Lincoln Public Schools offers a range of special education services to meet the unique needs of each student with a disability. Individual special education programs are cooperatively developed by an individual education planning (IEP) team, which includes parents, teachers, administrators, and, when appropriate, other specialists. These teams make every effort to provide the appropriate special education program to children in a setting as close to the regular classroom as possible.

The Lincoln Public Schools employs highly qualified special education faculty members including:

• Occupational Therapists
• Physical Therapists
• Speech and Language Pathologists
• Psychologists
• Social Workers
• Special Education Teachers
• Special Education Tutors

When students require services beyond the capacities of the Lincoln staff the district hires consultants and providers to collaborate with the schools or seeks special education placement out of the district.

What is Special Education?


Special education is instruction specifically designed, at no cost to families, to meet a child’s unique needs. Special education can include classroom instruction, home instruction, instruction in hospitals and institutions, or other settings. It can also include instruction in social skills, adaptive physical education, and pre-vocational education.

The federal law that supports special education and related services is called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Under IDEA, all eligible school-aged children and youth with disabilities are entitled to receive a free appropriate public education (FAPE). These are steps that are followed in the Special Education process:

• Identification
• Request for an Evaluation
• Evaluation
• Eligibility Determination for Special Education
• Individualized Educational Program (IEP) development
• Re-evaluations

1. Identification


There are many clues that your child may be having difficulty learning or struggling with emotional or behavioral challenges. Some disabilities affect hearing or vision. Others may affect speech or communication skills. Still others may be less visible but still affect learning.

If your child is having difficulty, your school may first suggest a number of interventions, such as a referral to the Instructional Support Team. This is a team comprised of general education staff including your child’s classroom teacher, social worker, psychologist, and other ancillary personnel (occupational, physical and speech therapists). The team meets to brainstorm strategies that are implemented through general education specialists to address the presenting needs of a child outside of special education. While implementing these strategies, data is collected to determine the effectiveness of these interventions on remediating the identified areas of concern. If the response to intervention is determined to be ineffective, a referral for evaluation is made to special education.

2. Evaluation


Parents may request an evaluation to determine if a child has a disability at any time. You would call or write to the principal. Explain that you think your child has a disability and may need special education services. Your school may also think your child needs special help, because he or she may have a disability. The school will evaluate your child at no cost to you. Written consent for evaluation is required.

You may also want to contact the Lincoln Special Education Parent Advisory Council for support and information. Contact information is available at each school and in the Special Education Office.

Evaluating your child means more than administering a test or two. The school must evaluate your child in all the areas where your child may be affected by the possible disability. This may include looking at your child's health, vision, hearing, social and emotional well-being, general intelligence, performance in school, and how well your child communicates with others and uses his or her body. Additionally, the evaluation process will include observing your child within various school environments and assessing information from teaching staff that are involved in your child’s school day. The evaluation must be complete enough to identify all of your child's needs for special education or related services and often involves reviewing existing information, gathering data from formal and informal tests, gathering information through interviews, conducting observations and deciding if more information is still needed.

3. Eligibility

The information gathered from the evaluation will be used to make important decisions about your child's education. All of the information will be used to decide if your child is eligible for special education and related services; 
and to help you and the school decide what your child needs educationally.

Parents are included on the IEP Team that decides a child's eligibility for special education services. This group will look at all of the information gathered during the evaluation and decide if your child meets the definition of a "child with a disability."

IDEA's Categories of Disability

• Autism
• Developmental Delay (ages 3 through 9)
• Intellectual
• Sensory: Hearing, Vision, Deaf-Blind
• Neurological
• Emotional
• Communication
• Physical
• Specific Learning
• Health

If the team decides that your child is not eligible for special education services, the school system must tell you this in writing and explain why your child has been found "not eligible." You will also be given information about what you can do if you disagree with this decision.

4. Writing an IEP


If the child is found eligible for special education the next step is for the team to write what is known as an Individualized Education Program (IEP). This is a written statement of the educational program designed to meet a child's individual needs. Every child who receives special education services must have an IEP. The IEP has two general purposes: to set reasonable learning goals for your child, and to state the services that the school district will provide for your child.

At least once a year a meeting must be scheduled with you to review your child's progress and develop your child's next IEP. The team will talk about progress toward the goals in the current IEP, what new goals should be added, and whether any changes need to be made to the specialized instruction and related services your child receives. You don't have to wait for this annual review. You (or any other team member) may ask to have your child's IEP reviewed or revised at any time.

5. Re-evaluation


Under the IDEA, your child must be re-evaluated at least every three years. The purpose of this re-evaluation is to find out if your child continues to be a "child with a disability," as defined by the law 
and your child's educational needs.

The re-evaluation is similar to the initial evaluation. It begins by looking at the information already available about your child. More information is collected only if it's needed. If the group decides that additional assessments are needed, you must give your informed written permission before the school system may collect that information. The school system may only go ahead without your informed written permission if it requests a state due process hearing and it prevails at that hearing. Although the law requires that children with disabilities be re-evaluated at least every three years, your child may be re-evaluated more often if you or your child's teacher(s) request it.

If you have further questions about special education services for your child you may contact the following Special Education Coordinators:

Karen Kanter is the Special Education Coordinator at the Hanscom Schools and can be reached at kanterk@lincnet.org by phone at 781.274.6178 extension 272.

Virginia Flaherty is the Special Education Coordinator at the Lincoln School and can be reached at vflaherty@lincnet.org or by phone at 781.259.9404 extension 2209.

Lynn Fagan is the Lincoln Preschool Coordinator, serving preschool students from both Lincoln and Hanscom. She can be reached at lfagan@lincnet.org or by phone at 781.259.9889.

Stephanie Powers is the district’s Administrator for Student Services and can be reached at spowers@lincnet.org or by phone at 781.259.9403.

Additional information about special education programs can be found on the district’s website at www.lincnet.org.

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