Ozark City Schools are committed to teaching ALL students. The Special Education program is designed to offer services and support to students who have been identified as having a disability according to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). If you know of a child with a disability, or suspect that a child has a disability, please contact the Special Education Department at 774-5197. Services are provided for students who qualify from ages 3 to 21.
The Special Education process begins with a referral. Anyone with knowledge or suspicion of a child having a disability can make the referral. Once the referral is made, the parents are contacted to come to the school for a meeting. At the meeting school personnel and the parents/guardians can consider if the student should be referred to the BBSST (see more about this process in another section on this page). Often interventions are put into place by the BBSST and completing the Special Education referral is not necessary. However, if interventions by the BBSST are not successful the parent/guardian will be asked to attend a referral meeting.
In the referral meeting the parents’ rights and the Special Education process will be explained. We will discuss your concerns and our concerns regarding the student and we will make recommendation on whether or not to proceed with testing. If the decision is made to continue with the evaluation, we will obtain the parent/guardian written consent for testing.
Testing is completed by the psychometrists, Special Education teacher and other teachers as appropriate. The type of testing to be completed is determined by the areas of concern named on the referral. The testing is usually completed at school. Once the testing is completed the parents/guardians are called back to the school to discuss the results and to be a part of the Eligibility team that determines whether or not the child is eligible for Special Education services. If it is determined that the child meets the criteria for one of the areas of disability and that the child requires specially designed instruction because of their disability, then an Individual Education Program (IEP) is written for the student. The IEP is written by the IEP team which includes at least the parents/guardians, Special Education teacher, general education teacher and an administrator or other school system representative. This IEP spells out the specific services that are being offered to the child. At this point, the parents/guardians have the right to accept or decline these services. If accepted the parents/guardians are asked to sign a consent form which gives the school system permission to provide the services to the student.
Each year the IEP is rewritten for the next year. In those annual meetings of the IEP team the progress of the student is discussed and a new IEP is proposed for the upcoming year. Again, we ask input from all members of the IEP team (parents/guardians, general education teachers, special education teachers, administrators, etc.). Anyone on the IEP team can request a meeting more often that once a year. The IEP team can make changes in the IEP at any time
Every three years, and more often if necessary, we will completely re-evaluate the student to measure progress and to make sure that the student still qualifies for services. Of course, the parents/guardians are involved in the re-evaluation process.
There are thirteen (13) areas of disability for which services are offered. These areas are: autism, deaf-blindness, developmentally delayed, emotionally disturbance, hearing impairment, mental retardation, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disabilities, speech and language impairment, traumatic brain injury and visual impairment. We also provide services to students who are identified as gifted. Information about the gifted program is written in another area of this page.
Special education services are provided in a variety of locations. We go to the Head Start Center, daycare facilities and homes for preschool age students. Within the school setting services may be provided in the general education classroom, a special education resource room or a combination of both. We also offer services to eligible students who attend a private school within our attendance zone, regardless of where the child lives. Those services are more limited than services provided for public school students.