Public Notice Nondiscrimination and Student Rights
The El Dorado Springs R-2 School Districts strives to maintain a learning environment that is free from harassment because of an individual’s race, color, sex, national origin, age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or perceived sexual orientation. The School District prohibits any and all forms of unlawful harassment and discrimination because of race, color, sex, national origin, age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or perceived sexual orientation.
It shall be a violation of District policy for any student, teacher, administrator, or other school personnel of this District to harass or unlawfully discriminate against a student through conduct of a sexual nature, or regarding race, color, sex, national origin, age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or perceived sexual orientation as defined by this Policy.
It shall also be a violation of District policy for any teacher, administrator, or other school personnel of this District to tolerate sexual harassment or harassment because of a student’s race, color, sex, national origin, age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or perceived sexual orientation, as defined by this Policy, by a student, teacher, administrator, other school personnel, or by any third parties who are participating in, observing, or otherwise engaged in activities, including sporting events and other extracurricular activities, under the auspices of the School District.
For purposes of this Policy, the term “school personnel” includes school board members, school employees, agents, volunteers, contractors, or persons subject to the supervision and control of the District.
The school system and District officials, including administrators, teachers, and other staff members will act to promptly investigate all complaints, either formal or informal, verbal or written, of unlawful harassment or unlawful discrimination because of race, color, sex, national origin, age, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, or perceived sexual orientation; to promptly take appropriate action to protect individuals from further harassment or discrimination; and, if it determines that unlawful harassment or discrimination occurred, to promptly and appropriately discipline any student, teacher, administrator, or other school personnel who is found to have violated this Policy, and/or to take other appropriate action reasonably calculated to end the harassment/discrimination.
The District prohibits retaliation against a person who files a complaint of discrimination or harassment, and further prohibits retaliation against persons who participate in related proceedings or investigations.
For questions or concerns regarding harassment, contact Dr. Theresa Christian, Assistant Superintendent, at 417-876-3112 or through email at tchristian@eldok12.org.
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT SURROGATE PARENT PROGRAM
Pursuant to the requirements of state law 162.997 RSMo, the State Board of Education is required to appoint a surrogate parent at such time as it becomes evident that a child with a disability does not have a parent or a person acting as a parent to participate in matters dealing with the provision of special education. For purposes of surrogate parent appointment, “parent” is defined as a biological parent, a guardian, or a person acting as a parent of a child including, but not limited to, a grandparent, a step parent, or a foster parent with whom the child lives. The term does not include the State if the child is a ward of the State. The term does not include a person whose parental rights have been terminated.
The local school district is given the responsibility to determine when a child with a disability who requires special education and who resides in the District is without a parent. The District must notify the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education of the need to appoint a surrogate parent. Training for persons serving as surrogate parents will be provided by the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and the District.
If you are interested in volunteering to serve as a surrogate parent, more information can be obtained from the District’s surrogate parent contact person – the person responsible for the District’s special education program.
El Dorado Springs R-II School District
EL DORADO SPRING R-II SCHOOL 504 NOTICE
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination against persons with a disability in any program receiving federal financial assistance. The Act defines a person with a disability as anyone who:
*Has a mental or physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities (includes activities such as caring for one’s self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning, and working)
*Has a record of such impairment
*Is regarded as having such an impairment
In order to fulfill its obligation under Section 504, the El Dorado Springs R-II School District recognizes a responsibility to avoid discrimination in policies and practices regarding its personnel and students. No discrimination against any person with a disability will knowingly be permitted in any of the programs and practices in the school system.
The school district has specific responsibilities under the Act, which include the responsibility to identify, evaluate, and if the child is determined to be eligible under Section 504, to afford access to appropriate educational services.
If the parents or guardian disagrees with the determination made by the professional staff of the school district, he/she has a right to a hearing with an impartial hearing officer.
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act also specify rights related to educational records. The Act gives the parents or guardian the right to:
*Inspect and review the child’s educational records
*Make copies of these records
*Receive a list of all individuals having access to those records
*Ask for an explanation of any item in the records
*Ask for an amendment to any report on the grounds that it is inaccurate, misleading, or violates the child’s rights
*A hearing on the issue if the school refuses to make the amendment
If there are questions, please feel free to contact the Section 504 Compliance Officer, at 876-3112.
PUBLIC NOTICE
All responsible public agencies are required to locate, evaluate, and identify children with disabilities who are under the jurisdiction of the agency, regardless of the severity of the disability, including children attending private schools, children who live outside the district but are attending a private school within the district, highly mobile children, such as migrant and homeless children, children who are wards of the state, and children who are suspected of having a disability and in need of special education even though they are advancing from grade to grade. The El Dorado Springs R-II School District assures that it will provide a free, appropriate public education (FAPE) to all eligible children with disabilities between the ages of 3 and 21 under its jurisdiction. Disabilities include autism, deaf/blindness, emotional disorders, hearing impairment and deafness, intellectual disability, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairments, specific learning disabilities, speech or language impairment, traumatic brain injury, visual impairment/blindness and young child with a developmental delay.
The El Dorado Springs R-II School District assures that it will provide information and referral services necessary to assist the State in the implementation of early intervention services for infants and toddlers eligible for the Missouri First Steps program.
The El Dorado Springs R-II School District assures that personally identifiable information collected, used, or maintained by the agency for the purposes of identification, evaluation, placement or provision of FAPE of children with disabilities may be inspected and/or reviewed by their parents/guardians. Parents/guardians may request amendment to the educational record if the parent/guardian believes the record is inaccurate, misleading, or violates the privacy or other rights of their child. Parents have the right to file complaints with the U.S. Department of Education or the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education concerning alleged failures by the district to meet the requirements of the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
The El Dorado Springs R-II School District has developed a Local Compliance Plan for the implementation of State Regulations for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). This plan contains the agency’s policies and procedures regarding storage, disclosure to third parties, retention and destruction of personally identifiable information and the agency’s assurances that services are provided in compliance with the General Education Provision Act (GEPA). This plan may be reviewed at El Dorado Springs R-II School District, 901 S. Grand, El Dorado Springs, MO 64744.
This notice will be provided in native languages as appropriate.
FAMILY EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS AND PRIVACY ACT (FERPA)
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) is a Federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U. S. Department of Education.
FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children’s education records. These rights transfer to the student when he or she reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond the high school level. Students to who the rights have transferred are “eligible students.”
*Parents or eligible students have the right to inspect and review the student’s education records maintained by the school. Schools are not required to provide copies of records, unless for reasons such as great distance, it is impossible for parents or eligible students to review the records. Schools may charge a fee for copies.
*Parents or eligible students have the right to request that a school correct records which they believe to be inaccurate or misleading. If the school decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student then has the right to a formal hearing. After the hearing, if the school still decides not to amend the record, the parent or eligible student has the right to place a statement with the record setting forth his or her view about the contested information.
*Generally, schools must have written permission from the parent or eligible student in order to release any information from a student’s education record. However, FERPA allows schools to disclose those records, without consent, to the following parties or under the following conditions:
1. School officials with legitimate education interest
2. Other schools to which a student is transferring
3. Specified officials for audit or evaluation purposes
4. Appropriate parties in connection with financial aid to a student
5. Organizations conducting certain studies for on on behalf of the school
6. Accrediting organizations
7. To comply with a judicial order or lawfully issued subpoena
8 Appropriate officials in cases of health and safety emergencies
9. State and local authorities, within a juvenile justice system, pursuant to specific State law
Schools may disclose, without consent, “directory” information such as a student’s name, address, telephone number, date and place of birth, honors and awards, and dates of attendance. However, schools must tell parents and eligible students about directory information and allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. Schools must notify parents and eligible students annually of their rights under FERPA. The actual means of notification (special letter, inclusion in a PTA bulletin, student handbook, or newspaper article) is left to the discretion of each school.
For additional information or technical assistance, you may call (202) 260-3887 (voice). Individuals who use TDD my call the Federal Information Relay Service at 1-800-877-8339. Or you may contact us at the following address:
Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, S.W., Washington, D. C. 20202-5901
El Dorado Springs R-II School Special Education Services
In compliance with Federal and State laws, the El Dorado Springs R-II School District is required to notify the public of its Special Education Services to handicapped children in our district. The law guarantees handicapped children the right to a free and appropriate education. Parents have the right to expect their handicapped children to be evaluated and placed in an appropriate program if necessary. If parents disagree with the placement or evaluation results, they have the right to ask for a due process hearing. Parents are permitted to review their child’s records. A copy of Procedural Safeguards Notice, Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is available for pick up in the Special Education office or on our school website.
The El Dorado Springs R-II School provides the following programs in Special Education: cognitive impairments, learning disabilities, speech or language, visually handicapped, deaf, hard of hearing, deaf and blind, seriously emotionally disturbed, orthopedically handicapped, health impaired, autism, multi-handicapped, traumatic brain injury, and Early Childhood Special Education. Homebound instruction is provided to students who, because of the nature of their handicapping condition, cannot attend school safely and adequately.
Early Childhood Special Education is a program of individually developed instruction for children who have been identified as educationally handicapped. The Special Education program may include specific therapies for each child’s educational program. Children from the ages of 3 to 5 years old who have significant developmental delays in cognitive/adaptive behavior, speech, language, fine motor, gross motor, or social-emotional behavior may be eligible. Children may be referred for evaluation by parents, teachers, or medical personnel. The evaluation will be completed by a multidisciplinary team.
Individual differences of handicapped children require special intervention techniques. The nature and degree of intensity determine the type of Special Education program necessary to insure the child’s success at school. Our Special Education Services are developed to meet these special needs; therefore, each student has an Individualized Educational Plan written to provide the appropriate education. Some handicapped students will remain in regular classes with support, others will attend one or more periods of specialized instruction with qualified special education teachers, and some will be served in full-time programs. Services are also provided for severely handicapped students in appropriate placements which are not restricted to the public school.
The El Dorado Springs R-II School conducts periodic screenings to identify possible problems which may interfere with the student’s educational success. The schedule is as follows:
Academic: (career/vocational and pre-academic/developmental for early childhood); Preschool (0-5 years) – upon referral; Kindergarten screening (5-6 years); Spring- 2nd through 6th, 8th, and 10th; Fall – 9th; National schedule – 11th, 12th, and K through 12th.
Speech/Language: Preschool (0-5 years) upon referral; Kindergarten and 2nd grade screening, new and referred students.
Social/Emotional/Behavioral: K-12th grades on a continuous basis.
Vision: Preschool (0-5 years) upon referral; Kindergarten screening and roundup; 1st, 3rd, 6th, 9th grades; new and referred students.
Hearing: Annually Kindergarten, 2nd, new students, and referrals.
Health/Motor: Preschool (0-5 years); Kindergarten enrollment (5-6 years); continually Kindergarten through 12th grade.
The screening is done by teachers and trained personnel in our local school district. The Lions Club assists with the vision screenings. Most screening is done through observation and testing.
Each year in keeping with the federal and state guidelines, the El Dorado Springs R-II School will take a census of handicapped children under the age of 21 residing in our district or whose parents live in our district. The census will include the child’s name, the parent/guardian’s name, address, birth date of the child, and the age of the child. This information will be sent to the State Department of Education. Parents have the right to view any collected data regarding their child and may give consent for access to such information to an unauthorized person through written notice.
A copy of the district’s compliance plan is available at the main office for public inspection. Notices of services are published frequently throughout the school year and information regarding referral and services disseminated to a variety of agencies in our school district.
Our district also provides special programs for children meeting the criteria for gifted education. This program provides a challenging curriculum for academically gifted children in grades K through 8.
If you have any questions or concerns about the El Dorado Springs R-II School’s Special Education programs, please call Cary Chambers, Director of Special Education at 876-3112, Ext. 234.
Special Education Director: Cary Chambers
Special Education Administrative Assistant: Courtney Bland
Special Education Staff: Dana Abercrombie, Special Education Teacher; Jason Bryant, Special Education Teacher; Melanie Byrd, Occupational Therapist; Peggy Carter, Speech Implementer; Nancy Coffer, Special Education Teacher; Katy Finegan, Special Education Teacher; Jordan Highley, Special Education Teacher; Angie Johnson, Special Education Teacher; Gabriel Kinnett, Physical Therapist; Sandy Lackey, Speech Implementer; Michele Leonard, Special Education Teacher; Melanie Martin, Special Education Teacher; Debbie McDonald, Speech Implementer; Ashley McKinney, Speech Pathologist; Christina McKinney, Special Education Teacher; Chelsey Nissley, Special Education Teacher.
Special Education Support Staff: Candice Bland, Paraprofessional; Rylie Bradley, Paraprofessional; Tiffany Daniels, Paraprofessional; Tara Eck, Paraprofessional; Autumn Gerster, Paraprofessional; Melissa McGhee, Paraprofessional; Kathy Newman, Paraprofessional; Terri Schaaf, Paraprofessional; Melisa Smith, Paraprofessional; Matt Stauffer, Paraprofessional; Monica Stoll, LPN, Paraprofessional; Michelle Swager, Paraprofessional.
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