• Special Education

    The Central Greene School District Department of Special Education Office is located at:
     
    Central Greene School District
    Waynesburg Central Elementary School 
    Department of Special Education
    90 Zimmerman Drive
    Waynesburg, PA 15370

     

    SPECIAL EDUCATION OFFICE PERSONNEL

    Director of Special Education, Mrs. Edith Woods

    Phone: 724-627-3081 ext. 4285

    Special Education Secretary, Mrs. Kimberly Pierson

    Phone: 724-627-3081 ext. 4285

    The Central Greene School District offers special education services to students with disabilities in a variety of service delivery options. These services are described below:

    Special Education Links

    Intermediate Unit #1

    PA Department of Education-Special Education

    PA Code Chapter 14. Special Education Services & Programs

     

    Inclusive Practices

    Programs and services are provided at Central Greene School District so that students who require special education can access the general education curriculum.  Inclusive practices are employed by the District.  The Individualized Education Program team determines appropriate services to access the curriculum. The team is comprised of the parents, the director of special education, a regular education teacher and a special education teacher.  Students may receive modifications and adaptations to ensure access to the curriculum.  Students participate with their non-disabled peers as often as possible and receive a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment. Students who require intensive services have access to all special education programs provided by the District.

    Central Greene School District assures that students with disabilities are included in general education programs and extracurricular activities to the maximum extent appropriate in accordance with an Individualized Education program.  In addition, the District complies with the Pennsylvania Department of Education and Bureau of Special Education’s report revision and notice process.

    District Operated Programs
    Types of Special Education Supports

    • Learning Support - Provides academic support
    • Emotional Support - Provides academic as well as social, emotional and behavioral support (within the Regular Education or Learning Support Classroom setting)
    • Life Skills Support- Provides academic and functional support
    • Speech and Language Support - Provides support to students who have difficulty with articulation, fluency, voice or language


    Levels of Intervention

    The district operates full-time, supplemental, and itinerant level classes in a variety of settings. The designation of a classroom is dependent on the average amount of time most students spend in special education. The student’s IEP and not the type of classroom determine the amount of time a student is seen by a special education teacher.  The following indicate the level of intervention provided in the various classrooms:

    • Itinerant - 80% or more in a regular  education classroom (IT)
    • Supplemental - 40% to  79% in a regular education classroom (SUP)
    • Full-Time -  Less than 40% in a regular education classroom  (FT)


    Location of Special Education Services  

    Waynesburg Central High School

    • Learning Support Classes - Itinerant & Supplemental
    • Life Skills Classes- Itinerant, Supplemental, and Self-contained
    • Emotional Support- Itinerant & Supplemental (within the Regular Education or Learning Support Classroom setting)
    • Vocational Training through Greene County Career and Technical Center (GCCTC)

    Margaret Bell Miller Middle School

    • Learning Support Classes - Itinerant & Supplemental
    • Emotional Support- Itinerant & Supplemental (within the Regular Education or Learning Support Classroom setting)

    Waynesburg Central Elementary School

    • Learning Support Classes - Itinerant & Supplemental
    • Life Skills Classes- Itinerant, Supplemental, and Self-contained
    • Emotional Support- Itinerant & Supplemental (within the Regular Education or Learning Support Classroom setting)

     

    Intermediate Unit #1 Programs and Services

    Intermediate units are regional educational service agencies created by the Pennsylvania State Legislature in 1970 to provide support to local school districts, to expand educational services and to provide cost savings to tax payers by eliminating service redundancy and taking advantage of economy of scale.
     
    Intermediate Unit #1 serves Washington, Greene, and Fayette Counties to include twenty-five school districts and five Career and Technology Centers under the direct supervision of its board of directors and central administration.
     
    Central Greene School District utilizes the Intermediate Unit #1 to provide services for students with severe disabilities.  The classes operated by the Intermediate Unit are located in school districts throughout the three counties.  IU #1 Audiology Services are provided directly to the student at the student's home school. 
     
    Services available at various locations in and out of the District
    • Life Skills Support – for children whose greatest need is to learn functional skills that will allow them to live and work independent of their families.
    • Deaf and Hard of Hearing Support – for children who require assistance with hearing problems.
    • Physical Support – for children who need programs that consider their physical disabilities.
    • Multi-handicapped Support – for children with more than one disability, the combination of which results in needs requiring many services and much support.
    • Blind & Vision Support - for children with limited or no vision.
    • Occupational Therapy - therapy to improve fine motor skills.
    • Physical Therapy- therapy to improve gross motor skills.

     

    Signs Indicating That Your Child May Need Special Education Services

    A child may need special help to make progress in school that is not normally needed by other children in the regular education classrooms. Your child may be exceptional if they have a physical, sensory, mental or emotional disability and need special education as determined by  an individualized Education (IEP) Team. Children who are determined exceptional have a right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE).
     
    Some indicators that your child may be a child with a disability include:
    • Difficulty in academic subjects
    • Receiving failing grades
    • Repeating a grade
    • Exhibition of a serious emotional disturbance over a long period of time which affects your child’s ability to learn
    • Consistent problems with getting along with others
    • Difficulty communicating
    • Lack of interest or ability in age-appropriate activities
    • Resistance to change
    • Difficulty seeing or hearing that interferes with the ability to communicate
    • Health problems that affect educational performance

     

    How to Make A Referral

    If you believe that your child is in need of special help in order to make progress in school that is not normally needed by other children, contact your child's principal, guidance counselor or the Supervisor of Special Education at (724) 62703981. Waynesburg Central Elementary Schools are beginning to utilize the Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and your child's teacher, guidance counselor or principal  can provide you with information on this helpful process.
     
    All requests for evaluations must be made in writing. District forms are available through the guidance office at your child’s school. A signed Permission to Evaluate form is required in order to begin the evaluation/re-evaluation process. 
     
    Office hours are 8:00 AM—3:00 PM, Monday—Friday.  All information will be kept confidential. Upon request, evaluations and/or tests will be given to you in your child’s native language or mode of communication unless it is clearly not feasible to do so.
     

     

    Independent Educational Evaluation (IEE)

    The parents of a child with a disability have the right under the Federal IDEA to obtain an independent educational evaluation at public expense if the parent disagrees with an evaluation obtained by the school district. There is a limit of only one IEE at public expense each time the District conducts an evaluation with which the parents disagree.

    The school district has the right to initiate a hearing to show that its evaluation is appropriate.

    At all times, the school district will meet with the parents to gather information in an effort to resolve the disagreement. To help resolve this issue, the district will do the following:
    1. Ask the parent to put the request for an IEE in writing and to include:
      1. Child’s name
      2. Child’s school
      3. Reason for request (optional)
      4. Name of evaluator (if the parent has one)
    2. Respond in writing within 10 days if receipt of a written request
      1. Provide a list of independent evaluators for parents to use, or
      2. Approve the parent’s evaluator, or
      3. Request a meeting to further discuss the request
    3. Criteria for Independent Educational Evaluator
      1. The evaluator must be a Certified School Psychologist
      2. The psychologist must be independent of the family, i.e. cannot be a close friend or family member and
      3. The psychologist must be independent of the district, i.e., cannot be a current or former employee of the district.