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School Principal’s Responsibilities in Determining Additional Services for Students with Disabilities

By Anita Castro, DPI Special Education Team

On March 13, 2020, school buildings were closed for in-person pupil instruction and extracurricular activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic health emergency. To say this has been a challenging time for educators, service providers, students, and families is an understatement.

Despite the significant efforts of local education agencies (LEAs) and families, distance learning may not always have been effective during the school closure. As a result, some students with disabilities may have experienced a regression in skills and lack of progress, and may need additional services to catch-up. The purpose of this article is to focus on the school principal’s role, especially as the LEA representative at individualized education program (IEP) team meetings, in determining and providing additional services for students with disabilities who did not make sufficient progress toward their IEP goals or in the general education curriculum during the extended school closure.

As explained in Information Update Bulletin 20.01 Additional Services due to Extended School Closures, the decision about which students require additional services and what those services will entail is made on an individual basis, in a collaborative manner with the student’s family. The school principal has an important role in working collaboratively with the district’s special education leadership in establishing district procedures to make decisions about additional services and to ensure district staff are well-positioned to implement the decisions, including having the training, resources, and support they need. School principals can now begin to develop procedures to make decisions about additional services for students with disabilities. In doing so, they may want to consider the following areas.

Establish procedures for regular communication

School principals should consider establishing procedures to provide important information and updates on a regular basis to school staff, as well as opportunities for staff to ask questions and give input in response. Likewise, school principals can do the same for families of students in the district. Working in collaboration with the special education director, the school principal can establish expectations and procedures for staff to communicate regularly with their students and families as well. Communicate with families regarding the process for determining whether and to what extent additional services are required due to the impact of the extended school closure. Good communication goes a long way in developing positive relationships and in preventing misunderstandings.

Establish Procedures to Prioritize Students to Receive Additional Services

Determinations about whether and to what extent additional services are required is made as soon as possible after sufficient data has been obtained and no later than the first six months of the 2020-21 school term. An IEP team meeting may be held to determine whether and to what extent additional services are needed for a student with a disability, or LEAs and parents may choose to make decisions about additional services outside of an IEP team meeting and document the agreement on the Notice of Changes to IEP without an IEP Team Meeting (I-10) Form. The school principal, working in conjunction with the director of special education, should alert staff to the procedures to use when considering the need for additional services for students with disabilities.

Whether a student needs additional services is an individualized determination based on what additional services are required to address regression in skills and to accelerate the progress needed to account for the impact of the extended school closure. The ability of the student to recoup skills should also be considered. In prioritizing these determinations, LEAs should consider:

  • students who did not receive special education services during the school closure or were unable to access the services provided;
  • students with newly identified needs that require additional services for a successful return;
  • students who graduated or reached the maximum age of eligibility at the end of the 2020-21 school term (if the student is willing to participate in additional services); and
  • students requiring initial evaluation for special education. Input from special education staff will be important to identify students in these priority areas.

Establish Procedures to Collect and Analyze Data

IEP teams must consider whether there has been a regression in skills and the extent to which the student failed to make progress toward their IEP goals and in the general education curriculum due to the extended school closure. Data collection and analysis are required in order to accomplish this. Procedures should include:

  • examination of the student’s progress on IEP goals from the last source of data before schools closed (last progress report or data collected) compared to the student’s current progress (recent data collected);
  • analysis of the student’s progress compared to the progress of all students during the extended school closure (e.g., screening data); and
  • consideration of observations and information from parents and students about the effectiveness of the services provided.

These procedures may also include identifying assessment tools that can be used more frequently and are sensitive to small changes in progress over shorter periods of time. The school principal, working in collaboration with special education leaders, can help to ensure all IEP team members come to IEP team meetings prepared with data about IEP goal progress and information about the special education services provided during the extended school closure and the student’s response to the services. Communicating this expectation and providing tools to collect and share this data will help make certain there are consistent procedures used during the analysis to determine if and what additional services are required for a student with a disability. An optional tracking sheet may also be provided for parents to document their information.

Principals should also ensure a plan is developed to ensure staff have the time needed to collect data on present levels of performance and conduct IEP team meetings.

Begin Discussions Regarding Scheduling of Additional Services

In conjunction with the district administrator, the school principal can lead discussions with staff about possible scheduling options for providing additional services to students with disabilities. These options might include providing additional services through alternate scheduling, extended school day, Saturday school day, or during the summer or other breaks. Ensure transportation is available if needed for students to access the additional services. Remember that the additional services are in addition to what a student would normally receive, supplementing, not supplanting, the student’s existing educational program. However, additional services are not required to replicate the missed services, minute by minute. Determinations about additional services are made in accordance with the least restrictive environment requirements. Additional services will likely be provided in person, especially if distance learning was not effective in the past.

Establish procedures for considering ESY and Additional Services

The consideration of Extended School Year (ESY) is a predictive analysis based on how the student has fared in the past during periods of breaks in instructional time. Generally, this break in instructional time is due to summer break or holiday breaks. During this analysis, the IEP team determines if the student may lose skills during the upcoming break or have difficulty recouping skills when school resumes. The analysis is based on the student’s past performance following a break.

In determining whether additional services are required due to the COVID-19 health emergency, the IEP team must consider the actual impact of the extended school closure on the student’s ability to retain skills and make progress toward their IEPs goals and in the general education curriculum. This analysis is based on data collected prior to and following the closure.

The school principal, especially when serving as the LEA representative, can help to ensure IEP team members understand the distinction between ESY and additional services, and that both are considered. The district may want to develop an IEP team meeting agenda template and worksheet to ensure these considerations are made and documented by the IEP team.

Establish Procedures to Identify and Provide Needed Staff Training and Support

As school leaders, principals should consider the potential staffing needs to implement additional services required due to the impact of the extended school closure. School principals can survey their staff to determine professional development needs in light of the school closure during the 2019-20 school year. Schedule time for teacher collaboration, parallel planning, and support for staff. Consider substitute teachers and additional staffing to provide release time for teachers. Providing opportunities for staff to share what has worked effectively and to discuss challenges will help all to discover new ways to provide services during a pandemic.

Develop Awareness of the Availability of Funds for Additional Services

School principals should be aware of the availability of additional funds for planning and providing special education services. In addition to the standard special education funding sources available to school districts, CARES Act, Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSERF), formula funds may also be used for special education costs incurred to prevent, prepare for, and respond to COVID-19. These funds are available through September 30, 2022. The school principal, when acting as the LEA representative during an IEP team meeting, should be aware of these resources and have the authority to commit them.

Final Thoughts

In preparation for the beginning of the 2020-21 school year and a return to school buildings, LEAs must consider the impact of the COVID-19 school closures on students with IEPs, and what additional services are required as a result. In doing so, school leaders should consider and establish procedures for the following:

  • How will the LEA identify priority students with disabilities?
  • When will IEP team meeting be held, and when will it be appropriate to use the Notice of Changes to IEP without an IEP Team Meeting (I-10) Form?
  • How will data be collected and analyzed?
  • When will additional services be provided?
  • Who will provide the additional services?
  • How will the LEA pay for the additional services?
  • How will the LEA prepare staff and ensure resources are available to provide additional services?

In making decisions about these procedures, the school principal will ideally work in collaboration with the special education director, teachers, service providers, the district administrator, and families. Regular communication—before decisions are made to seek input, and following decisions to inform all of the established procedures—will be important.

Although decisions about additional services for students with disabilities should be made as soon as possible, and some students will require additional services sooner than others, the department has set a six month deadline to make this requirement doable. Please access the resources noted below and do not hesitate to contact the Special Education Team at the Department of Public Instruction if there are any questions about the requirements associated with determining additional services for students with disabilities.

Resources:

 

Read more at:

Elementary Edition - Secondary Edition - District Level Edition