ARTICLE 13

Students with Disabillities

A. Mainstreaming Procedures

The purpose of this section is to outline the District's procedures regarding mainstreaming of students with disabilities.  Mainstreamed students are those students whose primary educational program consists of fifty percent (50%) or more of the school day in a special class.  It is the intent of these procedures to establish greater continuity and procedural uniformity among building personnel who are responsible for implementing mainstreaming procedures.  The following procedures shall apply to all students with disabilities who are in special education classes and programs operated by the District:

1. Students with disabilities shall be mainstreamed as recommended in their IEP, taking into consideration their learning and social skill levels and how both of these factors relate to the class in which the student is to be mainstreamed.  The special class teacher’s input shall be considered by the Committee on Special Education with regard to mainstreaming decisions. Under no circumstances should the social skill level be the only basis for mainstreaming.

2. When a student with disabilities is placed in a general education classroom, the following steps should apply:

a. The special education teacher will be available to meet with the mainstream teacher(s) to discuss the student's educational needs as defined in the student's IEP and what may be expected of the student in the mainstream class.  Should more than one mainstream teacher for the same student (music, physical education, art, etc.) request such a meeting it should be a joint session so that the time of everyone involved can be most productively utilized;

b. Prior to the time of the student with disabilities classroom placement, the receiving teacher will be provided with a copy of the student’s IEP, including current levels of academic functioning, behavioral information, pertinent physical and/or medical data;

c. The receiving teacher will be encouraged to observe the student with disabilities within the special education class setting including a review of the student’s IEP;

d. The special class teacher should prepare the student with disabilities for appropriate transition to the mainstream class;

e. Continued dialogue should take place between the teacher, parent, and special class teacher throughout the duration of the mainstream experience regarding adjustment and progress;
f. Responsibility for evaluating should be shared by both teacher and special class teacher; in those instances where a Carnegie Unit is to be given, the general education class teacher shall retain the final decision;

g. Recommendations for mainstreaming, which result from annual or triennial review, and involve the student with disabilities attending another school for a special class or program, must be made to the  District’s Committee on Special Education.    

B. Resource Procedures

Resource students are those students who receive instruction in a general education classroom and supplemental support from a special education teacher.  The purpose of this section is to outline the District's procedure(s) regarding the assignment of resource students. The following considerations should apply to all resource classes and programs operated by the District:

1. Resource students should possess learning and social skill levels which are not significantly dissimilar from their peers in general education classroom settings.

2. When a student is assigned to a resource classroom:

a. The general education and resource teachers should initially meet to discuss the student’s educational needs and what may be expected in both general education and resource class settings;

b. The general education teacher will have an opportunity to review the student’s current IEP and other records pertinent to the student with disabilities condition;

c. The general education and resource teacher should meet periodically throughout the school year to discuss and evaluate student progress and make appropriate educational adjustments;

d. A general education teacher who teaches a student shall participate in the annual IEP review or triennial review, when invited to such review, for any resource student assigned to the teacher’s class;

e. Responsibility for awarding formal grades shall rest with the general education class teacher.

C. Correcting and Monitoring Imbalance

1. When addressing problems which arise involving students with disabilities and student load in particular schools and/or classrooms, and attempting to resolve them in an effective manner within the District's ability to do so, the District shall consider individual school space (total population), the availability of opportunities for assigning students on an equitable basis, and the impact of any change or adjustment upon the teacher(s) to whom the students are assigned.  In the event the District determines conditions prevail which needs to be addressed it will determine if the circumstances are such that an adjustment can be made by:

a. the assignment of additional personnel;

b. the reduction of class size;

c. the reassignment of disabled or non-disabled students;

d. the adjustment of teacher/staff schedules and assignments.

2. The process for addressing situations which have been identified as inequitable within a particular school will be as follows:

a. The School Leadership Team shall monitor resource and mainstreaming practices to assist in bringing attention to:

i. appropriate and timely scheduling of students with disabilities;

ii. an equitable distribution across grade or subject area; and

iii. internal adjustment and correction at the building level.

b. The Instructional Division will be available to provide assistance in resolving problems at the building level;

c. If the problem is unable to be resolved internally, the issue will be identified and reduced to writing by the Association and referred to a District Appeals Committee composed of the Director of Special Education, the Director of Personnel and the President of the Association or their respective designees.  The District Appeals Committee will review the specific issue and made recommendations for resolving the issue within five (5) days;

d. In the event that the steps above do not resolve the problem, it may be submitted by the Association directly to the Superintendent to bring about a solution, either temporary or permanent, which will best serve the student(s) involved.  It is the further intention of the parties that any problems which do arise be satisfactorily resolved before reaching the Superintendent's level and that every effort is made to do so in order that those which do come to the Superintendent be neither frequent nor frivolous.  The Superintendent will give them his/her prompt and full attention to bring about a solution which is reasonable and equitable and, insofar as it is possible to do so, address the concerns of the teacher(s) involved and the needs of the student(s);

e. If the issue in question cannot be satisfactorily resolved by the foregoing procedure, the Association may then treat it as a formal grievance which has reached Stage 3 of the Grievance Procedure and submit written notice of arbitration within the time limits set forth therein.