Special Education
Special Education Program Specialist - Stephanie Gutierrez
209-744-4545 ext. 339
209-744-4545 ext. 339
Behavior Analyst - Leigh Ann VanCleave
209-744-4545 ext. 344
209-744-4545 ext. 344
Resources
Special education is defined by Federal (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, I.D.E.A.) and State law (California Master Plan for Special Education) as specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents to meet the unique needs of the individual with exceptional needs, whose educational needs cannot be met with modification of the regular instructional program. School-aged children with exceptional physical, communicative, or learning needs are eligible for special education and related services, when a child’s identified disability adversely impacts his/her educational performance, the student may be found eligible for special education services.
In order to be eligible for special education, the student must exhibit one or more of the following disabling conditions:
However, having one of these disabilities doesn’t automatically qualify a child under IDEA. To be eligible, a student must:
Autism
A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term does not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance.
Concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
A hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, which adversely affects a child's educational performance.
Emotional Disturbance means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics, over a long period of time and to a marked degree, that adversely affects educational performance:
Established Medical Disability (EMD)
A disabling medical condition or congenital syndrome that the individualized education program (IEP) team determines has a high predictability of requiring special education and services. (This eligibility category is only applicable for children ages 3-5.)
Hard of Hearing means hearing, impairment, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance, but that is not included under the definition of “deaf” in this section.
Significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
Concomitant impairments (such as mental retardation-blindness, mental retardation-orthopedic impairment, etc.), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. The term does not include deaf-blindness.
A severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of some member, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes (e.g. cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures).
Having limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment.
A specific learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. Eligibility for services requires that there is a significant discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement in one or more of the following academic areas: oral or written expression, listening or reading comprehension, basic reading skills, mathematics calculations and reasoning. Disorders not included - the term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, or mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
A communication disorder, impaired articulation, language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
Acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
Impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.
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Eligibility
Eligibility for Special Education Services:
Special education is defined by Federal (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, I.D.E.A.) and State law (California Master Plan for Special Education) as specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parents to meet the unique needs of the individual with exceptional needs, whose educational needs cannot be met with modification of the regular instructional program. School-aged children with exceptional physical, communicative, or learning needs are eligible for special education and related services, when a child’s identified disability adversely impacts his/her educational performance, the student may be found eligible for special education services.
In order to be eligible for special education, the student must exhibit one or more of the following disabling conditions:
- Autism
- Deaf-blindness
- Deafness
- Emotional Disturbance (ED)
- Established Medical Disability (EMD)
- Hard of Hearing (HH)
- Intellectual Disability (ID)
- Multiple Disabilities (MD)
- Orthopedic Impairment (OI)
- Other Health Impairment (OHI)
- Specific Learning Disability (SLD)
- Speech or Language Impairment (SLI)
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Visual Impairment, including Blindness
- Have a disability and as a result of that disability
- Need special education to make progress in school.
Autism
A developmental disability significantly affecting verbal and nonverbal communication and social interaction, generally evident before age three, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. Other characteristics often associated with autism are engagement in repetitive activities and stereotyped movements, resistance to environmental change or change in daily routines, and unusual responses to sensory experiences. The term does not apply if a child's educational performance is adversely affected primarily because the child has an emotional disturbance.
Deaf-blindness
Concomitant hearing and visual impairments, the combination of which causes such severe communication and other developmental and educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for children with deafness or children with blindness.
Deafness
A hearing impairment that is so severe that the child is impaired in processing linguistic information through hearing, with or without amplification, which adversely affects a child's educational performance.
Emotional Disturbance (ED)
Emotional Disturbance means a condition exhibiting one or more of the following characteristics, over a long period of time and to a marked degree, that adversely affects educational performance:
- An inability to learn which cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors
- An inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers
- Inappropriate types of behavior or feeling under normal circumstances
- A general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression or
- A tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.
The term (ED) includes schizophrenia. The term does not apply to children who are socially maladjusted, unless it is determined that they have an emotional disturbance.
Established Medical Disability (EMD)
A disabling medical condition or congenital syndrome that the individualized education program (IEP) team determines has a high predictability of requiring special education and services. (This eligibility category is only applicable for children ages 3-5.)
Hard of Hearing
Hard of Hearing means hearing, impairment, whether permanent or fluctuating, that adversely affects a child's educational performance, but that is not included under the definition of “deaf” in this section.
Intellectual Disability (ID)
Significantly sub-average general intellectual functioning, existing concurrently with deficits in adaptive behavior and manifested during the developmental period, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
Multiple Disabilities (MD)
Concomitant impairments (such as mental retardation-blindness, mental retardation-orthopedic impairment, etc.), the combination of which causes such severe educational needs that they cannot be accommodated in special education programs solely for one of the impairments. The term does not include deaf-blindness.
Orthopedic Impairment (OI)
A severe orthopedic impairment that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes impairments caused by congenital anomaly (e.g., clubfoot, absence of some member, etc.), impairments caused by disease (e.g., poliomyelitis, bone tuberculosis, etc.), and impairments from other causes (e.g. cerebral palsy, amputations, and fractures or burns that cause contractures).
Other Health Impairment (OHI)
Having limited strength, vitality or alertness, including a heightened alertness to environmental stimuli that results in limited alertness with respect to the educational environment.
Specific Learning Disability (SLD)
A specific learning disability is a disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, which may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations. Eligibility for services requires that there is a significant discrepancy between intellectual ability and achievement in one or more of the following academic areas: oral or written expression, listening or reading comprehension, basic reading skills, mathematics calculations and reasoning. Disorders not included - the term does not include learning problems that are primarily the result of visual, hearing, or motor disabilities, or mental retardation, of emotional disturbance, or of environmental, cultural, or economic disadvantage.
Speech or Language Impairment (SLI)
A communication disorder, impaired articulation, language impairment, or a voice impairment, that adversely affects a child's educational performance.
Traumatic Brain Injury
Acquired injury to the brain caused by an external physical force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psychosocial behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech. The term does not apply to brain injuries that are congenital or degenerative, or to brain injuries induced by birth trauma.
Visual Impairment, including Blindness
Impairment in vision that, even with correction, adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term includes both partial sight and blindness.
Procedural Safeguards: English
Derechos de educación especial de los padres y los ninos
Sacramento County Special Education Local Plan (SELPA)
Special Education Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) / Sacramento County SELPA Community Advisory Committee (CAC)
Special Education Parent Advisory Committee: (PAC)
The GJUESD Special Education Department invites parents to attend quarterly meetings to provide feedback on district goals, programs, and services as they pertain to students with disabilities. The purpose of these meetings is for parents to share their experiences and provide input on improving outcomes for students with disabilities.
For the 2024-2025 School Year we will be meeting virtually:
October 17,2024
January 16, 2025
March 20, 2025
May 23, 2025
Time: 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Join Zoom Meeting
Meeting ID: 882 6737 6297
Passcode: 309982
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Sacramento County SELPA, Community Advisory Committee (CAC)
The Sacramento County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) Community Advisory Committee (CAC) may be composed of parents of students with disabilities enrolled in public or private schools, parents of students enrolled in school, students and adults with disabilities, general and special education teachers/other personnel representatives, and other private agencies concerned with the needs of students with disabilities.
The majority of CAC is required to be composed of parents of students enrolled in schools participating in the Local Plan Area, with a majority being parents of students with disabilities.
The members of the Community Advisory Committee are appointed by, and responsible to, the governing board of each participating district/LEA or county office or any combination thereof participating in the SELPA; however, all parents of students with disabilities are encouraged to attend.
Community Advisory Committees have specific and important roles and responsibilities which are reviewed in detail in the California SELPA Community Advisory Committee Guide, 5th Edition, 2022. Every Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) is required to establish a CAC.
Meeting dates/times: TBD
The Special Education Department provides guidance and support to staff serving students that have been found eligible for special education and related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. It is our belief that all students, when given the appropriate support, resources and access to high quality instruction, can reach their full potential as members of society.
The Special Education Department works collaboratively and in a partnership with families to ensure they have meaningful participation when making decisions for their children.
Child Find Mandate:
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) includes the Child Find requirement. School districts are required to locate, identify and evaluate all children with disabilities from birth through age 21. The Child Find mandate applies to all children who reside within a State, including children who attend private schools and public schools, highly mobile children, migrant children, homeless children, and children who are wards of the state
If you suspect your child may be eligible for special education services and wish to have an assessment performed, please contact your child's school principal. If your child is not yet school age, please contact our Special Education Department at
(209) 744 4545 ext 303