ANNUAL NOTICE TO PARENTS
I. NON-DISCRIMINATION
POLICY
To comply with Federal Laws
(including Title IX of Education Amendments of 1972), and Section 504 of the
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Amendments of 1974, State Laws, the State
Department of Education Regulations concerning Equal Rights and Opportunities,
and to assure their implementation, the Wayne Highlands School District
declares itself to be an Equal Opportunity Education Institution, and will not
discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap or
limited English proficiency in its activities, programs or employment
practices.
For information regarding Civil
Rights or Grievances Procedures, please contact Samuel R. Tallo, Title IX Coordinator,
at
TITLE IX POLICY STATEMENT
The
For information regarding civil
rights or grievance procedures, contact Samuel R. Tallo, Title IX Coordinator,
II. NOTIFICATION OF RIGHTS UNDER FERPA
The Family Educational Rights
and Privacy Act (FERPA) affords parents and students over 18
years of age (“eligible students”) certain rights with respect to the student’s
education records. These rights are:
(1)
The right to inspect and review
the student’s education records within 45 days of the day the School receives a
request for access.
Parents or eligible students should submit to the School principal a written request that
identifies the record(s) they wish to inspect.
The School
official will make arrangements for access and notify
the parent or eligible student of the time and place where the records may be
inspected.
(2)
The right to
request the amendment of the student’s academic education records that the
parent or eligible student believes are inaccurate, misleading, or otherwise
in violation of the student’s privacy rights under FERPA.
Parents or eligible students who
wish to ask the school to amend a record should write the School principal,
clearly identify the part of the record they want changed, and specify why it should
be changed. If the School decides not to
amend the record as requested by the parent or eligible student, the School
will notify the parent or eligible student of the decision and advise them of
their right to a hearing regarding the request for amendment. Additional information regarding the hearing
procedures will be provided to the parent or eligible student when notified of
the right to a hearing.
(3)
The right to consent to
disclosures of personally identifiable information contained in the student’s
education records, except to the extent that FERPA authorizes disclosure
without consent.
One exception, which permits disclosure without
consent, is disclosure to school officials with legitimate educational
interests. A school official is a person
employed by the School as an administrator, supervisor, instructor, or support
staff member; a person serving on the School Board; a person or company with
whom the School has contracted as its agent to provide a service instead of
using its own employees or committee, or assisting another school official in
performing his or her tasks. A school
official has a legitimate educational interest if the official needs to review
an education record in order to fulfill his or her professional responsibility.
(4)
The right to file a complaint
with the U.S. Department of Education concerning alleged failures by the
Family Policy Compliance Office
NOTICE FOR DIRECTORY INFORMATION
The
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), a Federal law, requires
that Wayne Highlands School District, with certain exceptions, obtain your
written consent prior to the disclosure of personally identifiable information
from your child's education records. However,
. A playbill, showing your student's role
in a drama production;
. The annual yearbook;
. Honor roll or other recognition lists;
. Graduation programs; and
. Sports activity sheets, such as for
wrestling, showing weight and height of team
members
Directory information, which is
information that is generally not considered harmful or an invasion of privacy
if released, can also be disclosed to outside organizations without a parent's
prior written consent. Outside organizations include, but are not limited to,
companies that manufacture class rings or publish yearbooks. In addition, two
federal laws require local educational agencies (LEAs)
receiving assistance under the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA) to provide military recruiters,
upon request, with three directory information categories - names, addresses
and telephone listings - unless parents have advised the LEA that they do not
want their student's information disclosed without their prior written consent.
If you do not want the
PPRA affords parents certain rights regarding our conduct of
surveys, collection and use of information for marketing purposes, and certain
physical exams. These include the right to:
Consent before
students are required to submit to a survey that concerns one or more of the
following protected areas ("protected information survey") if the
survey is funded in whole or in part by a program of the U. S. Department of
Education (ED)-
1. Political
affiliations or beliefs of the student or student's parent;
2. Mental or psychological problems of the student or
student's family;
3. Sex behavior or attitudes;
4. Illegal, anti-social, self-incriminating, or demeaning
behavior,
5. Critical appraisals
of others with whom respondents have close family
relationships;
6. Legally recognized privileged relationships, such as
with lawyers, doctors, or
ministers;
7. Religious practices, affiliations, or
beliefs of the student or parents; or
8. Income, other than as required by law to
determine program eligibility.
Receive notice
and an opportunity to opt a student out of-
1. Any other protected information survey
regardless of funding;
2. Any non-emergency, invasive physical
exam or screening required as a
condition
of attendance, administered by the school or its agent, and not
necessary
to protect the immediate health and safety of a student, except for
hearing,
vision or scoliosis screenings, or any physical exam or screening
permitted
or required under State law; and
3. Activities involving collection,
disclosure, or use of personal information
obtained from students for marketing or to sell or otherwise
distribute the
information to
others.
Inspect, upon request
and before administration or use-
l.
Protected information surveys of students;
2. Instruments used to collect personal
information from students for any of the
above marketing,
sales, or other distribution purposes; and
3. Instructional material used as part of
the educational curriculum.
These rights transfer from the parents to a student who is 18
years old or an emancipated minor under State law.
The Wayne Highlands School District has
developed and adopted Policy (#235) in consultation with parents, regarding
these rights, as well as arrangements to protect student privacy in the
administration of protected information surveys and the collection, disclosure,
or use of personal information for marketing, sales, or other distribution
purposes. The
. Collection, disclosure, or use of personal information for
marketing, sales or other
distribution.
. Administration of any protected information survey not funded in
whole or in part by
Department
of Education.
. Any non-emergency, invasive physical examination or screening as
described above.
Parents who believe their rights have been violated may file a
complaint with:
Family Policy
Compliance Office
U. S. Department
of Education
Washington, D.
C. 20202-5920
CONSENT/OPT-OUT FOR SPECIFIC ACTIVITIES
The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment
(PPRA), 20 U. S. C. section 1232h, requires
1. Political
affiliations or beliefs of the student or student's parent;
2. Mental or
psychological problems of the student or student's family;
3. Sex
behavior or attitudes;
4. Illegal,
anti-social, self - incriminating, or demeaning behavior;
5. Critical
appraisals of others with whom respondents have close family
relationships;
6. Legally
recognized privileged relationships, such as with lawyers, doctors, or
ministers;
7. Religious
practices, affiliations, or beliefs of the student or parents; or
8. Income,
other than as required by law to determine program eligibility.
This requirement also applies to the
collection, disclosure or use of student information for marketing purposes
("marketing surveys"), and certain physical exams and screenings.
If you wish to review any survey
instrument or instructional material used in connection with any protected
information or marketing survey, please submit a request to the school
principal. The principal will notify you of the time and place where you may
review these materials. You have the right to review a survey and/or
instructional materials before the survey is administered to a student.
Parents’ Right
to Know Regulations
200.61
The
NCLB requires:
• Increased accountability for states
and school districts.
• Greater choice for parents, especially
those in low performing schools.
• Greater flexibility for state and local
education agencies in the use of
federal funding.
Under NCLB, parents have a right to
request professional qualifications of their children’s teacher(s) or
paraprofessional(s). This letter is to
inform you of your right to ask for the following information about your
children’s classroom teachers or paraprofessionals:
• Whether
subjects he
or she teaches.
• Whether the teacher is teaching under
emergency or other provisional
status through which
• The teacher’s baccalaureate degree
major and whether the teacher has
any advance degrees,
and if so, the subject of the degrees.
• Whether the child is provided services
by paraprofessionals and, if so,
their qualifications.
If you would like to receive specific
information about your child’s teacher or paraprofessional, please contact your
school principal Our district is fully
committed to the success of your child.
We appreciate your partnership in our efforts to provide the best
education for your child.
FOR THE 2008-09 SCHOOL
YEAR
During
the 2008-09 school year, the
In the
elementary grades and middle grades, the 4Sight Assessment in Math and
Tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade students
will also be eligible to take the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test which
will be given on October 15h and the Scholastic Aptitude Test which
is scheduled for October 4h, November 1st, March
14th and June 6th. Finally, students in grades eleven and twelve
will be able to volunteer to take the Armed Services Vocational Battery of
tests on October 14th.
For
more information on the District's testing program, contact any of the District
Principals, or the Assistant Superintendent, Mr. Samuel R. Tallo.
As
part of the
Portions
of the funding will be used to further train those faculty members who
volunteer to serve on the Student Assistance Program. This program, designed to identify and help
students with problems, is in its 18th year of operation and teams
are in place in all schools.
Additionally, funding will help the district purchase state-of-the-art
curriculum materials to be used in classrooms for the teaching on a variety of
topics designed to teach students about alcohol and drug use. Special counseling services are also funded
as part of the grant. These services
include the employment of a Crisis Intervention Counselor, services provided by
the Wayne County Drug and Alcohol Commission which is the single county
authority on alcohol and other drug prevention and intervention. Taken in total, the district believes that
its comprehensive approach best serves in the challenges to discourage alcohol
and other drug use and to intervene with those students who are experiencing
special problems.
DIRECTORY
INFORMATION POLICY OF
Parents
of students or eligible students will be given the opportunity to notify the
school in writing on a yearly basis of their wish to not be included in the
release of directory information. This notification must be renewed in writing to the individual
building principal wherein the student is enrolled on a yearly basis. Directory information includes information
relating to the student as follows: the
student's name, date and place of birth, major field of study, participation of
officially recognized activities and sports, weight and height of members of
athletic teams, dates of attendance, degrees and awards received, the most
recent previous school attended by the student, homeroom lists released to
local newspapers, e-mail address, photograph and other similar information.
SPECIAL EDUCATION
II. SPECIAL EDUCATION
Potential Indicators that a child may have a
disability that warrants an evaluation under IDEA include, but are not limited
to, difficulty with the following:
·
Academic performance in school (
·
Understanding and following
directions
·
Paying attention and remaining
focused on a task or topic
·
Controlling impulsive behaviors
·
Communicating with others
(Speaking, Carrying on Conversations)
·
Solving problems
·
Understanding social rules and
body language
·
Remembering things
·
Expressing need and/or wants
·
Maintaining positive
relationships with peers and adults
·
Physical movement
·
Independent living and/or
self-help skills
Source: Department
of Health and Human Services
Centers
for Disease Control Prevention
EARLY INTERVENTION
Early Intervention Classes, for
children ages 3-5, is operated through the Wayne County Consortium. These classes run for 2 ½ hours per day, four days
per week. The purpose of the class is to
assist students with a developmental delay.
It provides them with developmentally appropriate activities to
strengthen their skills. Eligibility for
this program is based upon a multi-disciplinary evaluation. For further information on this program, please
contact the Early Intervention Coordinator at (570) 937-3710.
DEVELOPMENTAL DELAYS
Skills such as taking a first
step, smiling for the first time, and waving “bye bye”
area called developmental milestones.
Children reach milestones in playing, learning, speaking, behaving, and
moving (crawling, walking, etc). A
developmental delay is when your child does not reach these milestones at the
same time as other children the same age.
Source: Department
of Health and Human Services
Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
STUDENT RECORDS ACCESS
POLICY
The
1. The right to inspect, review or copy education records includes:
i. The right of a parent
to request of and receive from the educational agency a reasonable explanation
of information contained in the education records of the child.
ii. The right of a parent to be provided,
on request, with a copy of all or part of the education records of the child.
iii. The right of a parent to designate a representative who will inspect, review or copy the records.
2. If a parent requests copies of
education records from the
3. A parent has the right to request a
list of the types and the location of the child's education records collected,
maintained or utilized by the
4. At the discretion of the
Special. Ed. - Student Records Access
Policy-(Continued)
i. Their oral requests
to inspect, review, copy or receive copies of education records
ii. Their oral designations of a
representative
iii. Their oral requests for a list.
5. If an education record includes
information on more than one child, the parents of those children have the
right to inspect and review only the information relating to their child or to
be informed of that specific information.
i. A parent has the
right to copy from or receive a copy of an education record originally
containing information on more than one child.
ii. Prior to the parent copying or
receiving a copy of a record on more than one child, the agency shall delete,
remove or obscure from the record or its copy personally identifiable
information concerning any child who is not the child of the parent.
Student
access rights. Whenever a student has attained 18 years of
age or is attending an institution or postsecondary education, the rights
accorded to and the consent required of the parent of the student shall
thereafter be accorded to and required of only the student.
Programs
for Eligible or Protected Handicapped Students
In compliance with state and
federal law, notice is hereby given by the
1. Autism
2. Blindness or visual impairment
3. Deafness or hearing impairment
4. Developmental delay
5. Mentally gifted
6. Mental retardation
7. Multiple Disabilities
8. Traumatic Brain Injury
9. Other health impairments
10. Orthopedic Impairment
11. Serious emotional disturbance
12. Specific learning disability
13. Speech and language impairment
If you believe that your
school-age child may be in need of special education services and related
programs, or your young child (age 3 to school age) may be in need of
early intervention, screening and evaluation processes designed to assess the
needs of the child and his/her eligibility is available to you at no cost, upon
written request. You may request
screening and evaluation at any time, whether or not your child is enrolled in
the District’s public school program.
Requests for evaluation and screening are to be made in writing to Mrs.
Amanda Kerna-Wayne Highlands School District -
Programs for Eligible or
Protected Handicapped Students
In compliance with state and
federal law, the school district will provide to each protected handicapped
student without discrimination or cost to the student or family, those related
aids, services or accommodations which are needed to provide equal opportunity
to participate in and obtain the benefits of the school program and
extracurricular activities to the maximum extent appropriate to the student’s
abilities. In order to qualify as a
protected handicapped student, the child must be school age with a physical or
mental disability, which substantially limits or prohibits participation in or
access to an aspect of the school program.
These services and protections for protected handicapped students are
distinct from those applicable to all eligible or exceptional students enrolled
(or seeking enrollment) in special education programs.
For further information on the
rights of parents and children, provision of services, evaluation and screening
(including purpose, time and location), and rights to due process procedures,
you may contact, in writing, the person listed above or any building principal.
Confidentiality: All information gathered about your child is subject to
the confidentiality provisions contained in federal and state law. The District has policies and procedures in
effect governing the collection, maintenance, destruction and disclosure to
third parties of this information. For
information about these policies and procedures, as well as rights of
confidentiality and access to educational records, you may contact, in writing,
the person named above or any building principal.
The
All students in grades 9-12 who attend the