Puente de Hózhó Bilingual Magnet School Special Needs Policy 2020/2021

Puente de Hózhó's Vision and Mission

Our vision and mission are to build a “bridge of beauty” between speakers and learners of Diné (Navajo), Spanish, and English and empower children to be multicultural and multilingual stewards of the world. 

International Baccalaureate Mission Statement 

The International Baccalaureate Organization aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural understanding and respect. To this end, the IBO works with schools, governments, and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment. These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.

Philosophy

It is the philosophy of Puente de Hózhó that every student, including those with needs and disabilities, has the right to a high-quality, learner-centered IB education and deserves to be as equally valued and respected as his/her peers. Every child has the capacity to learn in an inclusive, supportive, and stimulating environment. With these aspects, our school will assist all students in their progression to reach their full potential. The philosophy of Puente de Hózhó endorses the International Baccalaureate’s policy which reads, “The IB believes that all candidates should be allowed to demonstrate their ability under assessment conditions that are as fair as possible. Where standard assessment conditions could put a candidate with special education needs at a disadvantage by preventing him or her from demonstrating his or her level of attainment, special arrangements may be authorized. This policy applies to candidates affected by a temporary, long-term or permanent disability or illness, including candidates with a learning difficulty.” 

Principles

Our school has been trained in DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity) and therefore we are fully inclusive regarding all students in terms of ethnicity, socio-economic status, and academic ability. Our aim is to provide a world-class education to all, and we aspire to foster caring, reflective, self-sufficient individuals who will become productive members of society.

FLAGSTAFF UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT BOARD-ADOPTED POSITION STATEMENT ON EDUCATING STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES 

IN THE LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT 

Exceptional Student Services is the umbrella under which students with special needs are served. Students fall into many different special education categories, ranging from emotional disabilities to physical disabilities to speech therapy needs and all stages in between.

Exceptional Student Services includes the following:

• Special Education
• Assistive Technology
• Occupational and Physical Therapy
• Preschool
• Psychology
• Speech Therapy

It is the belief of this school district that students with disabilities should receive educational services in the general education environment in their neighborhood schools with chronological age peers to the greatest extent appropriate, consistent with federal and state regulations. 

Special education is not a "place," but includes an array of services and service delivery options. Students' individual needs, academic and social, should be carefully considered when making service and service delivery decisions. More restrictive settings should be considered only if the individual needs of students with disabilities cannot be appropriately met in the general education setting, as determined by the Individual Educational Planning Team. 

The district must ensure that a full continuum of service delivery options is available which can meet the needs of all students. This continuum should range from full inclusion in the general education environment with the provision of supplementary aids and services to out-of-district residential programs. In order to assure that appropriate educational opportunities can be provided for all students within the district, delivery systems and staff development needs should be reviewed on an ongoing basis. 

Decisions regarding education in the least restrictive environment for students with disabilities can only occur when parents are full partners in the educational planning process, and when efforts are coordinated with outside agencies who also provide services to students with disabilities and their families. 

The Board believes that the provision of service delivery in both general and special education classrooms, with increased collaboration between general and special educators, contributes to maximizing educational opportunities for all students. 

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)

Procedures developed provide educational opportunities for individuals with disabilities and accomplish district compliance with federal laws including the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Arizona revised statutes, and the lawful regulations of the State Board of Education. Such procedures shall include, but are not limited to, the following provisions:

• All children with disabilities aged birth (0) through twenty-one (21) years within the district’s jurisdiction are to be identified, located, and evaluated.  (Child Find) 

• A free and appropriate public education (FAPE) shall be available to all children with disabilities aged three (3) through twenty-one (21) years within the District’s jurisdiction, including children advancing from grade to grade, those who have been suspended or expelled from school in accordance with the applicable IDEA rules and regulations, and any child with a disability the district has placed in or referred to a private school or facility. The district may refer to, and contract with, approved public or private agencies as necessary to ensure the provision of FAPE for children with disabilities. FAPE for an eligible student with a disability may extend through the conclusion of the instructional year during which the student attains the age of twenty-two (22). 

• A full individual evaluation encompassing existing and collecting additional data shall be conducted for each child to determine if the child is a child with a disability and the educational needs of the child before the initial provision of special education and related services. A reevaluation of each child shall be conducted at least every third year.
• An individualized education program (IEP) shall be developed and implemented for each eligible child served by the district and for each eligible child the district places in or refers to a private school or facility. An IEP will be in place for each child with a disability prior to the provision of FAPE. 

• To the maximum extent appropriate, opportunities for the least restrictive setting, inclusion in educational exercises with general education students, and for interaction within the total school environment will be provided to exceptional students, the exception to be only when the student’s condition, with supplementary aids and services, make such regular class education unsatisfactory. 

• All required procedural safeguards must be guaranteed to the exceptional students and their parents. The parents will be provided with notices of procedural safeguards in each specified instance and all due process conditions will be satisfied with respect to the provision of a free appropriate public education. 

• The district shall follow the established state and federal standards to protect the confidentiality of personally identifiable information at the collection, storage, disclosure, and destruction stages. 

• To the extent essential to provide FAPE to children with disabilities aged three (3) through twenty-one (21), extended school year (ESY) services shall be made available and implemented as necessary. 

• The discipline of exceptional students, and unevaluated students suspected of having a qualifying disability, is to be conducted in such a manner as to comply with FAPE and requirements of the IDEA. 

Child Find 

The Exceptional Student Services Department (ESS) of the Flagstaff Unified School District (FUSD) provides a full range of services for students who have learning needs that lie outside the usual range of instructional differentiation provided in general education classrooms.

Do you know a child who you suspect may have a disability or has trouble with any of the following? 

• Seeing people or objects
• Hearing voices or other sounds
• Talking, or is hard to understand when they do talk
• Moving, especially when crawling, walking, or running
• Playing or getting along with children or adults
• Interacting appropriately with others

If you answered yes to one or more of these statements, FUSD can provide screenings for special services for all qualified children, ages 3 to 21, who reside in our district boundaries, including migrant and homeless students, wards of the state, and private- and home-schooled students, in the following ways:  

• For school-age children, ages 5-21, who currently attend an FUSD school, contact the child’s school administrator.
• For children ages 3-5, and whose 5^th birthday is after August 31 and are not eligible for kindergarten, contact the FUSD Preschool Evaluation Team at 928.527.4148 or hmitchell@fusd1.org.
• For children younger than 3 years, services are available through the Arizona Early Intervention Program (AzEIP) at 928.779.1679. 

Additional Resources

Arizona Department of Education – Child Find

Arizona Department of Economic Security, Early Intervention Program – AzEIP

FERPA (Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act

The following guidance provides eligible students with general information about the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This document is a compilation and update of various letters and guidance documents previously issued that respond to a variety of questions about FERPA. While this guidance reflects our best and most current interpretation of applicable FERPA requirements, it does not supersede the statute or regulations. We will attempt to update this document from time to time in response to questions and concerns.

FERPA is a Federal law that is administered by the Family Policy Compliance Office (Office) in the U.S. Department of Education (Department). 20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99. FERPA applies to all educational agencies and institutions (e.g., schools) that receive funding under any program administered by the Department. Parochial and private schools at the elementary and secondary levels generally do not receive such funding and are, therefore, not subject to FERPA. Private postsecondary schools, however, generally do receive such funding and are subject to FERPA.

Once a student reaches 18 years of age or attends a postsecondary institution, he or she becomes an "eligible student," and all rights formerly given to parents under FERPA transfer to the student. The eligible student has the right to have access to his or her education records, the right to seek to have the records amended, the right to have control over the disclosure of personally identifiable information from the records (except in certain circumstances specified in the FERPA regulations, some of which are discussed below), and the right to file a complaint with the Department. The term "education records" is defined as those records that contain information directly related to a student and which are maintained by an educational agency or institution or by a party acting for the agency or institution.

FERPA generally prohibits the improper disclosure of personally identifiable information derived from education records. Thus, information that an official obtained through personal knowledge or observation, or has heard orally from others, is not protected under FERPA. This remains applicable even if education records exist which contain that information, unless the official had an official role in deciding that generated a protected education record.

Under FERPA, a school is not generally required to maintain particular education records or education records that contain specific information. Rather, a school is required to provide certain privacy protections for those education records that it does maintain. Also, unless there is an outstanding request by an eligible student to inspect and review education records, FERPA permits the school to destroy such records without notice to the student.

INCLUSION

We believe in the potential of every child.  

Children are the world’s greatest assets, and we are committed to the holistic development of every child regardless of actual or presupposed obstacles. We acknowledge the direct connection between teacher expectations and the fulfillment of student potential, and we fully embrace the challenge to maximize the social, emotional, academic, linguistic, and cultural growth of all our children.  

Diversity is our foundation. 

We believe in the power of diversity in American pluralism and democracy, and we believe diversity is an academic asset for staff, students, and families. and communities.  Because Puente de Hózhó is predicated on the premise that diversity, inclusion, understanding, love, and mutual respect are inherently good, we are committed to explicitly teaching those values to our students.  Consequently, we aim to affirm students’ cultural identity, explore other cultures and cultural issues, and develop a multicultural and pluralistic vision of the world.

Inclusion is the practice of educating all students together, students with disabilities and students without, regardless of their abilities of readiness. It is more than placing students with disabilities in a room with their peers without disabilities. With true inclusion, students with disabilities can access the general education curriculum, classrooms, and typical school activities. Rather than having the student go to a segregated setting for specialized instruction and support, the student receives these supports in the general education setting.

1. Inclusion is:

• All students learning together regardless of labels
• An atmosphere that promotes a sense of belonging, equality, acceptance, and individual worth

Collaborative, integrated services by education teams

• Supports and adaptations within the general education curriculum, and settings
• Highly-effective research-based instruction and assessment

2. For Students with Disabilities, Inclusion Will:

• Improve social and communication skills
• Increase academic achievement
• Allow participation in more school activities
• Foster the development of relationships with peers without disabilities

3. For Students without Disabilities Will:

• Learn more from the strategies used to support students with disabilities
• Learn to understand, value, and advocate for people who have disabilities

Educators will become more skilled in teaching all students and learn to share responsibilities for educating all students.

International Baccalaureate Principles: These principles are taken directly from Candidates with Special Assessment Needs (IBO, 2011).  

1.1 The IB must ensure that a grade awarded to a candidate in any subject is not a misleading description of that candidate’s level of attainment, so the same standards of assessment are applied to all candidates, regardless of whether or not they have special needs.  

1.2 Special arrangements are intended to reduce the adverse effects of a candidate’s special needs when demonstrating his or her level of attainment. The special arrangements requested for a candidate must not give that candidate an advantage in any assessment component. 

1.3 The special arrangements described in this document are intended for candidates with the intellectual capacity to meet all assessment requirements leading to the award of the diploma or certificates. 

1.4 The school, not the IB, is responsible for establishing whether the Diploma Programme can be taught and assessed. Advice may be sought from IB Cardiff (sen@ibo.org) before a school accepts a student with special needs; however, this advice is restricted to the implications for internal and external assessment and does not extend to teaching methods and resources. 

1.5 If it can be demonstrated that a candidate’s lack of proficiency in his or her response language(s) (English, French or Spanish) arises from a diagnosed need, special arrangements may be authorized. (For subjects in groups 3 to 6, all candidates are allowed to use a translating dictionary in the written examinations.) 

1.6 The IB aims to authorize special arrangements that are compatible with those normally available to the candidate concerned. However, authorization will only be given for arrangements that are consistent with the policy and practice of the IB. It should not be assumed that the IB will necessarily agree to the arrangements requested by a school. Coordinators are required to provide information on both the candidate’s usual method of working in the classroom and under assessment conditions. 

1.7 The IB is committed to an education philosophy based on international mindedness. Therefore, the special assessment needs policy of the IB may not reflect the standard 

practice of any one country. To achieve equity among candidates with special assessment needs, the policy represents the result of a consideration of accepted practice in different countries. 

1.8 The IB will ensure that, wherever possible, arrangements for candidates with a similar type of need are the same. Given that cultural differences occur in the recognition of learning issues and the accommodations allowed, some compromise may be necessary to help ensure compatibility between candidates in different countries. 

1.9 If special assessment arrangements are necessary for a candidate, consultation with the IB is mandatory. Similarly, if a Diploma Programme candidate has difficulties meeting the requirements for creativity, action, service (CAS), the appropriate IB regional office must be consulted. Any exceptions are stated in this document. However, a school may provide any kind of special arrangement for a candidate during his or her Diploma Programme or trial (practice) examinations. 

1.10 A school must not inform an examiner of a candidate’s condition or adverse circumstance. Similarly, in the case of internally assessed work, teachers must not make any adjustment when marking a candidate’s work. If appropriate, the IB will ensure that reasonable adjustments are considered. 

1.11 The IB treats all information about a candidate as confidential. If required, information will only be shared with appropriate IB personnel and members of the final award committee, who will be instructed to treat such information as confidential. 

1.12 If special arrangements are authorized for internal assessment, the IB may require the candidate’s work to be submitted to IB Cardiff for scrutiny. 

1.13 The list of special arrangements available is revised regularly. The IB will consider alternative arrangements proposed by a coordinator, provided those arrangements could be made available to all other similarly affected candidates.

Responsibilities of the School: 

• The Special Education Department will ensure the specialists follow all federal and local laws regarding special education students and their needs. 
• The school will make staff aware of the needs of our exceptional students. 
• Resources will be provided to all stakeholders for the implementation and of the Special Education Needs Policy. 
• The Program Specialist will provide teachers and necessary staff members with IEP’s and 504 plan documentation. 
• School counselors and Program Specialists will provide updates to faculty as needed and hold necessary meetings for IEP and 504 reviews. 

 Responsibilities of the Teachers and Staff: 

• Teachers and staff will comply with all federal and local laws regarding special education needs. 
• Classroom teachers will identify learners who are not performing at grade level and refer those students to the Program Specialist. 
• Academic interventions will be provided by the Program Specialist. 
• Differentiated instructions will be provided to students with an IEP or 504 Plan.
• Discretion and confidentiality guidelines will be adhered to. 

Responsibilities of the Parent: 

• Parents will be urged to play an active role in their child’s education. 
• Parents will be educated about their child’s rights. 
• It will be requested of the parent to provide documentation regarding their child’s special education needs and any changes that arise. 

The school will facilitate the provision of appropriate accommodations as outlined by WCS Special Education Services and IB guidelines for Candidates with Assessment Access Requirements.

Revision

In August of each school year, the team of specialists at Puente de Hózhó will evaluate the appropriateness and effectiveness of the Special Needs Policy and make revisions and updates to the policy when Arizona State Statutes are released and the beginning of each school year. 

Bibliography

Assessment Policy, Franklin High School, Williamson County Schools, May 2017. 

Candidates with Assessment Access Requirements, IBO, 2014. 

Candidates with Special Assessment Needs, IBO, 2011.

Learning Diversity in the International Baccaluareate Programmes, IBO, 2010. 

Meeting Student Learning Diversity in the Classroom, IBO, 2013.