STATEMENT OF RIGHTS FOR PRIVATE SCHOOL/
HOME SCHOOLING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES
If you are a parent of a child with disabilities, or suspect that your child may
have a disability that is covered by state or federal special education laws,
and your child is in a private school or an approved home schooling program, you
have the following rights:
A. A parent/guardian has the right to have his/her child located, identified and
evaluated by Moosabec CSD as a possible special
education student, including
referral of the student to a Pupil Evaluation Team (PET) to determine whether
the student qualifies as a
special education student. Moosabec CSD’s child find
and referral obligations toward the student while he/she is in a private
school/home school program are the same as for students enrolled in public
school, as described in Paragraph 3 of IHBAC “Child
Find” policy.
B. Students with disabilities enrolled in private schools or in home schooling
programs do not have an individual right to special education
and related
services while enrolled in the private school or home schooling program.
C. Moosabec CSD has an obligation to consult with representatives of private
school and home schooling students with disabilities on how
to carry out Moosabec CSD’s duty to locate, identify and evaluate all private school/home
schooling students with disabilities and also
to consult in a timely way on:
1. Which students will receive services;
2. What services will be provided;
3. How and where the services will be provided; and
4. How the services will be evaluated.
D. Moosabec CSD has a duty to expend on the pool of identified private
school/home schooling students with disabilities an amount at
least equal to the
percentage of federal special education dollars received by Moosabec CSD as that
group of students represents of
the overall number of special education
students.
E. Moosabec CSD shall make the final decisions with respect to the services to
be provided to eligible private school/home schooling
students with
disabilities.
F. For any private school/home schooling student with a disability that Moosabec
CSD decides that it will provide services, Moosabec
CSD shall initiate and
conduct a meeting of the PET to develop, review and revise a services plan
detailing the special education and
related services to be provided and
including goals for measuring the outcome of such services. To the extent
appropriate, the Team
shall develop the services plan in a manner consistent
with development of an Individualized Education Program.
G. Parents may file a complaint with the Maine Department of Education, Division
of Special Services (624- 6650) alleging that
Moosabec CSD has failed to comply
with any of its obligations toward private school/home schooling students.
Parents have a right to
a due process hearing from the Maine Department of
Education only on issues relating to Moosabec CSD’s duty to locate, identify and
evaluate all private school/home schooling students with disabilities.
H. As a resident of Jonesport/Beals, the parent/guardian has a right to enroll
his/her child in the local public school. If at any time the parent
chooses to
do so and his/her child is a student with a disability, the PET will meet to
review and/or develop an IEP for implementation
upon enrollment of the child in
public school. If the child is enrolled in public school, the parent/guardian
and his/her child are entitled to
all the rights set forth in Moosabec CSD’s
attached special education Statement of Rights.
I. If a parent would like a complete copy of the state and federal regulations
addressing the duties of Moosabec CSD toward private
school/home schooling
students with disabilities, please contact the special education office at Moosabec CSD or the Maine Department
of Education, Division of Special Services
(624-6650). If a parent has any concerns about his/her child, please address
those concerns
in writing to:
Director of Special Education
139 Snare Creek Lane
Jonesport, ME 04649
or telephone the Director of Special Education at 497-2882. Questions may also
be addressed to the Maine Department of Education, Division of Special Services,
at 624-6650.
Legal Reference: 20 U.S.C. § 1412(a)(10)
34 CFR § 300.450-.462 (March 1999)
Me. Dept. of Ed. Reg. Ch. 101 § 4.7 (Nov 1999)
DATE ADOPTED: JULY 1, 2003