Bryant Public Schools, along with the Benton School District, will offer the Joint Annual Child Find Meeting and Consultation for parentally-placed private and homeschool providers in the respective school districts. The meeting will provide an opportunity for private and homeschool representatives to share the needs of students with disabilities enrolled in their programs. Evaluation and service specifics for parentally-placed and homeschool children in the 2020-2021 school year will be shared with providers.
Bryant’s Special Education Director, Kelly Colbert. and Special Education Director for Benton, Angela McWhorter (or their designees), will address the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004). Areas of discussion will include:
1) The Child Find Process 2) Determination of which, how, where, and by whom special education and related services will be provided 3) How the services will be evaluated, and 4) Determination of the proportionate amount of Federal Funds available to serve parentally-placed private school children with disabilities.
The Child Find and Consultation Meeting will be held, virtually through Zoom, on Wednesday, October 21 at 10:00am. Contact Tara Armstrong, Director of Early Childhood Education for Bryant at 501-847-5650 for the Zoom video conference link.
Child Find is a federal obligation for school districts to locate and evaluate children, ages 3-21, who are suspected of having a disability. Evaluation and services are provided to children free of charge, in compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
Bryant Early Childhood Education provides free screenings to children ages 3-5 in the areas of vision, hearing, speech-language, fine motor, gross motor, self-help, social skills, and academics. For children younger than three, the Arkansas Department of Human Services provides free evaluations and services through First Connections. First Connections may be reached at 1-800-643-8258.