’s third birthday and have an IEP implemented by that date. If the child’s third birthday occurs during the summer months, the child’s IEP Team will determine when special education services will begin. The public agency must participate in a transition planning conference arranged by the Early Intervention (EI) service provider in order to experience a smooth and effective transition to preschool programs in a timely manner.

 

When do services begin if a parent referral is made for a child who is older than 30 months?
If a parent referral is made for a preschool child who is older than 30 months, the public agency has 60 calendar days from receipt of parental consent to complete the initial evaluation. The public agency has 30 calendar days from completion of the evaluation to determine eligibility and 30 calendar days from eligibility determination to complete the IEP process. The timeline begins once the public agency receives consent from the parent for the initial evaluation. This may mean the services begin after age three.

 

Can a student be eligible in the area of spelling for a specific learning disability?
No. Spelling is not one of the areas listed in the criteria for SLD.

 

If a student receives an extremely low IQ score (52), but a high adaptive behavior score (85-93), and in addition, the parent does not want special education services, but instead insists on a Section 504 plan, what do you suggest?
If a student does not meet the eligibility criteria for intellectual disability or any other disability area outlined in the AAC, the student must be determined ineligible for special education services. Ineligibility for special education does not automatically qualify a student for protection under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Even though the parent is a member of the IEP Team, the school system is ultimately responsible for determining whether a student is eligible for special education services and/or protection from discrimination under Section 504. The parent may refuse services but the parent does not get to choose between IDEA or Section 504. The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has stated that it is impermissible for a student’s parents to refuse to accept IDEA services and require the district to develop an IEP under Section 504. OCR states a rejection of the services offered under IDEA amounts to a rejection of services offered under Section 504. (Letter to McKethan, 25 IDLER 295 [OCR, 1996]).

 

May a student at any age up to nine years old be considered for eligibility in the area of Developmental Delay?
Yes, a child may be determined eligible under the category of DD at age three. A child identified with a developmental delay must be reevaluated prior to his or her ninth birthday to determine continued eligibility for special education services.

 

May a student who is eight years old be determined eligible for Developmental Delay as an initial eligibility decision and/or as a reevaluation decision?
Yes. However, the IEP Team may want to consider another area of disability since the student can no longer be eligible for DD at age nine. A student determined eligible for DD at age eight would have to go through the reevaluation process prior to the ninth birthday to determine eligibility for another area of disability in special education.

 

Regarding eligibility determination, does the IEP Team/Eligibility Committee decision have to be unanimous?
No. However, any member stating that the report does not reflect his or her conclusions must submit a separate statement presenting his or her conclusions.

 

What is the process if there is dissension among the IEP Team/Eligibility Committee members regarding eligibility determination?
Eligibility determination is a team decision. Any member in disagreement may sign in the appropriate place on the eligibility report and attach a dissenting statement.

 

How does the LEA respond when a parent or teacher requests that a student be removed from special education?
If the parent makes the request to remove the child from special education, the LEA must obtain a signed Notice of Revocation of Consent for Continued Provision of Special Education and Related Services and provide notice to the parent before ceasing services. If a teacher makes the request for a student to be exited from special education, the request must be forwarded to the IEP Team for resolution. The IEP Team/Eligibility Committee must meet to consider eligibility or ineligibility for special education by following Process Chart 2. If it is determined that the student is no longer eligible for special education services, an eligibility report is completed and the student is exited from special education. However, if the IEP Team/Eligibility Committee finds that the student continues to be eligible for special education services, the student continues to receive special education and related services.

 

 

Is it true that the Multiple Disabilities exceptionality is intended only for children who have severe and profound disabilities or can it mean merely those who qualify for two or more disability areas?
Multiple Disabilities means concomitant impairments (such as intellectual disability-blindness, or intellectual disability-orthopedic impairment), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments.

 

Do we need to do a new eligibility report if we need to add something?
Yes, a new eligibility report must be completed each time the student is reevaluated for continued eligibility.

 

How do we document parent participation in a meeting if they participated by phone?
In hard copy forms and in STISETS, on the parent signature line write, “parent participated by phone.”

 

How do we document the parent chose to participate by phone, but at the time of meeting they did not answer the phone?
If the parent said they were going to participate in the meeting by phone and did not participate, document that the parent was unavailable by phone.

 

A child was determined eligible and the parent did not consent to services at the time. One year later, the parent wants services. What do we do?
The child is still an eligible child. If the parent wants services, reactivate the information in STISETS, get a Notice and Consent for Provision of Special Education Services signed and move forward with developing an appropriate IEP. Document in the annotate process what occurred. If the child needs to be reevaluated, follow Process 2, Reevaluation to Determine Continued Eligibility.

 

A child was served in an LEA. The child left and attended private school or was home schooled for a year or two. The child returns to an LEA. Is this an initial evaluation or a reevaluation?
If an evaluation is necessary, it would be a reevaluation unless the child had been determined ineligible; the parent revoked consent and then requested an evaluation at a later date; and/or the child moved out-of-state and returned to Alabama.