FULL APPROPRIATE EDUCATIONAL SERVICES
FULL Appropriate Educational Services
The St. Mary Parish School Board has adopted a policy of free, appropriate public education for all exceptional children residing within its jurisdiction. Through its Child Find Program, the Board continues to place a priority on locating, evaluating, and placing eligible exceptional children.
Program Services
Special Educational Services are being offered to all exceptional children from birth to 21 years of age. These include infants with special needs and children who have intellectual disabilities, hearing impairments, autism, multiple disabilities, developmental delays, speech or language impairments, emotional disturbances, learning disabilities, visual impairments, orthopedic impairments, other health impairments, traumatic brain injuries, and who are gifted, and/or talented.
Program models include self‑contained classes, combination classes, resource room services for the disabled and gifted/talented, speech therapy, adapted physical education, preschool classes, infant home‑based program, physical therapy, occupational therapy, extended school year program, hospital homebound instruction, and hearing-impaired services.
Other special educational services/projects include a surrogate parent program, Child Find, Special Olympics, Very Special Arts, community-based instruction, vocational transitional team, and assistive-technology.
For additional information regarding program services, visit the Special Education Department webpages.
Screening Evaluation
If a child is having trouble in school (behavioral, academic, communication, medical needs, etc.) and the parent or teacher requests one, a School Building Level Committee (SBLC) meeting may be scheduled at the school to discuss the concerns. The SBLC is a general education data driven decision making committee. Members include the child's classroom teacher, a parent or legal guardian, an administrator, the SBLC facilitator in the school, and any other persons requested by the school or the parents. The purpose of the SBLC committee is to discuss concerns and to implement or review school-based interventions, designed to address the child's problems. Referrals for Section 504-eligibility consideration are made through SBLC, as are referrals to Pupil Appraisal. All requests for evaluation must be processed through the SBLC.
Parents are notified of the screening and if any further evaluation services are recommended, the parents are asked to sign appropriate permission forms. The law mandates that referrals be processed as quickly as possible, and that no evaluation take more than 60 working days (about 3 months) from receipt of parental permission for the evaluation to be completed.
Students must be evaluated by a multi-disciplinary team and classified as exceptional before special education services can be provided. The evaluation team may be composed of a psychologist, educational diagnostician, speech pathologist, social worker, audiologist, physical therapist, occupational therapist and/or an adapted physical education teacher. Request for screening may come from a parent, teacher, principal, designated school personnel, physicians, or any other professionals interested in the child’s well-being.
If you have any concerns about screening, first call your child's teacher or the SBLC Facilitator at the school your child attends. If you have further questions about the evaluation process, you may contact Bonnie Miller, Coordinator of Pupil Appraisal Services, at (337) 828‑1767 or e-mail bmiller@stmaryk12.net.