Special Education
Special Day Classes – (SDC)
Resource Specialist Programs – (RSP)
Designated Instruction and Services – (DIS)
364 students (0 – 5 years old)
425 students (6 – 22 years old)
43 school sites in 19 districts throughout Marin County
Special education programs are designed to meet the individual needs of students with handicapping conditions that affect their ability to learn in a general education program.
Programs are designed to provide remediation, teach focused skill building and develop accommodation or adaptation skills based on each student’s needs.
Students served include those who are hearing impaired, learning disabled, mentally retarded, orthopedically handicapped, speech and language impaired, visually handicapped, multi-handicapped, seriously emotionally disturbed, autistic, traumatic brain injured or other health impaired.
Birth through five-year old children are served through the Early Intervention Program.
Services for visually, orthopedically and hearing impaired children up to age 3 have a family-centered focus emphasizing the parents as primary teacher of their own child. A range of services for preschoolers (3-5 years) is provided to address the intensity of needs. When families have arranged for their child’s care or enrichment through a private center-based program, arrangements are made to supplement those experiences by delivery of special education services at their preschool location or through focused language and learning groups.
School-based special education programs for students aged 5 to 22 years include special day classes, resource specialist programs and designated instruction and services.
Students in Special Day Classes (SDC) spend the majority of their instructional day in a special education class.
Conversely, students spending the majority of the day in general education classes receive scheduled remedial instruction through the Resource Specialist Program (RSP) or Designated Instruction and Services (DIS) program.
The goal for each student in special education is to maximize learning potential and to independently apply the skills acquired.
Although not all services are provided for all handicapping conditions at each school site, there is a strong commitment to educating students in their home or neighboring district whenever possible. When centralization of service delivery is the most practical utilization of resources due to the relatively low incidence of student needs, the home school district provides for the transportation of school age students to the school of attendance. Certificated classroom teachers are supported by instructional assistants who work with small groups of students on individualized instruction.
When no appropriate public school program is available to meet the needs of a handicapped student, placement is made in a certified non-public school (NPS).