Washington Unified School District - About Special Education

About Special Education

MISSION

Washington Unified School District is committeed to meeting the educational needs of the exceptional child. The mission is to provide a planned program of instructional, psychological, social, and related services to help schools meet the unique needs of students with disabilities and their families. Washington Unified provides a network of support to staff, students, and families that enables students to succeed as individuals within the learning environment. Through program evaluation, staff development, and support for special education and other student services supports, Washington Unified ensures that the program areas in schools are fully supported and able to comply with fiscal, legal, and personnel requirements.

Special Education is not a 'place', rather it is a set of services. The goal of Washington Unified School District (WUSD) is to partner with families regarding the individual needs of children. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the federal law that helps guide school teams and families in determining eligibility of students and the development of an Individual Education Program (IEP). WUSD has a continuum of services to meet the needs of our diverse student population.

Services are provided to students based on their Individualized Education Program (IEP). The IEP is developed based on evaluation results and in collaboration with both educators and parents/guardians.

The goal of WUSD is for children to be educated in their neighborhood school and in the general education setting to the greatest extent possible. Washington Unified School District believes that there is inherent benefit for eligible students to learn with their community peers. At times, students are placed in programs that may not be located at their resident school.

What is Special Education?

Special Education is specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of the student. For a student with one or more of the above disabilities to be eligible for special education, the student must have a unique educational need that requires specially designed instruction. A unique educational need is one that stems from the disability of the student and is significantly different from the educational needs of the student's typical peers. Specifically, designed instruction is adapting the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction to address the unique educational needs of the student so that access to the general curriculum meets state and district educational standards.

For educational purposes, who receives Special Education?

There are three parts to the answer:

The student must be determined to have an eligible disability
Because of the disability, the student needs special services to benefit from education
The student is between ages 3 and 22

If a student does not meet all of the above criteria then the student is not eligible for special education.

What disabilities are eligible for Special Education?

The IDEA identifies the following categories of disability:

Autism Spectrum Disorder
Deafness
Deaf/Blind
Emotional Disturbance
Hearing Impairment
Intellectual Disability
Multiple Disability
Orthopedic Impairment
Other Health Impaired
Specific Learning Disability
Speech or Language Disability
Traumatic Brain Injury
Visual Impaired

What are related services?

Related services means transportation and such developmental, corrective, and other supportive services as may be required to assist a student with a disability to benefit from Special Education. To receive one or more related services, the student must have a disability, need Special Education, and the related service must be determined to be necessary to benefit from the Special Education. California law uses the term Designated Instructional Services to mean related services. Related services include but are not limited to:

Speech and language pathology
Audiological services
Instruction in the home or hospital
Adapted physical education
Counseling and guidance services, including rehabilitation counseling
Medical services (For diagnostic purposes only)
Health and nursing
Orientation and mobility services
Parent counseling and training
Physical and occupational therapy
Psychological services
Social Worker services
Transportation
Recreation services
Interpreting services
Specialized services for low incidence disabilities

Where do students with disabilities receive related services?

Federal and State law require that school districts ensure a continuum of placements to meet the needs of students with disabilities. The continuum of placements within the district includes instruction in:

General Education
Whenever appropriate, students with disabilities will be educated in the general education classes. In addition, whenever possible, they will attend the school they would ordinarily attend.

General Education Classes with Related Services
In addition to general education, related services may be provided to assist students with disabilities to benefit from their general education program. Some examples of related services are language and speech services, adapted physical education, counseling, physical, and occupational therapy.

Special Day Classes
Special Day Classes serve students who, because of their disabilities, cannot participate in general education classes for a majority of the school day. These classes are provided on general education sites. As classes for a majority of the school day. These classes are provided on general education sites. As appropriate, students enrolled in Special Day Classes interact with their general education peers through academics, non-academic and extracurricular activities, academic and extracurricular activities.