Welcome to Canyon ISD’s Special Education department. We look forward to working with you and your student to ensure your student’s needs are met.

TEA Webpage – Resources on Special Education in Texas

Updates in Special Education

Actualizaciones en Educación Especial

Compensatory Services Explanation – SB 89

Explicación de servicios compensatorios – SB 89

The Special Education Information Center (SPEDTex) provides resources and interactive features for increasing family awareness of disabilities and special education processes, with the goal of improving partnerships between schools and families.

Contact information:

Phone: 1-855-773-3839

Email: inquire@spedtex.org

Live Chat: www.spedtex.org

Qualifications

To qualify for special education and related services, TEA’s Parent Guide to the Admission, review, and Dismissal Process has a two-part test for determining eligibility:

1. your child must have a disability; and
2. as a result of the disability, your child must need special education and related services to benefit from education.

To meet the first part of the two-part test for eligibility, a child between the ages of 3 through 21, except as noted, must meet the criteria for one or more of the disability categories listed below:

• Auditory impairment (from birth);
• Autism;
• Deaf-blindness (from birth);
• Emotional disturbance;
• Intellectual disability;
• Multiple disabilities;
• Noncategorical early childhood (ages three through five);
• Orthopedic impairment;
• Other health impairment;
• Specific learning disability;
• Speech or language impairment;
• Traumatic brain injury; or
• Visual impairment (including blindness from birth).

The Admissions, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) committee must make the eligibility determination within 30 calendar days from the date of completion of the initial evaluation report.

Instructional​ ​Programming

Canyon ISD believes all students have the right to learn. Our mission statement is Empowering​ ​Lifelong​ ​Success​. We want your student to be a SUCCESS. To accomplish this
mission, we look first to the general education environment to meet each student’s educational goals. If your student qualifies for and needs additional accommodations and modifications, we will follow TEA’s guidelines. According to the TEA’s Parent Guide to the Admission, review, and Dismissal Process, the ARD committee is composed of:

• Parents;
• General education teacher of the child (at least one);
• Special education teacher of the child (at least one);
• Administrator;
• Assessment personnel;
• Other individuals who have knowledge or special expertise regarding the student;
• The student, when appropriate;
• Transition coordinator, when appropriate;
• Staff who is one the language proficiency assessment committee, when appropriate;

If applicable:

• Teacher certified in the area of auditory impairments;
• Teacher certified in the area of visual impairments;
• Teacher certified in the area of auditory and visual impairments if the student has suspected or documented deaf-blindness.

The ARD committee will meet to discuss evaluation information and develop an IEP with input from all parties. Within this plan, accommodations and modifications to the curriculum will be addressed. This committee will look at a full continuum of instructional and related services for your student. As a district, we always start with services in the general education classroom to the maximum extent appropriate for your student. Each student’s day is individualized to their specific needs. Canyon ISD provides special education services on every campus. Special
education services available throughout Canyon ISD campuses include mainstream, content mastery, inclusion, and resource classes. Some special education services are centralized due to low incidence and specialized needs.

Centralized​ ​Services

Those students needing highly specialized programming in order to gain educational benefit may receive services in a centralized setting. These classrooms are not available at every campus, requiring some students to receive services away from their home campus. An ARD committee recommends a centralized classroom only when a student is not able to receive educational benefit from the services available at their home school. Students receiving services in these specialized settings also spend a varying amount of time in the general education classroom to the greatest extent possible. The following is a list of Canyon ISD’s centralized classrooms.

Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE)

Students 3-5 years of age with an identified disability and a need for special education services may receive services in one of our ESCE classrooms. Within Canyon ISD’s ESCE setting, students receive instruction in the ESCE, Pre-K, and Kinder classrooms according to their individual IEP goals and objectives. This allows students to receive specific, targeted instruction and engage with same-age language and behavior models throughout the school day.

The​ ​Learning​ ​Classroom​ ​(TLC)

This instructional setting provides educational services primarily to students with cognitive impairments who access the general education curriculum through prerequisite skills. An individually paced curriculum is developed for each student, focusing on reading, writing and math with a strong emphasis on pre-vocational skills. TLC provides educational services to students who require specialized assistance in the areas of academics, social, self-help, communication and independent living skills. Instruction meets the needs of students requiring alternate assessment. Students are typically able to participate in some activities and classes with their non-disabled peers. At the junior high and high school level, TLC integrates pre-vocational and vocational skills along with academics. This instructional setting prepares students with significant disabilities to participate as independently as possible in critical natural environments. TLC services are provided from elementary​ ​through​ ​high​ ​school.

Regional​ ​Day​ ​School​ ​Program​ ​for​ ​the​ ​Deaf​ ​(RDSPD)

Canyon ISD contracts with RDSPD located within Amarillo ISD to provide a range of educational services for students with hearing impairments, including students who are deaf, as determined by the ARD Committee.