The Moon Area School District is responsible for locating, identifying and educating school-aged students requiring special programs or services. If anyone in the community is aware of a child who is in need of special services and/or programs, please notify the Moon Area School District Director of Pupil Services Ashley Beeson at 412-264-9440 (ext. 1114).
The district as prescribed by section 1402 of the school code, routinely conducts screenings of a child’s hearing (kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 7th, and 11th grade), visual acuity (every year beginning with kindergarten), Body Mass Index screening (kindergarten through 12th grade), and screening for speech and language skills (when a referral is made by parent, teacher, or Child Study Team).
Gross motor and fine-motor skills, academic skills, and social and/or emotional skills are assessed by classroom teachers and support staff on an ongoing basis. Screening activities include review of group-based data, such as cumulative enrollment and health records, report cards, and ability and achievement test scores. Identified needs from these screening sources as well as information obtained from parents and outside agencies, are assessed and noted within student records. These school records are always open and available to parents, and only to school officials who have a legitimate “need to know” information about the child. Information from the records is released to other persons or agencies only with appropriate authorization, which involves written permission by parents. Parents who have concerns regarding their student may contact building principals at any time to request a screening or evaluation of their child. Communication with parents and exceptional students shall be in English or the native language of the parents.
If appropriate, screening information will be used by the Child Study Team within the student’s school to meet his/her specific needs or to document the need for further evaluation.
If it is determined that a child needs additional services, the screening team will make adjustments relative to such things as the child’s learning style, behavior, physical inabilities, and speech problems to be more in keeping with traditional classroom expectancies. Parents are encouraged to be actively involved in the planning and implementation of intervention strategies. If a student does not make expected progress with this assistance, the team can revise the intervention plan or refer the student for a multidisciplinary evaluation (MDE). Parents must provide written informed consent before any evaluations can be completed. The purpose of the MDE is to establish the student’s eligibility and need for special education and/or related services.
After all of the evaluations are completed, an Evaluation Report (ER) will be compiled with parent involvement and include specific recommendations for the types of intervention necessary to deal with the child’s specified needs. When the ER is completed, in accordance with state regulations, a meeting of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team will be scheduled with parent involvement in order to develop a plan for the student who has been found to be eligible for and in need of special education services. Parents of students who suspect that their child is exceptional and in need of special education may request a multidisciplinary team evaluation (MDE) for their child by making a written request to the building principal. Information about early intervention, parent rights, mediation, due process procedures, specific special education services and programs offered by the district and the district’s educational records policy are available upon request from the building principal in each building.
Further information about these procedures may be obtained by contacting Ashley Beeson, Pupil Services Director, at 412-264-9440 (ext. 1114).