New students who enter LMACS undergo a comprehensive educational history through the use of the student application, student-parent interviews, and an examination of previous school records, including existing IEPs. This intake process allows the school to determine if a new student is eligible for special education services either through verbal or written confirmation or both.
All students who are accepted to LMACS who indicate on the interview sheet that they have had special education or 504 Plan services will have a Records Request form faxed to the sending school immediately. The Director of Special Education will be responsible for requesting records. If records are not received within ten days, a telephone call will be made requesting that at minimum, the latest IEP be faxed to LMACS.
Within ten school days of receiving the special education records, a Team meeting will be held to review the existing IEP. The following questions should be considered.
- Can the student’s needs be met through the current IEP without any changes?
- Should the current IEP be implemented with only minor changes as outlined in an amendment? (IEP-A)
- Should a new IEP be written and implemented for the student? (IEP 1-8)
- Should the student be reevaluated because the IEP is three or more years old?
If the IEP is within 6-10 weeks of the annual date, an annual meeting will take place at the Review for New Student Team meeting. If the IEP meets all requirements for services (minutes per class, etc.) the Team may accept the IEP as is until the next annual or reevaluation due date. An amendment may be written to amend the service delivery page, etc. An amendment may not be written to change the placement (PL1) of an IEP.
If a student transfers to LMACS with an expired annual or reevaluation date, no amendments are to be created to extend the IEP.
At the Review for New Student Team meeting (held within 10 school days), a new IEP is to be written using the latest IEP as a guide, taking into consideration the latest test scores. If the latest IEP has an expired reevaluation date, a new IEP will be written for 45 – 60 school days and consent to reevaluate must be obtained as soon as possible to begin the reevaluation process. The reevaluation must be completed and an IEP written within 45 school days from the date that the Consent to Evaluate form is received by the special education department. The Special Education support staff must notify the Director of Special Education of the need for any evaluations for all students.
The Director of Special Education will be responsible for mailing all consent to evaluate forms, coordinating the appropriate evaluators’ schedules, and maintaining the proper timelines for reevaluations.
If a student is already attending LMCAS and it is discovered that the student has an IEP, a special education records request will be made immediately and a Team meeting will be scheduled to review the student’s educational needs, using the previous questions as reference points.