Services for Students Placed in Non-Public Agencies

Every student has the right to educational services that are safe, supportive, and maximize access to general education settings in their neighborhood school, interactions with peers, and engagement in core curriculum. This is especially important for students with disabilities who have extensive support needs and are served in settings along the continuum of placement options, including non-public agencies (NPAs). Educational planning and programming should focus on needed supports so students have the greatest chance of being served in their resident district and neighborhood school.

In some cases, a school district determines it cannot provide a free appropriate public education (FAPE) for a student within their district. In partnership with the student’s family and teachers, as part of the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process, the IEP team may decide the student would be best served in a private school or facility better suited to meet the student’s unique needs.

OSPI regularly monitors both school district and NPA compliance through procedures such as written reports, on-site visits, file reviews, policy guidance, and parent/guardian interviews. In recent years, in response to concerns raised by students and families, educators, and administrators, OSPI has implemented changes to the NPA oversight process, including revisions to the application, approval, and renewal processes for NPAs; a formalized complaint investigation process; and rulemaking to clarify NPA requirements in support of students.

Washington state has also made significant investments in professional development to support systemic changes so educators are equipped to serve students with disabilities in more inclusive learning environments. If funded, OSPI’s request to the Legislature to fully fund special education and sustain funding for inclusionary practices will provide additional opportunity for school districts to meet the needs of all students, including students with disabilities with extensive support needs.

You may have seen the recent news reports (11/26/2022 and 12/4/2022) regarding the oversight of NPAs in Washington state, as well as the treatment of students with disabilities at those NPAs. These reports show us that more changes are needed, and OSPI is working to request legislation to:

• Expand OSPI oversight, monitoring, and complaint investigation processes for NPAs;
• Implement additional requirements as part of the NPA application, approval, and renewal processes;
• Require NPA data collection and reporting to OSPI; and
• Provide statewide supports for alternative programming to NPAs and supports for transitioning students back to their resident district.

We welcome ongoing conversations with partners across education to best serve students with disabilities, their families, and school and district partners who support them. Please reach out to our office at speced@k12.wa.us with questions, concerns, and suggestions.

December 5–9 is Inclusive Schools Week!

Dec. 5–9 is Inclusive Schools Week and this year’s theme is Unity Within Our Community. In recognition of this wonderful week, OSPI would like to highlight the importance of fostering school communities that continually strive to create places where both students and educators feel a sense of belonging.  

We know that meaningful inclusion is realized when general education and special education teachers collaborate to ensure all students have ample access to general education settings, are engaged with the core curriculum, and have routine and meaningful interactions with peers.  

Students have the right to be included in general education settings to the maximum extent possible. It should never be the responsibility of a student to ‘fit in’ or ‘earn their way’ into general education settings. The belief that general education instruction is not malleable and that students should be making adaptations to be included in the general education setting has contributed to the continuation of two parallel systems of education in which students receiving special education services are marginalized and devalued because of their environmental segregation. To learn more about what Washington is doing to support inclusion, please visit the Inclusionary Practices Project page. 

Special Event: Zooming In & Out on Inclusionary Practices

In celebration of Inclusive Schools Week, Washington state’s Inclusionary Practices Professional Development Cadre is eager to announce a free opportunity for educators and families to learn from expert practitioners Shelley Moore and Katie Novak in a three-part series, Zooming In & Out on Inclusionary Practices.

Superintendent Chris Reykdal will kick off the series with a live welcome on January 11, 2023. He’ll be joined by Moore and Novak, who will explore specific stories about what inclusive practices look, sound, and feel like for individual students (zooming in), while also examining the necessary complex change work needed for inclusion to fully be realized (zooming out). Please share this information widely with your networks. To learn more about this event, hear from Katie and Shelley directly in this video.

Virtual meeting dates: January 11, February 6, and March 27, 2023, from 4–6 pm PT. Register here. Meetings will be live captioned and recorded. Clock hours are available at no charge.

Legislative Update

Looking to learn more about OSPI Special Education’s request to fully fund special education? If so, please take a look at this legislative request briefing.

With the 2023 legislative session starting January 9, we’d like to provide you with information to help make sense of OSPI’s legislative priorities. This resource will briefly describe all OSPI legislative requests and provide links to more detailed information.

Team Spotlight – Beverly Mitchell

Get to know a little more about Executive Assistant Beverly Mitchell. Bev is Executive Assistant for both Tania May and for SEAC.

What do you like best about your role as the Executive Assistant for OSPI Special Education?

What I like best about my role at OSPI is feeling valued by those with whom I work. And I enjoy the challenge of organizing and trying to keep the office on track.

What is something people might not know about you?

Seven years ago, I was honored to travel to Cambodia with a group from my church. We went to build “orphan homes”. The people of Cambodia completely wrecked me. What was important before I left was no longer as important. That trip changed my world and my dreams. One day I will retire, and my dream is to work for a chaplaincy program. I want to pour out love, encouragement, and support to those who feel set aside, making a positive and loving difference in someone’s life.

Staffing (Note: Revised from November 2022)

Question: How can districts provide students the basic education and special education services when facing continued staffing shortages?

This section includes hyperlinks to important information shared in previous monthly updates.

• Data collection reports due in December: Child Count/LRE and Special Education Personnel Employed and Contracted.
• Annual Determinations were issued November 1, 2022.
• Multilingual learners with the most significant cognitive disabilities who take the alternate English Language Proficiency Assessment (WIDA Alt ACCESS) will be participating in the field test in spring 2023. Spring 2023 WIDA Alternate ACCESS Field Test.
• Seattle Special Education PTSA’s Guide to Special Education in Seattle Public Schools (SPS) written by parents and caregivers to help other parents and caregivers of students with disabilities navigate the special education system. Find out more about the guide.
• The OSPI Dyslexia Advisory Team will be completing a listening tour and visiting schools throughout Washington. The purpose of the school visits is to provide the team with a clearer view of what educators and students are experiencing in relation to implementation of ESSB 6162. Link to Implementing MTSS for Literacy Listening Tour
• Determining whether a reevaluation is needed when adding or discontinuing services is a decision made by the IEP team on a case-by-case basis. OSPI Special Education Technical Assistance Paper No. 5 (TAP #5) provides a general review of special education evaluation requirements and includes responses to Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about evaluations and reevaluations.
• Inclusion of Young Children with Disabilities: A Critical Quality Indicator for Early Childhood Education is a brief from The National Center on Early Childhood Quality Assurance (NCECQA) that explores the importance of inclusion for young children with disabilities and the relationship between inclusion and quality in early childhood education.