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ANNUAL NOTICE TO PARENTS REGARDING CHILD IDENTIFICATION, LOCATION, SCREENING & EVALUATION OF STUDENTS WITHIN GRANT COUNTY UNDER THE INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION IMPROVEMENT ACT (IDEA 2004)

LOCAL RESPONSIBILITY

This notice is to inform parents of the local responsibilities of local school districts within Grant County for child identification, location, and evaluation activities to be conducted throughout the school year, in collaboration with other public agencies and community resources.

Each District must locate and identify children with established or suspected disability conditions, regardless of the severity of the disabilities. Child identification efforts include individuals with disabilities, aged 5 through 21 years, not enrolled in school, as well as those who attend public and private schools, Head Start, State institutions, other child care or treatment facilities.

The requirements for child find also apply to all children who are suspected of being a child with a disability and in need of special education and related services, even though they are advancing from grade to grade. Highly mobile children with disabilities, such as migrant and homeless children, must be included in child find activities.

Grant County districts conduct child identification, location, and evaluation activities by providing public awareness, information dissemination through cooperative efforts with local, regional, and statewide public and private entities, including coordination with the Grant County Educational Service District, as well as the InterMountain ESD Early Childhood Special Education program under Part C of the IDEA for children who will be transitioning by their 5th birthday.

CONFIDENTIALITY DURING CHILD FIND

Any personally identifiable information collected and maintained as part of the child identification, location, screening, referral, and evaluation process by the local districts are subject to the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). The local districts annually publish a notice of rights concerning personally identifiable information in combination with this child find notice via a separate legal notice in the local newspaper. In addition to the legal notice of rights under FERPA, the local district websites maintain this information year round.

The local school districts collect "personally identifiable information" to identify, locate, screen, and evaluate children with suspected disabilities during child find. "Personally identifiable information" includes: the name of the child, the child's parent, or other family members; the address of the child; a personal identifier, such as the child's social security number or student number; or a list of personal characteristics or other information that would make it possible to identify the child with reasonable certainty.

The local districts also maintain a record of the number of referrals, evaluations, and children identified as eligible as a child with a disability within each eligibility category, in accordance with annual child count procedures required by federal and State requirements. However, State and Federal child count data are collected and reported utilizing the identification of disability categories. The Federal child count data collection is reported to the State (ODE) on an annual basis. The collection and use of child find data are subject to the confidentiality requirements under IDEA and FERPA. Any "personally identifiable information" collected, stored, disclosed, retained, or destroyed by the local districts is maintained in accordance with the FERPA, IDEA, and the Oregon Administrative Rules and the local district Board Policies & Administrative Rules.

Parents and eligible students are afforded certain protections regarding "personally identifiable information" under FERPA & IDEA, which include the rights to:

  • inspect and review the child's education records
  • seek amendment of the child's education records that the parents or eligible children believe to be inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise in violation of the child's privacy rights
  • consent to disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the child’s education records, except to the extent that FERPA and 34 CFR § 99.31 authorized disclosure without consent; and file with the Family Policy Compliance Office, United States Department of Education (USDE), a complaint under 34 CFR §§ 99.63 and 99.64 concerning alleged failures by the local district to comply with the requirements of FERPA.

CHILD FIND CONTACT INFORMATION

For additional information regarding child find activities or to refer a child aged 5-21 years, with an established or suspected disability condition who may be in need of special education and related services, contact the local school district, or visit http://www.imesd.k12.or.us/programs-services/early-intervention/forms for children birth to 5 years of age.