The Special Services Department is a team of extraordinary professionals dedicated to providing excellence in education for all children. We recognize that all children develop and learn at different rates. While some children have few learning challenges, others may need greater assistance. When a child needs more support than can be provided by the classroom teacher, the district begins a process to determine what services are needed.
The district conducts Child Find activities to locate, evaluate, and identify students with a suspected disability who are residing within district boundaries. Child Find activities apply to children who are not currently receiving special education and related services. Parents having concerns about their child’s health, hearing, intellectual functioning, language, learning, movement, serious behavioral needs, speech, or vision can call the district’s Special Services Department at 360-833-5570 to schedule an appointment.
Child Find events for 2022-2023 will be held on:
- September 14
- September 28
- October 26
- November 30
- January 25
- February 22
- March 29
- April 26
Information about how students in special education programs successfully participate in Washington’s assessment system is now located under the Assessment pages of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction web site. At http://www.k12.wa.us/assessment/altassess.aspx, use the left navigation bar for an overview of the assessment options available to these students. You will also find:
- Information about the Washington Alternate Assessment System Portfolio
- Technical reports of the Washington Alternate Assessment System
- Resources/presentations regarding the Washington Alternate Assessment System
For more information about the state’s Alternate Assessment program, please contact Judy Kraft, Alternate Assessment Specialist, at waas@k12.wa.us or 360-725-6089.
Each school has a Building Intervention Team (BIT) that meets regularly to assess and monitor students’ learning needs. When a student needs more support than can be provided by the teacher, the BIT may refer a child for evaluation to determine if special education is appropriate.
Parents may also refer a child for special education evaluation. For information on how to refer your child, contact the Camas School District Special Services Department at 360-833-5570.
Title I, Part A of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act is a federal program that provides financial assistance to states and school districts to meet the needs of educationally at-risk students. The goal of Title I is to provide extra instructional services and activities that support students identified as failing or at-risk of failing the state’s performance standards in math, reading and/or writing.
CSD Parent Involvement Policy and Procedure
Federal Programs Citizen Complaint Procedures: This link takes you to the citizen’s complaint process overview for certain categorical federal programs, including Title I, Part A.
http://www.k12.wa.us/titlei/citizencomplaint.aspx
Learn about Title I School Improvement
The Learning Assistance Program (LAP) provides additional academic support to eligible K-12 students in reading, math, writing and readiness skills. LAP programs are supported with Washington state funds and given to school districts within the state.
Currently, LAP-funded services must first focus on kindergarten through fourth-grade students who are deficient in reading or reading-readiness skills to improve literacy. We use our resources to serve students in the areas of math and reading at the elementary school level.
Eligible students are the “greatest in need” as determined by a rank order of scores taken from statewide and/or district assessments. LAP services are interventions, supplemental to the core instruction in reading, math and/or writing.
The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act of 1986 is a federal law that provides money for homeless shelter programs. Homeless children also are entitled to the protections of the McKinney-Vento Act.
The McKinney-Vento Act defines homeless children as “individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.” The act provides examples of children who would fall under this definition:
- Children sharing housing due to economic hardship or loss of housing
- Children living in “motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camp grounds due to lack of alternative accommodations”
- Children living in “emergency or transitional shelters”
- Children whose primary nighttime residence is not ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation (e.g., park benches, etc.)
- Children living in “cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations”
The McKinney-Vento Act ensures homeless children transportation to and from school free of charge, allowing children to attend their school of origin (the last school in which the student was enrolled or the school the student was attending when last permanently housed) regardless of in which district the family resides. It requires schools to register homeless children even if they lack normally required documents, such as immunization records or proof of residence.
The district provides the following types of services for students and families experiencing homelessness and/or for unaccompanied youth:
- Assistance with school registration.
- Acting as a liaison between schools, shelters, parents and students.
- Arranging transportation for students to continue attending the same school even if they move out of school boundaries.
- Providing tutoring
- Providing school supplies and emergency clothing needs.
- Assisting families in finding resources in the community.
If you’re experiencing a loss of housing or otherwise meet the definition of homeless, please contact Jackie Cortez at 360-833-5612.
- You have the right to register your child for school even if you do not have your full documentation such as immunization records, utility bill, birth certificate, etc.
- Once registered, your child can begin attending school within one or two days.
- Your child has the right to stay in the same school even if you move if it is feasible and in the best interests of him or her.
- Your child will be provided with school transportation with school buses, city bus passes or gas vouchers.
- Your children are entitled to free lunch and breakfast at school without the need to fill out the form.
- Your child must not be isolated or stigmatized.
- The above services will continue until the end of the school year which homelessness ends for your family.
Additional Information about McKinney-Vento can be found on OSPI’s website:
