Special Education

Child Find activities are implemented through the early Intervention Teams. LCPS strives to identify students with disabilities in order to serve students in need of special education. We provide special education services to students ages two (2) to twenty-one (21), inclusive of those who reside within Louisa County. If you suspect a child to have a disability who is not receiving services but may need services, please contact the school or Carla Alpern at (540) 894-5115.

The Child Study Committee in each school addresses the needs of individual children who are having difficulty in educational settings. The committees review data to make recommendations and review the results of implemented recommendations. The committees may refer children for evaluation for special education. Evaluation procedures for special education eligibility are designed to identify the existence of disabilities as defined in federal and state guidelines. Services include programs in each school that meet federal and state regulations related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Louisa County Public Schools provides comprehensive services to students with disabilities between the ages of 2 to 21 in their Least Restrictive Environment. Support and related services are provided, as needed, to assist a student with a disability in benefitting from a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). FAPE refers to "specialized instruction" that:

  • Is provided at the public expense, under public supervision and direction, and without charge
  • Meets the standards of the Virginia Board of Education
  • Includes preschool, elementary school, middle school, or high school education; and
  • Meets the unique needs of a child with a disability, including instruction conducted in a classroom, in the home, in hospitals, in institutions, and in other settings and instruction in physical education

"Specially designed instruction" means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible child, the content, methodology or delivery of instruction.

"Special education" means specially designed instruction, which also may include related services if it meets the requirements of the definition of special education for that child's Individualized Education Program.

Students can receive special education services if they have been identified with autism, deaf-blindness, deafness, developmental delay, emotional disability, hearing impairment, intellectual disabilities, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech/language impairment, traumatic brain injury, or visual impairment.

The special education process includes five steps, each one building on the one before. The steps include:

1. Referral
2. Evaluation
3. Determination of eligibility
4. Development of an individualized education program (IEP) and determination of needed services.
5. Reevaluation/Triennial

We want to know what you think. Please click here and take our Special Education Parent Advisory Council Survey.

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