Special Services
We’re Here for You
Kentucky Virtual Academy (KYVA) offers robust special education services to support students and meet their needs, empowering them to thrive in school and beyond. With high-quality, personalized learning and the help of teachers and support staff, students with special needs can achieve their academic goals, find their confidence, and pave a path to success.
KYVA Special Services
Kentucky Virtual Academy (KYVA) complies with all federal and state education laws. The following information and resources are available for parents to know their legal rights and KYVA school policies and procedures.
Special Education
Stacy Altman
National Special Programs Manager
saltman@K12.com
Request for Parent/Guardian Interpreter Services or Disability Accommodations
Professional interpreter services may be requested at any time for parents/guardians of students with disabilities by contacting Stacy Altman at saltman@K12.com.
Additionally, if any parent/guardian has a disability or other limitation that would impact their ability to participate fully in their child’s educational planning process, KYVA would be happy to discuss accommodations that may be available to maximize the parent/guardian’s participation. Individuals seeking to discuss accommodations for this reason may contact Stacy Altman at saltman@K12.com.
Procedural Safeguards
In accordance with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requirement that all educational agencies provide parents of students with disabilities notice containing a full explanation of the procedural safeguards available under the IDEA and U.S. Department of Education regulations, please click HERE to review the Procedural Safeguards Notice.
Annual Public Notice of Special Services & Programs
Under federal and state regulations, KYVA will provide an annual public notice to families informing them of KYVA’s child find responsibilities, procedures involved in the identification of educational disabilities, and determination of students’ service and support needs. Families are encouraged to review the following information that describes these regulations. Information regarding KYVA’s internal practices to comply with these will be available in KYVA’s Special Programs Manuals and Handbooks.
Child Find
KYVA strives to identify, locate, and evaluate all enrolled children who may have disabilities. Disability, as stated in IDEA, includes such conditions as hearing, visual, speech, or language impairment, specific learning disability, emotional disturbance, cognitive disability, other health or physical impairment, autism, and traumatic brain injury. The process of identifying, locating, and evaluating these children is referred to as Child Find. As a public school, we will respond vigorously to federal and state mandates requiring the provision of a Free Appropriate Public Education regardless of a child’s disability or the severity of the disability. To comply with the Child Find requirements, KYVA will implement procedures to help ensure that all KYVA students with disabilities, regardless of the severity of their disability, who need special education and related services—are identified, located, and evaluated—including students with disabilities who are homeless or students who are wards of the state. Parent/guardian permission and involvement is a vital piece in the process. Once a student has been identified as having a “suspected disability” or identified as having a disability, KYVA will ask the student or the student’s parent/guardian for information about the child, such as:
- How has the suspected disability or identified disability hindered the student’s learning?
- What has been done, educationally, to intervene and correct the student’s emerging learning deficits?
- What educational or medical information relative to the suspected disability or identified disability is available to be shared with the school?
This information may also be obtained from the student’s present or former teachers, therapists, doctors, or other agencies with information about the student. All information collected will be held in strict confidence and released to others only with parental permission or as allowed by law. In keeping with this confidence, KYVA will keep a record of all persons who review confidential information. In accordance with state regulations, parents have the right to review their child’s records. As part of the Child Find process, some services may include a complete evaluation, an individualized education program designed specifically for the child, and a referral to other agencies providing special services.
Consent
KYVA cannot proceed with an evaluation, or with the initial provision of special education and related services, without the written consent of a student’s parents/legal guardians. For additional information related to consent, please refer to the Procedural Safeguards Notice, which can be found here or by accessing the link via the Child Find section of the KYVA website. Once written parental/guardian consent is obtained, KYVA will proceed with the evaluation process. If the parent disagrees with the evaluation results, the parent can request an independent education evaluation at public expense.
Procedural Safeguard Notice [PDF]
Special Education (IEP) or Service Agreements (504 Plans)
Once the evaluation process is completed, a team of qualified school personnel, parents/guardians, and other relevant service providers hold an evaluation determination meeting to agree on whether the student meets eligibility for one of the disability categories under IDEA (Click HERE) for information related to eligibility criteria associated with the disability categories defined under IDEA). If the student is eligible and requires specially designed instruction, an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) will be coordinated, during which the IEP team will review and finalize the proposed details of an appropriate educational program to meet the student’s documented needs.
For students confirmed to present with special education needs, once the IEP team agrees on the IEP and the student’s educational placement, a Prior Written Notice (PWN) will send to the parent/guardian for signature. This must be signed and returned to KYVA. KYVA can only implement the student’s IEP (or 504 Plan) upon receipt of the signed PWN. Some students are found to present with one or more disability but do not meet the eligibility criteria outlined under IDEA (special education); however, their disability may still require KYVA to develop a 504 Service Agreement (504 Plan) to outline the special provisions a student may require for adaptations and/or accommodations in school-based instruction, facilities, and/or activities.
Privacy and Confidentiality
To maintain the privacy of students’ special education records, both within its central office and across school systems and databases, KYVA follows protocols consistent with the federal regulations associated with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Visit the FERPA site for additional information about the privacy and security guidelines for your child’s educational records.
Accommodations
Notice of these rights is available, upon request, on audiotape, in Braille, and languages other than English. Should you need further assistance or information regarding any of these accommodations, please contact Stacy Altman, National Special Programs Manager at saltman@K12.com, or any member of your child’s KYVA team for guidance.
Special Education Grievances or Disputes
KYVA recognizes that despite the best intentions of all parties, disagreements or miscommunications may arise between the school-based team and KYVA families or students. Should this situation occur, the KYVA special education case manager will initiate an IEP team discussion. The entire team then determines what is most appropriate for the student based on the specific details contributing to any educational concerns. Collaboration is a primary focus for this type of meeting, and the KYVA Special Education Team seeks to establish and maintain the confidence of its families to always serve its students to maximize their educational success.
Dispute Resolution Options
Mediation – A voluntary process in which both parties seek to resolve the issues involved in the concern with an unbiased, third-party mediator from the Kentucky Department of Education. The mediator will write up the details of the agreement the parties come to through the mediation conference, both parties sign the agreement, and thus what the document states is mandated to be implemented. This process is overall less time-consuming, less stressful, and less expensive to complete than a due process hearing (see below).
Formal Due Process
Families are NOT obligated to pursue the above alternatives to due process should they feel their concerns can only be resolved through a formal due process hearing.
English Language Learners / Identification of English Language Learner Coordinators
Stacy Altman
National Special Programs Manager
saltman@K12.com
Foster Care / Identification of Foster Care Coordinator / Title IX Coordinator / Migrant Liaison
Stacy Altman
National Special Programs Manager
saltman@K12.com
McKinney-Vento / Identification of Homeless Liaison
Stacy Altman
National Special Programs Manager
saltman@K12.com
Migrant Education / Identification of Foster Care Coordinator / Title IX Coordinator / Migrant Liaison
Stacy Altman
National Special Programs Manager
saltman@K12.com