The Board of Education (“Board”) of the North Colonie Central School District (“District”) recognizes that the provision of academic and behavioral supports and targeted interventions for students who are not making academic progress at expected levels in the general curriculum may improve a student’s performance, and help avert the need for referral for possible classification as a student with a disability. Therefore, the district will implement the following practices to enable all of the district’s students to succeed in the general education environment.
A student determined by a student’s school Child Study Team (“CST”) and/or block team at Shaker Junior High School to be at risk of academic failure will be provided with the supports necessary to meet academic standards set forth by the Commissioner of Education and the Board of Regents and to make available to such students, as appropriate, those supports developed and approved as part of the district Academic Intervention Plan.
A student at risk of academic failure shall include any student who fails to meet the designated cutoff point on state tests, students who qualify for English as a Second Language (“ESL”), students who qualify for remedial services based on district standards, students in need of Academic Intervention Support (“AIS”) to address barriers that are impeding academic progress, including but not limited to attendance, behavior, health, nutrition, situational crises, and any other student deemed to be at risk for academic failure by the school’s CST and/or block team.
Every school in the district shall designate and maintain a CST and/or block team that shall screen any student enrolled in the school considered to be at risk for academic failure to determine those academic intervention services to address the student’s areas of concern. It shall be the responsibility of the school principal to arrange for the provision of such services and to notify the parents that such services will be made available to the student.
Wherever appropriate, before a member of the school staff or administration initiates a formal referral of a student to the subcommittee of the CSE, the Committee on Special Education (“CSE”) and/or the Section 504 Team, a student who has not been reviewed by the CST and/or block team shall be referred to the CST and/or block team to determine whether there are any support services within the general educational program designed to meet the student’s areas of need.
Such referrals shall be screened at the next meeting of the CST and/or block team within ten school days from the date of referral. Where the CST and/or block team determines that a full evaluation is required, the Chairperson of the CST and/or block team shall refer the student, immediately thereafter, to the Chairperson of the PST and specify in the referral the pre-referral
strategies which have been provided or considered and, where applicable, the reason or the reasons why no such attempts have been made.
When a parent refers a student to the PST/CSE or the Section 504 Team the building principal or his/her designee shall review with the student’s teachers, whether adequate pre- referral strategies have been attempted and shall determine, if not, whether such supports and services could address the student’s problems. If the building principal or his/her designee determines that adequate pre-referral strategies have not been tried, the building principal or his/her designee shall schedule a meeting with the CST and/or block team and so inform the PST/CSE/Section 504 Team Chairperson who will schedule a meeting with the parent and teacher to discuss possible withdrawal of the referral with an agreement to implement agreed upon pre-referral strategies, to monitor the student’s progress and meet, at an agreed upon time, to review the student’s progress in accordance with regulations of the Commissioner of Education.
Unless a referral to the sub-committee CSE/Section 504 Team is withdrawn, in writing, in accordance with the prescribed regulations under Part 200 of the Commissioner’s regulations, the pursuit of pre-referral intervention strategies shall not interfere with the prescribed duties of the CSE in response to an initial referral for evaluation.
District implementation of any of the above practices will not impede or delay the appropriate evaluation of a student suspected of having a disability, and the student’s right to a free appropriate public education.
Ref. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act §§ 1413; 141 4(b)(6)(B)
34 CFR §§ 300.226; 300.307(a)(2)
8 NYCRR §§ 100.200; 200.2(b)(7)
Adopted: October 24, 2011