Special Education

Special education has been a federally mandated program to serve educationally disabled children, ages 3 to 21, since passage of Public Law 94-142, also known as the Equal Education for the Handicapped Act in 1975, and preauthorized and re-titled in 1990 as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). As a result of this mandate, the St. Vrain Valley School District (SVVSD) presently provides education services for students identified as having mild to profound disabilities.

The identification of an educational disability and the necessary services to be provided to address the student’s needs is a function of a “staffing” process.  The staffing involves parents, school administrators, regular education teacher(s), special education personnel and the student when appropriate. An Individual Education Plan (IEP) for the student is developed by the staffing team and reviewed yearly with modification made if needed.

It is SVVSD’s philosophy that students with disabilities should be educated with their peers in their neighborhood school unless their needs are better addressed through a more specialized educational environment. St. Vrain offers a continuum of services delivered by special education staff members ranging from consultation with regular education teachers to varying amounts of direct services to students with disabilities depending on need. These support services are provided through building level special education staff and itinerated related service providers (i.e. speech/language, occupational therapists, etc.)