FAQ

Call the Student Services Office at 706-554-6306.

The Burke County Student Services Department provides Psychological Services and Special Education Services for students with disabilities.

IDEA is the acronym for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, the federal law that requires that children with disabilities receive a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.

After having documented interventions attempted to address a student's academic and/or behavioral problems through the Response to Intervention Process (RTI), the intervention team may make a request for service to the school's Student Support Team (SST) or Tier 3 of the RTI Pyramid of Interventions.

Upon receipt of a referral for a school SST, the student's file is reviewed and consent for evaluation is obtained from the student's parent/guardian if an evaluation is needed.

A student may be eligible for services under one of the following eligibility categories:

• Autism
• Deaf/Blind
• Deaf/Hard of Hearing
• Emotional Behavioral Disorder
• Intellectual Disability (mild, moderate, severe, profound)
• Orthopedic Impairment
• Other Health Impairment
• Significant Developmental Delay (identified ages 3-5)
• Specific Learning Disability
• Speech-Language Impairment
• Traumatic Brain Injury
• Visual Impairment

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) means that a student who has a disability should have the opportunity to be educated with non-disabled peers, to the greatest extent appropriate.

The Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a plan that is developed by the IEP team to meet the individual needs of the eligible student.

If the parent/guardian agrees to the eligibility determination and the IEP, he/she then gives consent for placement and the IEP can be implemented as written.

The team meets at least annually, but more often if necessary, to review and/or revise the IEP.