Copiah County School District seeking disabled children
The Copiah County School District is participating in an ongoing statewide effort to identify, locate, and evaluate children birth through age 21 that have a physical, mental, communicative and/or emotional disability.
The Child Find Contact Person implements child identification, location and evaluation of children birth through 21 who are disabled, regardless of the severity of their disabilities, and who are in need of special education and/or related services. The Child Find Director works with the local Head Start, Human Services, Health and Mental Health agencies, as well as local education agencies, and physicians, and other individuals to identify and locate children out of school and in school who may be in need of special education services.
Once a referral is made, it is the responsibility of the Child Find Contact Person to insure that the process to determine the need for special education services is implemented correctly. The Contact Person works with the Teacher Support teams at each school to implement this procedure. If a child is of school age, the child’s teacher and school must develop and implement research-based instructional interventions to address the learning difficulties. If the difficulties still exist after this implementation, parents are invited to participate in a meeting with District personnel to review all gathered data to determine if a disability is suspected and if special education eligibility should be pursued.
Prior to an evaluation, parents are given a copy of Procedural Safeguards. District personnel explain and insure that the parents understand the Procedural Safeguards. After written parental consent for testing is obtained, a nondiscriminatory evaluation is conducted by qualified personnel. If a student is ruled eligible for special education services, parents are notified and an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) is developed to outline the specific needs of the student. Parents, teacher(s), the student (when appropriate), and other appropriate personnel participate in this process.
All students receiving special education services are reevaluated at least every three years and their IEPs are reviewed/revised at least annually. The Copiah County School District currently offers special education services at of the school sites in the district.
Contact Jerri Jones, Child Find Contact Person for the Copiah County School District, if you know of any children who may have a disability by calling or writing to her at the following telephone number or address: 601-894-5294, 254 West Gallatin Street, Hazlehurst, MS 39083
