Special Education Process

The New Hampshire special education process involves key steps: Referral, Evaluation, Eligibility Determination, IEP Development, Placement, and Ongoing Monitoring, all while ensuring parental rights and participation. Key timelines include a referral meeting within 15 business days, evaluations completed within 60 days of consent, and IEP development within 30 days of eligibility identification, with parents having crucial roles and rights at each stage, including written notice and consent requirements. Key Stages in the NH Special Education Process:

  1. Referral: Anyone, including parents or teachers, can refer a student for suspected educational difficulty; parents must be notified if they didn't make the referral.
  2. Disposition of Referral Meeting: Within 15 business days, the IEP Team (including parents) meets to decide if an evaluation is needed.
  3. Evaluation: With parent consent, the school conducts comprehensive assessments (within 60 days) to see if the child has a disability and needs special education.
  4. Eligibility Determination: The IEP Team reviews evaluation data to determine if the child qualifies for special education services.
  5. IEP Development: If eligible, the team creates an Individualized Education Program (IEP) within 30 days, outlining goals and services.
  6. Placement: The team decides the least restrictive environment (LRE) where the IEP will be implemented.
  7. Annual Review & Re-evaluation: IEPs are reviewed yearly, and eligibility is re-determined every three years.

Important Considerations:

  • Parent Participation: Parents are integral members of the IEP Team and have rights to consent, receive written notice, and request independent evaluations (IEEs).
  • Timelines: Strict deadlines exist for meetings and evaluations, ensuring timely support for the student.
  • FAPE: The goal is to provide a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) in the Least Restrictive Environment (LRE).
Special Education Procedural Safeguards

Children are more likely to succeed when parents and educators work together to develop and achieve educational goals for children with disabilities. Federal and State law provide many opportunities for parents to be involved in the planning and decision making concerning their child’s special education needs. This handbook has been developed to provide parents, adult students with disabilities, educators and others with information about parent/child rights in the special education process. These rights are called “procedural safeguards.” Parents are integral members of the IEP Team. The IEP Team is the group that makes most of the major decisions about a child’s special education needs and services. Parents are full members of the IEP Team.

​Special Education Procedural Safeguards Handbook​

Terms and Acronyms

Common Acronyms Used in the Special Education Process

ADD or ADHD: Attention Deficit Disorder or Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ADR: Alternative Dispute Resolution

BIP: Behavior Intervention Plan – positive behavior interventions & supports incorporated in an IEP

DOE/NH DOE: Department of Education / New Hampshire Department of Education

ESY or ESYP: Extended School Year / Extended School Year Programming – special education and related services provided to a child with a disability in addition to their school year program

FBA: Functional Behavior Assessment – an assessment of a child’s behavior; serves as a foundation for the positive behavioral interventions and supports in a child’s IEP

FAPE: Free Appropriate Public Education – special education in the least restrictive environment for children with disabilities, at public expense and under public supervision, through an IEP

IDEA: Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act – the Federal special education law

IEE: Independent Educational Evaluation – an evaluation conducted by a qualified examiner not employed by the school district

IEP: Individualized Educational Program – the document, developed by the IEP team, which describes the child’s special education program

ISP: Individualized Services Plan - document describing services that an LEA has agreed to provide to a parentally-placed private school child with disabilities (also called a “services plan”)

LEA: Local Education Agency – the local school district

LRE: Least Restrictive Environment

PBIS: Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports

RTI: Response to scientific, research-based intervention – a general education initiative that may also be used as part of an assessment to determine if a child has a specific learning disability

STO: Short-term objective – a component of the IEP (part of a child’s annual goals)

WPN: Written Prior Notice – The document that must be given to parents when the IEP team proposes to initiate or change, or refuses to initiate or change, the identification, evaluation or placement of a child.

The WPN is to be given after the decision is made, but before the change is put into effect. It must include:

1. A description of the action (what) proposed or refused by the Team;

2. An explanation of why the Team proposes or refuses to take the action;

3. A description of any other options that the Team considered and the reasons why those options were rejected;

4. A description of each evaluation procedure, test, record, or report (document) the Team used as a basis for the proposed or refused action;

5. A description of any other factors that are relevant to the Team’s proposal or refusal;

6. A statement that the parents of a child with a disability have protection under the procedural safeguards of this part of the regulations and, if this notice is not an initial referral for evaluation, how a copy of a description of the procedural safeguards can be obtained; and

7. Resources parents may contact to get assistance in understanding these procedural safeguards.

Transition from Early Supports and Services

In New Hampshire, transitioning from Birth to 3 Family-Centered Early Supports & Services (FCESS) to preschool special education involves early planning (starting around 27 months) with your Service Coordinator, developing a Transition Plan in your IFSP, holding a Transition Conference with the school district (90 days-9 months before age 3), and potentially getting evaluated for special education services or exploring other community programs like Head Start or therapy, with the goal of a smooth shift before the child's third birthday.

Key Steps & Timelines

  1. Planning Begins (Around 27 Months): Your FCESS Service Coordinator starts discussing options and creating a written Transition Plan for your child's IFSP (Individualized Family Support Plan).
  2. Transition Conference: Held 90 days to 9 months before the child turns 3. The Service Coordinator facilitates a meeting with the local school district to discuss eligibility for preschool special education.
  3. Referral for Evaluation: With your permission, the Service Coordinator sends a referral to the school district for a special education evaluation.
  4. School Eligibility: The school district determines if the child qualifies for preschool special education services, which have their own criteria.
  5. Options Explored: If not eligible for school services or if families choose other paths, options like community preschools, Head Start, private childcare, or Area Agency services (like family support) are discussed.
  6. Services End at Age 3: FCESS ends on the child's 3rd birthday; the new services begin.

Key Players

  • FCESS Service Coordinator: Manages the process, develops the Transition Plan, and connects families with the school district.
  • School District: Conducts evaluations and provides preschool special education if eligible.
  • New Hampshire Family Voices (NHFV) & Parent Information Center (PIC): Provide family support, resources, and guides for the transition.

Important Considerations

  • Not All Children Qualify: Children do not automatically transition from FCESS to preschool special education; eligibility is determined by the school district.
  • Transition Plan is Key: A well-developed plan ensures a smooth change to community programs or school-based services.
  • Legal Rights: Disability Rights Center - NH (DRC-NH) offers free legal support if families have concerns about access to services.
Child Find

Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Hopkinton School District is committed to providing a free appropriate public education (FAPE) to all eligible children with disabilities who reside within the District, beginning at age three (3) and continuing until graduation from high school or until the student reaches their twenty-second (22nd) birthday, whichever occurs first.

Eligible students who have exited school prior to earning a regular high school diploma retain the right to return and receive special education services until graduation or until reaching their twenty-second birthday.

Students who do not qualify for special education services under IDEA may nonetheless be eligible for accommodations and protections under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

To make a referral or to request additional information, please contact the Director of Student Services, Mandie Hibbard.