Do charter schools provide special education services??

Question

Do charter schools provide special education services??

Answer 1

yes

but you need to make sure your child can be accommodated......they do not provide all services...

you may also need to use teh child study team services of your home school

Answer 2

Yes.  Charter Schools are held to the federal law called IDEA the same as regular public schools.  Typically, special ed services and administration in charter schools is handled by the sponsoring school district.  This may mean that although your child's charter school teacher is part of the IEP, the administration (SpEd Director, speech therapists, school psychologists, etc) will probably be from the school district that sponsors that charter school.

Student Study Teams are not part of the federal law called IDEA.  If a 504 Plan seems to be what is needed, I recomend parents go through the Student Study Team process.  However, if an IEP seems to be what is needed, Student Study Teams are a waste of time and should be skipped for a true evaluation under IDEA.

Because charter schools benefit from federal funds, they MUST adhere to IDEA, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the Rehabiliation Act.  They cannot deny your child entry based on disability....this would be discrimination.