Private School Information

The seven school districts in Garland County hold an annual meeting to provide information about special education services to private schools and home school providers.  If you have not been invited to the meeting in the past, and would like to be added to the invitation list, please contact Haley Villines at 501-984-4228.

The information covered in this annual meeting meets the requirements of the regulation below:

Section 1120(b) of the No Child Left Behind Act and Special Education Child Find Regulations require that timely and meaningful consultation occur between the local education agency (LEA) and private school officials prior to any decision that affects the opportunities of eligible private school children, families, teachers, and other educational personnel to participate in programs under this Act and shall continue throughout the implementation and assessment of activities under this section.

The following topics must be discussed during the ongoing consultation process:

∙  How the LEA will identify the needs of eligible private school children.

∙  What services the LEA will offer to eligible private school children.

∙  How and when the LEA will make decisions about the delivery of services.

∙  How, where, and by whom the LEA will provide services to eligible private school children, including a thorough consideration and analysis of the views of the private school officials on the provision of services through a contract with a third-party provider.

∙  How the LEA will assess academically the services to eligible private school children and how the LEA will use the results of that assessment to improve program services.

∙  The size and scope of the equitable services that the LEA will provide to eligible private school children and the proportion of funds that will be allocated to provide these services.

∙  The method or sources of data that the LEA will use under the Title VI-B  program to determine the number of private school children from low income families residing in participating public school attendance areas, including whether the LEA will extrapolate data, if a survey is used.

∙  The equitable services the LEA will provide to teachers and families of participating private school children.

∙  If the LEA disagrees with the views of the private school officials on the provisions of services through a contract, the LEA must provide the private schools the reasons in writing why the LEA chooses not to use a contractor.

Information for Parents Who Home School

It is the policy of the Arkansas State Board of Education that school districts provide a genuine opportunity (see 34 C.F.R. Sec. 76.651(a)) to students with disabilities who are home schooled, as defined in state regulations, to access special education and related services from the district where they reside. This policy is not to be construed as conferring the procedural protections and rights under Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to such students and their parent/guardians.

Districts receive a formula-driven dollar amount to provide special education and related services to eligible homeschooled students. Districts, however, determine how to spend this formula driven funding. Jessieville School District uses its funds to provide a maximum of sixty (60) minutes weekly of speech and occupational therapy to eligible students. If you believe that your child may need special education services or have questions concerning Jessieville School District providing your child’s service needs, please call our office at 501-984-4228.

2017 Private School Meeting Presentation