The referral process begins at the student’s home school.  A referral packet is completed by the student’s counselor.  The packet includes the following:

              ·         Reason for referral

·         Student’s academic, attendance, and discipline history

·         Individualized Education Plan (IEP) (if applicable)

·         Suggested coursework

·         Parent questionnaire

·         Student questionnaire

The referral packet is submitted to the District Liaison (Governing Board member) for approval.  Approval is based on: a) need of the student as compared to others on waiting list; b) availability of appropriate session in order to accommodate the student, based on enrollment; and c) appropriate match between Collaborative School programming and student need.

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Referral Procedures For Collaborative School Students Suspected of Having a Disability

                It is the responsibility of all Collaborative School staff to be watchful for indicators of possible educational disabilities which may affect a student’s ability to progress in the general education curriculum offered at The Collaborative School.  The same process and procedures should be used to address suspected disabilities as would be used in the student’s home school.

1.        If a student is experiencing difficulty meeting the performance expectations of The Collaborative School program (e.g. reading, writing, listening, understanding, speaking, attention to task, organization, social/emotional/behavioral), a Care Team process should be used to specifically identify the concerns, collect relevant information about the student, and implement intervention strategies for a sufficient period of time needed to assess the impact of the interventions.  It may be helpful to include a representative from the student’s home school in the Care Team planning.

2.        If the concerns are significant, or if the interventions are found to be ineffective, the consensus of the Care Team may be that an immediate educational evaluation is needed.  The student’s home school counselor should be contacted immediately to assist in the development of a referral packet to the home school’s Special School District’s evaluation coordinator.

3.        Completion of the referral packet and the evaluation will require a collaborative effort between the home school counselor and the Lead Teacher for the student at The Collaborative School.

4.        In some cases, a Section 504 plan may be needed instead of a special education evaluation or IEP.  In those cases, eligibility for a Section 504 plan should be established using the same procedures that would be used by the student’s home school.  In most cases, the student’s school counselor will be the person to facilitate the development of the Section 504 plan.  However, the plan will be developed to support the student’s access to The Collaborative School program.  At whatever time the student returns to his/her home school, the Section 504 plan ensures the student’s access to that educational program.  Questions about the process/procedures for obtaining an educational evaluation for suspected disabilities should be addressed to the student’s home school counselor.

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