Students Requiring Special Services
Under federal and state statutes, children requiring special education are those children who have one or more of the following disabilities, which adversely affect their educational performance and who therefore require specially designed instruction: autism, deaf-blindness, hearing impairment, learning disabilities, intellectual disability, multiple disability, orthopedically impairment, other health impairment, emotional disturbance, speech/language impairment, visual impairment/blindness, traumatic brain injury, developmental delay. Special education is available to preschool children who have attained the age of three years and whose degree and type of disability, based on the evaluation by the Planning and Placement Team, is such that the absence of special education will impair the child's educational development to the extent that it is unlikely that the child will be able to make satisfactory educational progress when the child attains school age.
The term special education means specially designed instruction, special classes, programs and services, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability.
Philosophy
The Rocky Hill Board of Education is responsible for providing a free, appropriate public education for all students including those students with disabilities ages three to twenty-one. The Department of Pupil Services, in coordination with each building principal, is responsible for the overall referral, identification and programming for children and youth with disabilities who require special education instruction and related special services.
The Rocky Hill Public School system is committed to educating students with disabilities in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE). This means, to the maximum extent appropriate, students with disabilities are educated with students who are not disabled and in their neighborhood schools. It also means that special classes, separate schooling or other removal of students with disabilities occurs only when the nature and severity of the disability is such that education in regular classes with the use of supplemental aids and services cannot be achieved satisfactorily.
Procedural Safeguards in Special Education
These documents explain the specific rights and responsibilities of the parent in the special education process.
Parental Notification of Procedural Safeguards - English (2021)
Parental Notification of Procedural Safeguards - Spanish (2021)