Referral & Evaluation Process
Roanoke Rapids Grade School District has procedures in place to ensure that the district identifies, locates, and evaluates all children residing in the county with suspected disabilities who may be in need of special education and related services. This includes all children ages 3 to 21 who:
attend public or private schools;
are home schooled;
are advancing from grade to grade; and/or
are homeless, wards of the state, or highly mobile (migrant) children.
Child find activities implemented in RRGSD include screening and general education intervention.
A screening process, which may lead to a more comprehensive assessment for children ages 3 through 5, is provided through the system's Preschool Exceptional Children's program, which is located at Clara Hearne Early Childhood Center. Parents can obtain additional information about this process by contacting Shelley Williams, Preschool Director/Pre-K EC Coordinator.
A general education problem-solving intervention process for children in kindergarten through grade 12 is provided at each school site via individual Problem Solving Team. These teams work on behalf of children who are experiencing academic, behavior/emotional, functional, or medical concerns that may be significantly impacting their access to the general curriculum or school activities. These teams work with families and school staff to develop plans that support students' needs so that they can be successful in the general education curriculum and school setting. While working with students, the teams collect data which is then used to determine if a student may need to be referred for a comprehensive evaluation.
Parents who suspect that their child has a disability may request to have their child evaluated. If the parent has difficulty placing their request in writing, school staff may assist. Upon making a request for an evaluation, an IEP team will convene to review the request and make a determination with regard to whether an evaluation is warranted based on a review of existing data.
In the event the district is notified that a child is a student with a suspected disability, the district is obligated to respond within 10 days. In RRGSD this response will include convening an IEP team to complete a Special Education referral meeting for the student, at which time all existing data will be reviewed to make a one of the following determinations:
whether to determine eligibility based solely on existing data;
conduct an evaluation; or
no evaluation will be conducted based on the review of existing information. The special education process ceases.
