The Ocean Gate Board of Education shall provide the services of child study team personnel in numbers sufficient to ensure implementation of pertinent law and regulation. The chief school administrator shall present to the board for approval job descriptions, qualifications and evaluation criteria for positions required, and shall present to the board for hiring the best qualified applicants. The child study team shall consist of a school psychologist, a learning disability teacher consultant and a school social worker, and for the purposes of evaluation and classification shall include pertinent information from certified school personnel making the referral.

When complete evaluations of students are necessary, the chief school administrator shall recommend for board approval qualified persons or agencies to supplement the district team. Appropriate staff members, such as the nurse and teachers assigned to the student, shall also be involved.

Students who have been identified by any professional staff member, the parents/guardians of the child, a child welfare agency or by the health services staff as possibly having an educational disability shall be considered for evaluation.

Teachers and administrators shall provide intervention resources (e.g., adaptive teaching methods and materials, schedule changes, modified workloads, corrective or remedial instruction, etc.) in order to discover whether an observed difficulty is the result of problems within the educational delivery system. Parents/ guardians shall be notified of such interventions. The members of the child study team shall be available to discuss problems informally with teachers and parents/guardians.

If the problems persist despite these intervention techniques, a formal referral, requiring due process procedures, shall be initiated. The examination of each such student shall proceed promptly in strict accordance with law. The board shall review and adopt the regulations governing the referral process.

Examination of each identified child shall consist of a physical examination, a psychological examination, an educational examination, a social case study, and such other examinations as may be deemed necessary by the child study team.

Any decision by the basic child study team concerning the evaluation, classification and placement of a student shall include the full participation of that student’s parents or guardian.

Students at Risk

In addition to the students with disabilities, the child study team shall consider and recommend appropriate remedies and/or programs for students at risk for school failure. Child study team members may participate as part of the multidisciplinary team in making decisions regarding a student’s placement in an alternative education program.

All staff members shall be familiar with and implement the discipline policies and procedures adopted by this the board (see board policy 5131 Conduct and Discipline). This implementation of the student code of conduct combined with consistent documentation shall provide data that may be used to identify students that are at risk for school failure due emotional and behavior issues. Staff members shall report the names of students who disrupt the educational program to the appropriate administrator who shall initiate actions that will ensure the involvement of the student’s family and the provision of counseling and assessment services, so as to determine the causes of the student’s disruptive behavior. A request for pre referral intervention or for referral for evaluation may be made to the child study team. Throughout this process, administrators, support staff, teachers, parents/guardians, and if prudent, the student shall be involved. If all strategies prove unsuccessful, referral to the appropriate outside agency may be made.

Students whose continuing attendance interrupts the educational program and/or threatens harm to themselves and others may be suspended and considered for expulsion.

NJSBA Review/Update: January 2009, November 2017
Adopted: January 21, 2009
Revised/Readopted: March 15, 2017
Reviewed:

Key Words

Child Study Team, Referrals, Disaffected Pupils, Disruptive Pupils, Disaffected Students, Disruptive Students

Legal References: N.J.S.A. 18A:46 3.1 Regional consultants for hearing impaired; appointment; duties
N.J.S.A. 18A:46 5.1 Basic child study team services; provision by boards of education and state operated programs
N.J.S.A. 18A:46-5.2 Participation by parent or guardian
N.J.A.C. 6A:9B-14.5 School social worker
N.J.A.C. 6A:9B-14.6 Speech language specialist
N.J.A.C. 6A:9B-14.7 Director of school counseling services
N.J.A.C. 6A:9B-14.8 School counselor
N.J.A.C. 6A:9B-14.9 School psychologist
N.J.A.C. 6A:9B-14.10 Learning disabilities teacher consultant
N.J.A.C. 6A:14-1.1 et seq. Special Education
N.J.A.C. 6A:30-1.1et seq. Evaluation of the Performance of School Districts

20 U.S.C.A. 1400 et seq. – 1990 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, P.L. 101-476

29 U.S.C.A. 794 et seq. – Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

Possible
Cross References: *4111 Recruitment, selection and hiring
*5114 Suspension and expulsion
*5120 Assessment of individual needs
*5131 Conduct/discipline
*5200 Nonpublic school students
*6010 Goals and objectives
*6146.2 Promotion/retention
*6164.2 Guidance services
*6171.4 Special education
*6172 Alternative educational programs

*Indicates policy is included in the Critical Policy Reference Manual.