outh Fayette
SOUTH FAYETTE TOWNSHIP SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS
62 SOUTH FAYETTE
( 1 ) Performs an institutional service or function for which the agency or institution would otherwise use employees ;
( 2 ) Is under the direct control of the agency or institution with respect to the use and maintenance of education records ; and
( 3 ) Is subject to the requirements of § 99.33 ( a ) governing the use and redisclosure of personally identifiable information from education records .
( ii ) An educational agency or institution must use reasonable methods to ensure that school officials obtain access to only those education records in which they have legitimate educational interests . An educational agency or institution that does not use physical or technological access controls must ensure that its administrative policy for controlling access to education records is effective and that it remains in compliance with the legitimate educational interest requirement .
When providing records to authorized third parties , the District will make a reasonable attempt to notify the parent / guardian ( s ) of the student or the eligible student of the transfer of the records at the last known address of the parent ( s )/ guardian ( s ) or eligible student . Per state law , the District will not provide any notice of transfer of records of a student to a school in which a student seeks or intends to enroll .
The District maintains student records in a locked storage room located at South Fayette High School . This storage room contains special education student records , gifted education student records , student health records , 504 Student Service Plan records , etc . Current original special education records with psychological records are maintained in the Department of Pupil Personnel . All district records of students ( K-12 ) who were evaluated by the school psychologist ( s ) and found not to be non-exceptional are kept and are secured in the school ( s )’ offices . All records are kept in a secure location and access to files is limited .
PLEASE NOTE : SOUTH FAYETTE TOWNSHIP SCHOOL BOARD POLICY 216 PROVIDES RESIDENT STUDENTS AND THEIR PARENTS WITH NOTICE THAT THE DISTRICT MAY DESTROY RECORDS UNDER THE FOLLOWING CIRCUMSTANCES AND TIMELINES : a . Records that include a student ’ s name , address , grades , attendance records , classes attended , grade level completed and year completed may be destroyed once 100 years have passed since the student ’ s 24th birthday . b . Special Education records , Section 504 records , Instructional Support Team ( IST ) records , and health records may be destroyed once 10 years have passed from the date a student has graduated or reached graduation age ( if exiting the district before graduation ) as long as there is no outstanding request to inspect and review the records and the records are no longer deemed useful to the school district . c . Notice of destruction of these records is provided annually via this publication . Educational records of a student are longer needed by the District to provide educational services at the end of one year following a student ’ s graduation from the District . A parent / guardian may submit a written request for the destruction of all education records at that time . d . Destruction will proceed where parents or eligible students have not requested copies by November 1st of the year the records may be destroyed as per paragraphs A & B above . Parents or students over eighteen have the right to request a copy of their record before destruction .
Parents are reminded that copies of the records might be needed for the acquisition of Social Security benefits or for other purposes . Amendment of Education Records : A Parent / guardian or eligible student has the right to request amendment of a student ’ s educational file if it is believed that any information is inaccurate , or in violation of a student ’ s rights . The educational agency shall decide within a reasonable time whether to amend the record . If the school district decides not to amend the educational record it shall notify the parent / student of the right to and arrange an informal hearing . The hearing will be conducted by an official of the District without an interest in the outcome , who will be either the Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum , Instruction and Assessment or their designee . The parent may present relevant evidence . The District will issue a written decision based on the hearing .
Informal inquiries may be sent to : ferpa @ ed . gov or ppra @ ed . gov . The website address is : www . ed . gov / policy / gen / guide / fpcd
Complaints regarding violation of rights accorded parent ( s )/ guardian ( s ) and eligible students with respect to student records are to be submitted to Director of Pupil Personnel , South Fayette Township School District , at 3660 Old Oakdale Road , McDonald , PA , 15057-3544 , in writing . All Complaints will be investigated and responded to in writing within a reasonable period of time . If complaints cannot be satisfactorily resolved by the District , complaints can be filed with the following Family Policy Compliance Office U . S . Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue , SW Washington , D . C . 20202-4605 Questions regarding the above information or requests for a copy of the records policy may be referred to : Director of Pupil Personnel , South Fayette Township School District , 3660 Old Oakdale Road , McDonald , PA 15057-3544 .
SCREENING AND EVALUATION
The South Fayette Township School District employs the following procedures for locating , identifying and evaluating the needs of school age students who may require special education programs and / or services . These procedures , as required by state regulation , are as follows :
As prescribed by Section 1402 of the Pennsylvania school code , the district routinely conducts health screenings for kindergarten ( K ) through 12th grade students and new students without history of recent exams : Vision ( Gr . K-12 ); Hearing ( Gr . K , 3 , 7 and 11 and any student with a known history of hearing loss ); Mandated Physical Exams ( Gr . K , 6 , and 11 ); Dental Screenings ( Gr . K , 1 , 3 , and 7 ); Scoliosis Screening ( Gr . 6 , 7 ) and Body Mass Index ( BMI ) screening ( Gr . K-12 ). Also , school nurses provide vision and hearing screenings for students who are referred for an evaluation or re-evaluation regarding Chapter 14 / Individualized Education Plan ( IEP ) special education services and Chapter 15 / 504 Student Services Plan accommodations .
Speech and language skills are screened in kindergarten and on a referral basis by speech clinicians .
Gross-motor and fine-motor skills , academic and socialemotional skills are assessed by the teachers and support staff . Screening activities include : review of group-based data such as cumulative enrollment and health records , report cards and academic skills scores . Identified needs from these screening sources , as well as information obtained from parents and outside agencies , is assessed , noted within the student ’ s record and discussed with parents .
South Fayette Township School District has intervention / prevention teams in place to support students as a pre-referral system . At the elementary school ( K-2 ) and the intermediate school ( 3-4-5 ), a child study team has been established as part of the pre-referral intervention process . The team consists of principals , guidance counselor , regular education teachers , reading specialists , school psychologist when needed and special education staff when needed . Parents are also part of this process and are contacted and strongly encouraged to participate in all phases of the child study team process . The Child Study Team assists teachers and parents with supporting students who are experiencing academic , behavioral , medical , emotional and social skills difficulties .
Also at the elementary school , the Kindergarten Express classrooms in kindergarten and the Reading Achievement classrooms in first and second grades provide students with research-evidenced based reading instruction . These classrooms provide intensive reading instruction for students that are considered below basic or basic . Our reading specialists and paraeducators have received intensive instruction on the reading process and have been trained to provide explicit and systematic instruction . Research-evidence based instruction include phonemic awareness activities , word building , syllasearch , developing vocabulary through Isabel Beck ’ s model of robust vocabulary instruction , Questioning the Author strategy , Text Talk strategy , chunking text , “ What are you thinking ?” strategy , scrolling , character mapping , and color coding text .
Kindergarten students are screened using the Early Screening Profile from American Guidance Service during our kindergarten registration . Students identified as lacking readiness skills are placed in the Kindergarten Express classroom for half a day and the regular kindergarten classroom the other half . Students receive intensive instruction with a reading specialist and paraeducator . Instruction includes activities focusing on phonemic awareness , letter recognition and sounds , decoding ( word building ), sight word recognition , reading decodable text , and comprehension .
All first grade through fifth grade students ( elementary and intermediate schools ) are assessed using the assessments from the Reading Achievement Center at the beginning of each school year . Students are assessed on sight word recognition , decoding pseudo words , fluency , and comprehension . Students scoring below basic are placed in the Reading Achievement classroom at the beginning of the school year . Students scoring basic are either placed in the Reading Achievement classroom or monitored in the regular reading classroom . Placement of these students is determined by the degree of reading deficiency . Basic students not placed in the Reading Achievement classroom are monitored closely with reading strategies implemented in the regular reading classroom . If these students do not progress , they will be placed in the Reading Achievement classroom for intensive reading instruction . Each Reading Achievement classroom contains eighteen students .
The Reading Achievement classrooms in first grade through fifth grade ( elementary and intermediate buildings ) provide intensive small group instruction for the entire language arts block . Students rotate in groups among a reading specialist , classroom teacher , and a paraeducator in first and second grade . Students in third , fourth and fifth grades also rotate in small groups of six among a reading specialist and a classroom teacher . Students are provided intensive instruction in phonemic awareness , decoding ( word building and syllasearch ), vocabulary development , fluency , and comprehension strategies . Students are given numerous opportunities to apply these reading strategies to reading various types of text . Materials used in the Reading Achievement classrooms were developed by Harcourt Journeys , and the Allegheny Intermediate Unit Reading Specialists / Consultants . Students are routinely assessed on decoding , vocabulary , fluency , and comprehension to monitor their progress .
The intermediate building has an after school math program as well . This initiative was developed to provide instructional support to students in the 3rd , 4th , and 5th grade math curriculum at the intermediate school . Students are selected by assessment scores and teachers recommendations . This program is formatted to meet the individual needs of the students by providing small group instruction twice a week . Lesson plans are the direct result of data taken from the PSSA and curriculum-based assessments from both the third and fourth grade math programs . Also , included in the lesson plan is instruction in the PSSA format . The students are assessed on a regular basis and parents as contacted as needed .
In the middle school , the Academic Intervention Model ( AIM ) is utilized as the pre-referral intervention process for students who are in need of academic assistance . The AIM process is a team based intervention model . There are collaborative intervention team meetings with the parents to identify targeted interventions related to specific academic skill areas that need to be addressed for the student . Research-based intervention strategies are implemented for a period of time in the regular classroom setting to assist the student in an attempt to foster academic success . An implementation plan is developed and monitored by the student ’ s team of teachers and reviewed and revised if necessary . If it is determined by the team that the interventions are not working and the student is not meeting success , the student may be referred for a multi-disciplinary team evaluation .
The South Fayette Student Assistance Teams ( SAP ) provides additional support used by the district to identify at-risk students . SAP teams are currently in place at the middle and high school levels . SAP is a cooperative effort with parents in utilizing the support staff , students , and community through contracted services with Chartiers MH / MR . It is a proactive prevention / intervention program that attempts to provide intervention before school performance is seriously compromised . The SAP Core Team of individuals are trained in the SAP Model and focus on screening / intervention for student who may be experiencing drug and alcohol , depression , and / or family issues , referrals to appropriate agencies or treatment facilities , aftercare for those returning from treatment , and crisis intervention as needed .
If appropriate , a referral process is initiated at each building level through the Child Study Teams , ACHIEVE Grade Level Teams , Student Assistance Teams ( SAP ), guidance departments , principals or the Department of Pupil Personnel Services . Assessment data is used by the team to meet the student ’ s specific needs by recommending modifications or adaptations to the regular education program , creating interventions to address the problem and monitoring the student ’ s response to intervention , or to document the need for further evaluation .
If it is determined that a student is in need of further evaluation , the student is referred for a multidisciplinary team ( MDT ) evaluation , which requires parent permission and includes parent input . Next , a “ Prior Written Notice for Initial Evaluation and Request for Consent Form ” is issued to the parent to sign giving the school district permission to conduct the evaluation . The school district has 60 calendar days to complete the evaluation . After the evaluation is completed , an evaluation report is prepared which includes specific recommendations for the types of intervention necessary to meet the needs of the student and to determine the child ’ s eligibility for special education services based upon a disability .
When the evaluation report is completed parents are invited if necessary to a multidisciplinary team meeting to review findings and plan for the student ’ s needs . After the MDT evaluation is completed , the parents are given a NOREP , which they sign to indicate their agreement or disagreement with the recommendation .
Parents of students who suspect that their child has a disability and is in need of special education may request an Intervention Team meeting or multidisciplinary team evaluation of their child through a written request to the building principal or Director of Pupil Personnel .
You may find information regarding the appropriate developmental milestone descriptors for infants and toddlers at the Center for Disease Control ( CDC ) website : http :// www . cdc . gov / ncbddd / autism / ActEarly / default . htm For additional information regarding the signs of developmental delays , please contact the Director of Pupil Personnel at 412-221-4542 , Ext . 429 .