Hadley-Luzerne Central School District

The Special Education Preschool Program is a federally mandated and funded service. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) makes a range of educational opportunities available to children with moderate to severe disabilities who are three and four years old. The program is managed by the Hadley-Luzerne Central School District with financial oversight provided by the Saratoga County Youth Bureau. The district does not operate nor supervise any preschool services. Children are served at any one of several county-approved private agency sites in the area, or through home-based and community-based programs. Saratoga County arranges transportation through private providers.

Any child age between the ages of 36 months (3 years) and 60 months (5 years) residing in the school district who is experiencing significant difficulties or delays in development, whether physical, mental, or emotional, can be referred for service. Areas of concern can include difficulties in developing speech and language skills, thinking skills, motor skills or social skills. An assessment is conducted by a state approved evaluation agency to determine if your child qualifies for the Special Education Preschool Program.

CORE Assessment: A developmental evaluation of your child's language skills, fine and gross motor skills, cognitive ability, social/emotional skills and adaptive skills is conducted. Parents are interviewed to assess family needs. Screening and evaluation procedures include a review of relevant social, economic, cultural, medical and nutritional factors that affect the child's growth and development. The preschool assessment will identify your child's strengths and weaknesses.

Committee On Preschool Special Education: A multidisciplinary team consisting of evaluators, parents, teachers, and other professionals with knowledge of the child who review the evaluations, determine eligibility for services and programs. This committee reviews each student referred for special education services.

Home-Based and Agency Services: An individualized education plan (IEP) for children and their families is written at the CPSE meeting. Services are then provided either in the child's home or at an approved agency. Planned curriculum is provided as a guide for parents and caregivers in educating the child. Certified practitioners in specialized areas may provide home-based services. Specialized services may also be provided at an agency approved to provide specialized services to a child. These services include Special Education Itinerant Services, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy.

Community-Based Services: The providers listed above may travel to home or childcare centers, Head Start centers, or other community settings to provide services to the child, consult with the staff, and modify curriculum or materials.
Classroom-Based Services: The child's total program is provided in a special education preschool class. Classes are located at approved agencies in the area.

Transition Services: Program staff work to ensure a smooth transition from the early intervention program sponsored by the Department of Health to the pre-school system and from the preschool program into the school-aged classroom.

All services provided through the Special Education Preschool Program are offered at no charge. Funding is provided through federal, state, and local funding sources.

Parents, medical practitioners or community agencies may refer a child to this program. A referral form signed by the parent is required to begin the referral process. To obtain a referral, or for additional information, contact the Pupil Services Office at 518-696-2378 ext. 1105.

• Is my child difficult to understand when he/she speaks?
• Does my child often not respond when you talk to him/her, or do I have to repeat things frequently?
• Does my child get upset easily, cry a lot, have temper tantrums, sleeping problems or other behaviors that concern me?

Students with disabilities shall be provided special education services in the least restrictive environment in order to enable disabled students to be educated with non-disabled peers to the maximum extent appropriate. This may include Individual Education Plans (IEPs), 504 Plans, or related services. 

Speech-Language Therapy: Speech-language therapy is available to children with communication difficulties impacting social, emotional, or educational growth. Eligibility for the program is determined by a comprehensive speech-language evaluation according to district guidelines.
Assistive Technology: Assistive technology services are provided to students with disabilities who need special supports to access their curriculum.
The district's assistive technologist:

• Assesses, recommends, monitors and modifies general and assistive technology devices
• Consults with and trains students, staff and families on the use of assistive technology
• Provides students with ongoing training in current equipment, devices, hardware and software to meet their instructional needs

Counseling: School psychologists with specialized training in both psychology and education provide assistance to educators, parents and students. School psychologists tailor their services to the particular needs of each child and each situation, and provide these services as needed:

• Consultation with school staff, families, and/or students
• Assessment to identify academic skills, learning aptitudes, personality and emotional development, social skills Counseling, conflict resolution, development of learning and behavioral plans
• Prevention strategies to resolve learning, social, or behavioral difficulties
• Professional development in such areas as teaching/learning strategies, classroom management techniques, crisis management

Physical Therapy: Physical therapy is provided in the public school system to students whose gross motor skills significantly affect their educational access. Parents must obtain a doctor's prescription to obtain physical therapy services in school. The district's physical therapists:

• Provide direct physical therapy services to students
• Consults with and acts as liaison between teachers and school staff, students, and their families regarding physical therapy issues
• Assesses, recommends, monitors, and modifies general and special equipment needed to meet student goals
• Consults with private physical therapists and other health care providers to ensure continuity in the management of physical therapy issues in the school setting

Occupational Therapy: Occupational therapy in the school setting is for students whose fine motor or sensory needs significantly impair their educational performance and qualify them for services under Section 504. Parents must obtain a doctor's prescription to obtain occupational therapy services in school.

Functional areas addressed through occupational therapy include self help; functional mobility; positioning; communication; sensory motor processing; fine and gross motor performance; life skills training; and environmental adaptation for access and mobility.
Services may include the following:

• Screening/assessing to identify deficits
• Development of IEP goals/objectives
• Consultation with staff and parents for implementing the student's program
• Planning and implementing the IEP component related to occupational therapy goals/objectives

Teacher of the Visually Impaired: The program for students with visual impairment provides specialized instruction and services required to meet the unique educational needs of visually impaired students. The District offers consultative and itinerant services as indicated by a student's IEP. Some of these services include Braille instruction, academic support, assistive technology, orientation and mobility training.
Teacher of the Deaf and Hearing Impaired Services: A certified teacher of the deaf and hearing impaired will provide direct services to hard of hearing pupils and consultation to teachers. This service enables the pupil to be educated in the least restrictive environment.
Instructional services might include:

• Training in manual communication and lip reading
• Reinforcement of reading and math skills
• Reteaching of regular classroom content areas
• Management of hearing aids and auditory trainers
• Modification of curriculum and instructional strategies

Supported by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, Families in Transition is a program for students and families in temporary housing situations. The program goal is to ensure that homeless children and youth have equal access to the same free, appropriate, public education provided to other children, with the opportunity to meet the same challenging New York State content and student performance standards.
Families in Transition supports children who are in temporary housing, or children who do not have a fixed, adequate and regular nighttime residence. Examples of temporary housing include:

• Sleeping at a campground or motel due to loss of housing
• Staying with friends or relatives because of a loss of housing or economic hardship (also known as doubled up)
• Staying in an emergency or transitional shelter
• Sleeping in a car, bus, train station or other public place
• Sleeping in an abandoned building or some other inadequate accommodation

This program also assists students residing in a shelter situation, and helps remove barriers to enrollment, attendance and supports the success of homeless children in school. If you feel that you might be eligible for this program, please contact:

• McKinney-Vento Coordinator: Jennifer Holcomb  
• 518-696-2112 Ext 3115

The Hadley-Luzerne Central School District Board of Education believes that positive parental involvement is essential to student achievement, and thus encourages such involvement in school education planning and operations. As stipulated in Section 1188 (d) (Parental Involvement) of the federal Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the Hadley-Luzerne Central School District will ensure that;...Each school served under Title I, Part A shall jointly develop with parents for all children served...a school-parent compact that outlines how parents, the entire school staff and students will share responsibility for improved achievement and the means by which the school parents will build and develop a partnership to help children achieve the State's high standards.

Consistent with the parent involvement goals of Title I, Part A of the federal No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB), the Board of Education will develop and implement programs, activities and procedures that encourage and support the participation of parents of students eligible for Title I services in all aspects of their child's education. The Board will also ensure that all of its schools receiving Title I, Part A funds develop and implement school level parental involvement policies, as further required by the NCLB. With oversight from the Board of Education of the Hadley-Luzerne Central School District to ensure that all schools provide high-quality curriculum and instruction in a supportive and effective learning environment to enable all students to achieve. Recognizing the importance of communication between teachers and parents, all schools will, at a minimum, conduct annually the option of two parent-teacher conferences during which their school's compact will be discussed in relation to the individual child's achievement, in addition to providing frequent reports, beyond the quarterly report card, to parents on their child's progress. This could take the form of phone calls home, interim reports and written correspondence. Parents will be afforded reasonable access to staff, opportunities to volunteer and participate in their child's class and observation of classroom activities.

For the purposes of this policy, parental involvement refers to the participation of parents and teachers in regular, two-way and meaningful communication involving student academic learning and other school activities. At a minimum, parental involvement programs, activities and procedures at both the district and individual school level must ensure that parents:

• play an integral role in assisting their child's learning;
• are encouraged to be actively involved in their child's education at school; and
• are full partners in their child's education and are included, as appropriate, in decision-making and on advisory committees to assist in the education of their child

(The term parents refers to a natural parent, legal guardian or other person standing in loco parentis such as grandparent or step-parent with whom the child lives, or a person who is legally responsible for the child's welfare.)
District- and school-level Title I parental involvement programs, activities and procedures will provide full opportunities for the participation of parents with limited English proficiency, parents with disabilities and parents of migratory children.
Parents will also participate in the process for developing a school improvement plan when the school their child attends fails to make adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years and is identified as a school in need of improvement. The Hadley-Luzerne Central School District will publicly report on the progress of the schools and will prioritize resources to assist schools in reaching the State's standards. Parents and community members will be welcomed and encouraged to actively engage with the district in developing and implementing initiatives that lead to the academic success for all students.

The board, along with its superintendent of schools and other appropriate district staff will undertake the following actions to ensure parent involvement in the development of the district wide parental involvement plan:
Meetings at flexible times and/or in highly accessible places such as community settings or surveying parents by phone, mail or e-mail.

The board, along with its superintendent of schools and other appropriate staff will conduct, with the involvement of parents, an annual evaluation of the content and effectiveness of the parental involvement plan in improving the academic quality of Title I schools, including the identification of barriers to greater participation of parents in activities under this policy and the revision of parent involvement policies necessary for more effective involvement.

The superintendent of schools will ensure that all district schools receiving federal financial assistance under Title I, Part A are provided technical assistance and all other support necessary to assist them in planning and implementing effective parental involvement programs and activities that improve student achievement and school performance.

To build parent capacity for strong parental involvement to improve their child's academic achievement, the district will, at a minimum:

1. Assist parents in understanding such topics as the state's academic content and student achievement standards, state and local academic assessments, Title I requirements, how to monitor their child's progress and how to work with educators to improve the achievement of their child.
2. Provide materials and training to help parents work with their child's academic achievement.
3. Educate its teachers, pupil services personnel, principals and other staff in understanding the value and utility of a parent's contributions and how to:

• Reach out to, communicate with and work with parents as equal partners;
• Implement and coordinate parent programs; and
• Build ties between parents and the schools