EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT EDUCATION

EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT EDUCATION

po2460Adopted May 1, 2002Revised April 22, 2025

2460 - EXCEPTIONAL STUDENT EDUCATION

The Board, as an expression of its commitment to provide a free, appropriate, public education for students with disabilities in accordance with State and Federal laws, rules, and regulations, shall develop and implement Florida’s Special Programs and Procedures for Exceptional Students and the Brevard County Plan for Exceptional Student Education. These documents shall include at least the components listed below, shall provide administrative procedures for Exceptional Student Education Programs, and shall be revised when required by the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE), readopted, and submitted to the FLDOE.

  1. Student Identification

    The District will make ongoing efforts to identify, locate, and evaluate students below twenty-two (22) years of age, who reside within the District and have a confirmed or suspected disability in accordance with all Federal regulations and State standards.
  2. Procedural Safeguards

    A student with a disability and his/her parent shall be provided with safeguards, as required by law, throughout the identification, evaluation, and placement process, and the provision of a free, appropriate, public education to the student.
  3. Multifactored Evaluation

    A student may not be given special instruction or services as an exceptional student until after s/he has been properly evaluated and found eligible as an exceptional student in the manner prescribed by rules of the State Board of Education.

    The District will provide a multifactored evaluation for students with disabilities by ensuring that:
     
    1. students are assessed in their native language or other mode of communication;
    2. tests are used for their validated purposes;
    3. students are evaluated in all areas related to their suspected disability;
    4. testing is conducted by a multidisciplinary team;
    5. testing materials and procedures are not racially or culturally biased;
    6. tests are administered by trained personnel qualified in accordance with all Federal regulations and State standards;
    7. tests are administered in conformance with the instructions provided by the producer;
    8. medical evaluation, when required as part of the multifactored evaluation, shall be provided at no cost to the parent by a licensed physician designated by the Superintendent or his/her designee, when the parent is unable to obtain such evaluation and other no-cost resources are not available.

The parent of an exceptional student evaluated and found eligible or ineligible shall be notified of each such evaluation and determination. Such notice shall contain a statement informing the parent that s/he is entitled to a due process hearing on the identification, evaluation, and eligibility determination or non-determination.

  1. Individualized Education Program

    The District will develop an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) for each student with a disability who needs special education. The IEP shall be designed to meet the unique educational needs of the student and shall be developed in meetings with the student’s designated IEP Team. At the initial meeting of a student’s IEP Team, the District will provide parents within formation about the amount of funding the District receives for each of the five (5) exceptional student education support levels for a full-time student.

    Parents of the student shall be strongly encouraged to participate in the IEP Team meetings.

    IEP Meeting Notice: When the District determines that there is a need to change an IEP based on a student’s need to access an alternate assessment and/or when the student may be recommended to be placed in an exceptional student education center (separate day school), then the school shall provide written notice of the IEP meeting to the parent at least ten (10) days before the meeting. The written notice of the IEP meeting must include the purpose, time, and location of the meeting and who, by title or position, will attend the meeting. The requirement for the ten (10) day notice for an IEP meeting may be waived by informed consent of the parent after the parent receives the written notice.

    Attendance of Others at IEP Meetings: Parents may be accompanied by another adult of their choice at any meeting with District personnel. District personnel will not object to the attendance of such adult or discourage or attempt to discourage through any action, statement, or other means parents from inviting another person of their choice to attend any meeting. Parents and District personnel shall sign a document at the meeting's conclusion which states whether any District personnel have prohibited, discouraged or attempted discourage the parents from inviting a person of their choice to the meeting.

    Parental Consent Forms: The District will utilize FLDOE parental consent forms for the following actions in a student's IEP:
     
    1. administer to the student an alternate assessment pursuant to F.S. 1008.22 and provide instruction in the State standards access points curriculum; and
    2. place the student in an exceptional student education center (separate day school).

Except for a disciplinary interim alternative placement for no more than forty-five (45) school days, if the District determines that there is a need to change a student's IEP as it relates to the actions described above in 1 and 2, the school must hold an IEP Team meeting that includes the parent to discuss the reason for the change.

The District will not implement the change without parental consent unless the District documents reasonable efforts to obtain the parent's consent and the student's parent has failed to respond, or the District obtains approval through a due process hearing.

The IEP will include the components listed in F.A.C. 6A-6.03028, Provision of Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) and Development of Individual Educational Plans for Students with Disabilities.

The student's IEP shall be reviewed and revised as often as necessary, but at least annually.

Private Instructional Personnel: District personnel will collaborate with private instructional personnel who are hired or contracted by parents in compliance with F.S. 1003.572. "Private instructional personnel" include only the following:

  1. individuals certified under F.S. 393.17 or licensed under Chapter 490 or Chapter 491 for applied behavior analysis services as defined in F.S. 627.6686 and 641.31098;

    To provide services under this paragraph, a registered behavior technician must be employed by a provider described herein.
  2. speech-language pathologists licensed under F.S. 468.1185;
  3. occupational therapists licensed under part III of 379 Chapter 468;
  4. physical therapists licensed under Chapter 486;
  5. psychologists licensed under Chapter 490; and
  6. clinical social workers licensed under Chapter 491.

Private instructional personnel who are hired or contracted by parents to collaborate with public instructional personnel will be permitted to observe the student in the educational setting, collaborate with instructional personnel in the educational setting, and provide services in the educational setting only if the following requirements are met:

  1. the student's public instructional personnel and the school principal consent to the time and place;
  2. the private instructional personnel complete the required procedures for being on a school campus in the District including signing a confidentiality statement and signing in/out using the school’s visitor procedures; and
  3. the private instructional personnel satisfy the requirements of F.S. 1012.32 or 1012.321.
  1. Least Restrictive Environment

    The education of students with disabilities shall occur in the least restrictive environment through appropriate special education programs and services designed to meet the unique needs of each student with a disability. District personnel will use the regular school facilities and adapt them to the needs of exceptional students to the maximum extent appropriate. To the extent appropriate, students with disabilities, shall be educated with students who do not have disabilities. Segregation of students with disabilities will occur only when the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
  2. Confidentiality of Data

    The confidentiality of personally identifiable data relating to students with disabilities and their parents and families shall be protected at collection, storage, disclosure, and destruction. One official of the District shall be assigned the responsibility for protecting the confidentiality of personally identifiable data. This District follows all Federal regulations and State standards related to the confidentiality of data. (See Policy 8330 - Student Records)
  3. Due Process

    The District will use procedures that allow differences of opinion between parents and this District or between agencies and this District, to be aired and resolved. The procedures shall provide for utilization of case conferences and impartial hearings on the District's proposal or refusal to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, or educational placement of the student, or the provision of FAPE to the student.

    The impartial hearings shall be conducted by an administrative law judge (ALJ) from the Florida Division of Administrative Hearings (DOAH) and shall be final. However, any party that does not agree with the findings and decision in the due process hearing, including a hearing relating to disciplinary procedures, has the right to bring a civil action with respect to the matter that was the subject of the due process hearing. The action may be brought in a State court of competent jurisdiction or in a district court of the United States without regard to the amount in dispute. In the alternative, in hearings conducted on behalf of a student who is identified as gifted, any party aggrieved by the decision of the ALJ has the right to request a review of the order by the District Court of Appeal as provided in F.S. 120.68.

    During the pendency of a due process hearing or appellate proceeding regarding a due process complaint, the student shall remain in his/her current educational assignment (stay put provision), unless the parent and the District otherwise agree.
  4. Educational Surrogate Parent

    It shall be the policy of the District that whenever the parent or a person who acts in a parental role to a student with a disability is determined to be legally unavailable, the student's rights shall be protected through the assignment of an educational surrogate parent. An educational surrogate parent means an individual appointed by the Superintendent and/or the court to act in place of a parent in educational decision-making and in safeguarding a student's rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The educational surrogate parent shall not be an employee of the Department of Education, the School District, a community-based care provider, the Department of Children and Family Services, or any other public or private agency involved in the education or care of the student. The educational surrogate parent shall meet all statutory requirements and attend the required training to be appointed. The Superintendent, or designee, shall appoint an educational surrogate parent not more than thirty (30) calendar days after the District determines a particular student is in need of a surrogate.
  5. Testing Programs

    Students with disabilities shall participate in local and State-wide testing programs to the maximum extent appropriate. Individual exemptions and/or waivers shall be granted only as permitted under Florida law and State Board of Education rules. Exceptional students with disabilities shall have access to testing sites. 

    Further, pursuant to State law, the IEP team may determine that end-of-course assessment cannot accurately measure the abilities of the student with disabilities and may, therefore, waive the use of the results of the end-of-course assessment for purposes of determining the student's course grade and completing the requirements for middle school promotion or award of high school credits.

    If the IEP Team determines that a student with a disability is prevented by a "circumstance" or "condition" as defined in F.S. 1008.212 from physically demonstrating the mastery of skills that have been acquired and are measured by the Statewide standardized assessment, a Statewide standardized end-of-course assessment, or an alternate assessment under F.S. 1008.22(3)(c), the IEP Team may submit to the Superintendent a written request for an extraordinary exemption from the administration of the assessment, pursuant to F.S. 1008.212. The request may be made at any time during the school year, but not later than sixty (60) days before the assessment for which the request is made. The Superintendent will recommend to the Commissioner of Education whether the request should be granted or denied, and the Commissioner will grant or deny the requested exemption within thirty (30) days. A copy of the District's procedural safeguards as required in F.A.C. 6A-6.03311 shall be provided to the parent. If the parent disagrees with the IEP Team's recommendation, the dispute resolution methods described in the procedural safeguards shall be made available to the parent.

    A parent who disagrees with the Commissioner’s denial of a requested extraordinary exemption may request an expedited hearing before DOAH pursuant to F.S. 1008.212.
  6. Right to be Accompanied at Meetings Pertaining to Students with Disabilities

    Parents of students with disabilities, or eligible students with disabilities, may be accompanied by another person of their choice at a meeting with District personnel. Such meetings include, but are not limited to, meetings related to the eligibility for exceptional student education or related services; the development of an individual family support plan (IFSP); the development of an individual education plan (IEP); the development of a 504 accommodation plan issued under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; the transition of a student from early intervention services to other services; the development of postsecondary goals for a student with a disability and the transition services needed to reach those goals; and other issues that may affect the student's educational environment, discipline, or placement of a student with a disability.

    District personnel will not object to the attendance of such adult or discourage or attempt to discourage through any action, statement, or other means, parents or an eligible student, from inviting another person of their choice to attend a meeting. Parents, eligible students, or other individuals invited to attend such meetings by parents of students with disabilities or eligible students with disabilities on school grounds shall sign-in at the front office of such school as a guest.

    Parents of students with disabilities, or eligible students with disabilities, and District personnel shall sign Form 5780 F1 at the meeting's conclusion which states whether or not any District personnel have prohibited, discouraged or attempted discourage the parents, or eligible student, from inviting a person of their choice to the meeting pertaining to their child's, or their own, educational environment, placement, or discipline.
  7. Early Literacy Skills for Retained Prekindergarten Students

    A parent of a student with a disability who is enrolled in prekindergarten at the age of 4 and is fully funded through the Florida Education Finance Program may retain their child in consultation with the student's IEP team. A student with an IEP who has been retained pursuant to this paragraph and has demonstrated a substantial deficiency in early literacy skills shall receive instruction from the District in early literacy skills.
  8. Transfer of Parental Rights at Age of Majority

    Unless an exception applies under the rules of the State Board of Education, when a student with a disability reaches the age of eighteen (18), the right of prior written notice is retained as a shared right of the parent and the student. All other parent rights under the IDEA then transfer to the student.      At least one (1) year before the student reaches the age of eighteen (18), the Board will provide  information and instruction to the student and the student's parent/legal guardian(s) on self-determination and the legal rights and responsibilities regarding the educational decisions that transfer o to the student upon attaining the age of eighteen (18). The information and instruction will include written notice that the rights afforded t the parents under Part B of the IDEA transfer to the student at age eighteen (18) except in specified circumstances referenced in F.A.C. 6A-6.03311, a description of the rights that transfer to the student, and the ways in which the parent/legal guardian may continue to participate in educational decisions, including:
     
    1. informed consent to grant permission to access confidential records protected under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) as provided in F.S. 1002.22;
    2. powers of attorney as provided in F.S. Chapter 709;
    3. guardian advocacy as provided in F.S. 393.12;
    4. guardianship as provided in F.S. Chapter 744; and,
    5. supported decision-making agreements as provided in F.S. 709.2209.

Placement by the Department of Children and Family Services

After the Department of Children and Family Services provides written notification to the District that a student with a disability has been placed in a private residential care facility located within the District, the District shall, within ten (10) days, review the student's IEP and shall:

  1. provide educational instruction to the student; or

  2. contract with another provider to provide the educational instruction; or

  3. contract with the private residential care facility in which the student resides to provide the educational instruction; or

  4. decline to provide or contract for educational instruction, in which case the school district in which the legal residence of the student is located shall provide or contract for the educational instruction of the student.

The Superintendent shall administer the local implementation of these State procedures, in accordance with State and Federal laws, rules, and regulations, which shall ensure fulfillment of this policy.

Revised 12/13/11
Revised 7/22/14
Revised 3/12/24
Revised 10/15/24
Revised 4/22/25

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