IDEA Public Notice
Defiance City Schools receives IDEA, Part B fund allocations administered through the Office of Exceptional Children, Ohio Department of Education. These federal dollars are made available under the provision of Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Entitlements are based upon the number of resident children with disabilities, age 3 through 21, who are provided appropriate special education programs by the school district.
The district is required to provide notice of a public hearing in which the public will be able to provide comment on how the district plans to spend its IDEA funds on a yearly basis. These hearings typically are held in May of each year. Public notice of the hearing will be provided through the local newspaper. This notice will include the time, date, and location of the hearing.
CHILD FIND
In accordance with federal law, the District assumes responsibility for the location, identification and evaluation of all children birth through age 21 who reside within the district and who require special education and related services. This includes students who are:
(1) Advancing from grade to grade;
(2) Enrolled by their parents in private elementary or private secondary schools, including religious schools, located in our District (regardless of the severity of their disability);
(3) Wards of the state and children who are highly mobile, such as migrant and homeless children; and
(4) Home-schooled.
FREE APPROPRIATE PUBLIC EDUCATION (FAPE)
The District ensures that a free appropriate public education (FAPE) is made available to all children with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21 in accordance with IDEA and the Operating Standards.
LEAST RESTRICTIVE ENVIRONMENT (LRE)
Defiance City Schools ensures that, to the maximum extent appropriate, children with disabilities, including children in public or nonpublic institutions or other care facilities, are educated with children who are nondisabled. Placement of students with disabilities in special classes, separate schooling or other removal from the regular educational environment occurs only if the nature or severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplementary aids and services, modifications and/or accommodations cannot be achieved satisfactorily. The Defiance City School District ensures that a continuum of alternative placements is available to meet the needs of children with disabilities for special education and related services in the least restrictive environment (LRE). A child with a disability is not removed from education in age-appropriate regular classrooms solely because of needed modifications in the general education curriculum.