Special Services and Support
Child Find Process
Child Find Process and Confidentiality Rights (FERPA)
A Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) must be available to all children with disabilities. Destinations Career Academy of Oregon (Destinations) strives to identify, locate, and evaluate all enrolled children who may have disabilities as defined by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act or by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Section 504 defines a student with a disability as any student who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Disability, as stated in IDEA, includes such conditions as hearing, visual, speech, or language impairment, specific learning disability, emotional disturbance, cognitive disability, other health or physical impairment, autism, and traumatic brain injury. The process of identifying, locating, and evaluating these children is referred to as Child Find.
Destinations regards gifted students as diverse learners who require a rigorous academic experience geared toward their individual needs. With intense focus on building robust and competitive skills for global success, Destinations has a specialized learning program that seeks to serve talented and gifted (TAG) students.
As a public school, we will respond vigorously to federal and state mandates requiring the provision of a Free Appropriate Public Education regardless of a child's disability or the severity of the disability. In order to comply with the Child Find requirements, Destinations shall have procedures in place to ensure that all children with disabilities—including children with disabilities who are homeless children or are wards of the state, and children with disabilities regardless of the severity of their disability, and who are in need of special education and related services—are identified, located, and evaluated.
Parent/Guardian permission and involvement is a vital piece in the process. Once a child has been identified as having a "suspected disability" or identified as having a disability, Destinations will ask for information about the child such as:
How has the suspected disability or identified disability hindered the student’s learning?
What has been done, educationally, to address the student’s learning needs?
What educational or medical information relative to the suspected disability or identified disability is available to be shared with the school?
This information may be obtained from the student, his or her parents, present or former teachers, therapists, doctors, or from other agencies that have information about the student.
All information collected will be held in strict confidence and released to others only with parental permission or as allowed by law. In keeping with this confidence, Destinations will keep a record of all persons who review confidential information. Parents have the right to review their child's records per state mandate.
As part of the Child Find process, some services may include a complete evaluation, an individualized education program designed specifically for the child, and a referral to other agencies providing special services.
We are committed to meeting the needs of children with disabilities.
Destinations Career Academy of Oregon accepts referrals, as per Child Find provisions, from any source that suspects a child may be eligible for special education and related services per 71 Fed. Reg. 46636 (August 14, 2006). If you or someone you know has a suspected disability, please contact Assistant Special Programs Academic Administrator, Mary Blazer at mblazer@K12.com.
Procedural Rights and Safeguards
The Destinations Career Academy of Oregon follows federal and state guidelines to provide a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) to students eligible for special education services under the supervision of the school’s special education department. If you have questions regarding special education services, contact the Assistant Special Programs Academic Administrator, Mary Blazer at mblazer@K12.com.
Dispute Resolution
Disputes that are resolved at the local level may preserve and even strengthen the relationship between the school and the parent. While the parent always has the right to request mediation or a due process hearing and will always be informed of this right, many times issues can be resolved at a less intense level as system personnel and parents seek mutual understanding and agreement. The following five (5) step process will be used to resolve problems before they grow to the level requiring mediation or a due process hearing:
- Step One: Contact the assigned Special Education teacher or Assistant Special Programs Academic Administrator, Mary Blazer at mblazer@K12.com via email and/or by phone at 541.903.0180.
- Step Two: Hold an IEP team meeting to discuss the concerns of the IEP team members.
- Step Three: If Step Two is unsuccessful, contact Online Oregon Schools Head of School via email and/or by phone at mhausmann@k12.com.
- Step Four: If Step Three is unsuccessful, contact the regional special education manager via email at TBall@k12.com.
- Step Five: If Step Four does not resolve the matter, the Oregon Department of Education, Division of Special Education may be reached to set up the mediation.
Although the goal should always be to resolve disputes at the local level, sometimes situations require the assistance of persons not directly involved with the issues at hand.
