Chapter 7: Special Programs and Student Support

State and federal law require that a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment be offered to qualified pupils with disabilities ages 3 through 21 years. Students classified as individuals with exceptional needs for whom a special education placement is unavailable or inappropriate may receive services in a private nonsectarian school. Please contact the Principal of your school (Ed. Code, § 56040 et seq.). In addition, services are available for students who have a disability which interferes with their equal access to educational opportunities (Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 34 C.F.R. §104.32). The District official listed below is responsible for handling requests for services under Section 504 and may be reached at the following address and telephone:

Kim Kianidehkian
Director of Educational Services 
3188 Quimby Road San Jose, CA 95148 
408-270-6800 ⏐ kkianidehkian@eesd.org

School specialists are available to assess children with disabilities or children suspected of having a disability. If you suspect, or know of a child with a possible developmental delay or learning disability, who is not in school, or is not receiving assistance, please call the Director of Pupil Services at (408) 270- 6800. If a child is an 'individual with exceptional needs,' special education is available at no cost to the parent.

A parent, or an educational agency, may initiate a due process hearing on any decision regarding the pupil’s identification, evaluation, educational placement, or the provision of a free, appropriate public education. A request for a hearing must be filed, in writing, to the State Superintendent of Public Instruction and to the Evergreen School District. Additional information regarding this process may be obtained by contacting the Director of Pupil Services at (408) 270-6800.

Any parent suspecting that a child has exceptional needs may request an assessment for eligibility for special education services through the school principal. Policy and procedures shall include written notification to all parents of their rights pursuant to Education Code section 56300 et seq. (Ed. Code, § 56301. 34 C.F.R. § 104.32(b)).

Parents may file a complaint concerning violations of federal or state law or regulations governing special education related services (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 5, § 4630). To file a complaint, write a description of the manner in which the parent believes special education programs for handicapped do not comply with state or federal law or regulations and file with the District official listed below at the following address and telephone:

Special Education - Complaints
Jennifer Anderson-Chaffee, Director, Special Education
3188 Quimby Road, San Jose, CA 95148
(408) 270-6800 ⏐ jandersonchaffee@eesd.org

Certain students, with medical or physical conditions, may qualify for services under Section 504 of 1973 Rehabilitation Act. Information regarding those qualifications may be obtained from the District 504 Coordinator, Director of Pupil Services, at (408) 270-6800.

California state law authorizes all school districts to provide for alternative schools. Section 58500 of the Education Code defines alternative school as a school or separate class group within a school which is operated in a manner designed to:

• Maximize the opportunity for students to develop the positive values of self-reliance, initiative, kindness, spontaneity, resourcefulness, courage, creativity, responsibility, and joy.
• Recognize that the best learning takes place when the student learns because of the student’s desire to learn.
• Maintain a learning situation maximizing student self-motivation and encouraging the student in his or her own time to follow his or her own interests. These interests may be conceived by the student totally and independently or may result in whole or in part from a presentation by the student’s teachers of choices of learning projects.
• Maximize the opportunity for teachers, parents and students to cooperatively develop the learning process and its subject matter. This opportunity shall be a continuous permanent process.
• Maximize the opportunity for the students, teachers, and parents to continuously react to the changing world, including but not limited to the community in which the school is located. In the event any parent, pupil, or teacher is interested in further information concerning alternative schools, the county superintendent of schools, the administrative office of this district, and the principal’s office in each attendance unit have copies of the law available for parent information. This law particularly authorizes interested persons to request the governing board of the district to establish alternative school programs in each district (Ed. Code, § 58501).

Each local district shall designate a staff person as a liaison for homeless children who shall ensure the dissemination of public notice of the educational rights of students in homeless situations (Ed. Code, § 48852.5, 42 U.S.C. §11432(g)(1)(J)(ii)). A district serving a homeless child must allow the child to continue his/her education in the school of origin through the duration of homelessness at the point of any change or any subsequent change in residence once a child becomes a homeless child. If the child’s status changes before the end of the academic year so that he/she is not homeless, the district must allow a child in high school to continue his/her education in the school of origin through graduation. For a child in grades K through 8, the district must allow the formerly homeless child to continue his/her education in the school of origin until the end of the academic school year. A homeless child transitioning between school grade levels must be allowed to continue in the school district of origin in the same attendance area. If a homeless child is transitioning to a middle or high school where the school designated for matriculation is in another school district, the homeless child must be allowed to continue to the school designated for matriculation in that school district. The new school is required to enroll the child immediately regardless of any outstanding fees, fines, textbooks or other items or money due to the school last attended or if the child is unable to produce clothing or records normally required for enrollment, including medical records, proof of immunization history, and proof of residency (Ed. Code,§ 48852.7). Each local district shall also designate a staff person as the educational liaison for foster children. The educational liaison shall disseminate a standardized notice to foster children that has been developed by the State Department of Education and includes complaint process information (Ed. Code, § 48853.5). The district serving the foster child shall allow the foster child to continue his/her education in the school of origin under specified circumstances. If it is determined that it is in the best interests of the foster child to transfer to a school other than the school of origin, the foster child shall immediately be enrolled in the new school, regardless of any outstanding fees, fines, textbooks, or other items or moneys owed to the school last attended or if the child is unable to produce clothing or records normally required for enrollment, including immunization history. The last school attended must provide all records to the new school within two business days of receiving the request (Ed. Code, §§ 48853, 48853.5). The district receiving a transfer request or notification of a student in foster care shall, within two business days, transfer the student out of school and deliver the educational information and records to the next educational placement. Grades and credits will be calculated as of the day the student left school and no lowering of grades will occur as a result of the student’s absence due to the decision to change placement or for a verified court appearance or related court activity (Ed. Code, §§ 51225.1, 51225.2).

The district shall exempt from local graduation requirements a student who is in foster care, a homeless child or youth, a child of a military family, or a former juvenile court school student, a migratory child, or a pupil participating in a newcomer program for recently arrived immigrant pupils and who transfers between schools under certain circumstances (Ed. Code, §51225.1). A district shall accept coursework done by a student who is in foster care, a homeless child or youth, a child of a military family, or a former juvenile court school student while attending another school. The district is prohibited from requiring those students to retake courses or partial courses they have satisfactorily completed elsewhere (Ed. Code, § 51225.2). A complaint of noncompliance alleging violations of these sections, except for Education Code section 48852.7, may be filed under the District’s Uniform Complaint Procedures and Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations.
 

A Juvenile court school student, or the person holding the right to make educational decisions for the student, may voluntarily defer or decline  issuance of their diploma until after the student is released from the juvenile detention facility, thereby allowing the student to take additional coursework at a local education agency. The county office of education will notify the student, the person holding to right to make educational decisions for the student, and the student’s social worker or probation officer of all of the following:

1. The student’s right to a diploma;
2. How taking coursework and meeting other educational requirements will affect the student’s ability to gain admission to a post-secondary educational institution;
3. Information about transfer opportunities available through the California Community Colleges; and
4. The option to defer or decline the diploma and take additional coursework (Ed. Code, §§ 48645.3(a), 48645.7).