TRANSFER STUDENTS
From the South Carolina Department of Education Policies and Procedures December, 2008:
When a student moves into a new school district, the new district must take reasonable steps to promptly obtain the student’s records, including the IEP and supporting documents and any other records relating to the provision of special education or related services, from the previous school district in which the child was enrolled.
Comments from the SDE: The most important document, however, is the IEP. It should contain all the information necessary for the new district to provide services.
Comments from the District: While Lexington 2’s procedures include obtaining a parent signed Request for Confidential Records, the lack of one should not cause a delay in sending for records. The records can be requested by using our Request for Confidential records form signed by someone at the school/district.
From the South Carolina Department of Education Policies and Procedures December, 2008: Since this is a transfer of educational records from the child’s old district to the new district no consent for release of documents is required. This is applicable to in-state and out-of-state transfers.
Transfers from out of district:
1. Parent completes general school enrollment information.
2. The school staff member assisting the parent should ask if their child was receiving special education
services (including speech) at their previous school. If so, the staff member should ask if the parent
has any copies of their child’s special education records to inspect for information. If the staff
member verifies or suspects that the child was receiving special education services, he/she asks the
parent/guardian to complete the Request for Confidential Records form and faxes it to JoAnne
Golden in Special Services so that she can contact the previous district for verification. After
consulting with the Director or Coordinator of Special Services she notifies the school if the child
will need to enroll in a school other than their home school.
From the South Carolina Department of Education Policies and Procedures December, 2008: When a child with a disability transfers to a new school district in South Carolina with a current IEP in a previous school district in South Carolina, the new school district, in consultation with the parents, must provide FAPE to the child, including services comparable to those described in the child’s IEP from the previous school district. The new district must not delay the provision of the comparable services.
Comments from the SDE: The policy and procedure says “in consultation with the parent”. It says nothing about a meeting taking place or consent being given. Comments from the district: The provision of services (including related services) does not wait until the meeting described below, but
begins immediately.
From the South Carolina Department of Education Policies and Procedures December, 2008: OSEP (Office of Special Education Programs) interprets “comparable” to have the plain meaning of the word, which is “similar” or “equivalent”. Therefore when used with respect to a child who transfers to a new district from a previous district in the same state (or from another state),
“comparable” services means services that are “similar” or “equivalent” to those that were described
in the child’s IEP from the district, as determined by the child’s newly designated IEP team in the new district.
Comments from the SDE: The new IEP team does not, however, get to pick and choose which services it will give. For example, they cannot decide to give the self-contained services indicated, but not start OT and PT services. Comments from the district: The SDE understands that conflicts exist
regarding licensure standards and provision of services and those will be worked out over time.
3. The school staff member notifies the appropriate special educator/speech teacher to schedule a time
for the parent to meet (within 7 calendar days) with the IEP team to develop an Interim IEP. If the
parent cannot be reached after several attempts, the special education teacher should proceed
with the meeting. Phone contacts should be documented in the Parent Contact Log on Excent under
the supplemental tab. An interim IEP is not needed if the parent presents a current IEP from
within South Carolina. In this case, a special review meeting can be held and the previous
district’s IEP adjusted where necessary to reflect the services that will be provided in this district .
This IEP must be entered into Excent. If a special review meeting is held, the following forms would
be completed and sent to Special Services with the special review checklist: Letter of Invitation,
Parent Response, Revised IEP, Summary of Meeting, Request for Confidential
Records, Medicaid Consent, Social, Health, and Educational History, and Parental Consent for Placement. In
both cases the Prior Written Notice is sent. The special education teacher will notify their school psychologist
when they get a new student.
From the South Carolina Department of Education Policies and Procedures December, 2008: When a child with a disability, who has a current IEP in another state, transfers to a district in South Carolina, the new district in consultation with the parents, must provide the child with FAPE, including services comparable to those described
in the child’s IEP from the previous school district .If there is a dispute between the parents and the school district regarding what constitutes comparable services, the dispute could be resolved through the mediation process or, as appropriate, the due process hearing procedures. If the parent disagrees with the new school district about the comparability of services, stay-put would not apply.
Comments from the district: See notes regarding the definition of comparable and the discussion of consultation in item 2.
From the South Carolina Department of Education Policies and Procedures December, 2008 : The new school district may adopt the current IEP or conduct an initial evaluation to determine eligibility , and develop and implement a new IEP. If, after reviewing appropriate information, including the current IEP, the IEP team has reason to suspect the child is not eligible under South Carolina criteria, the team would need to conduct an evaluation to determine eligibility. The evaluation conducted by the new district would be to determine if the child is a child with a disability under South Carolina’s eligibility criteria and determine the educational needs of the child. Therefore the evaluation would be an initial evaluation, which would require parental consent. If, however, the IEP does not question the child’s eligibility under South Carolina’s criteria, the team would adopt the IEP from the previous state.
If a current IEP is not available, an interim IEP should be written with the final IEP completed within 30 calendar days of the student’s enrollment. An interim IEP may NOT be extended beyond the thirty days.
4. The special educator conducts the Interim IEP meeting with the IEP team and completes the following:
a. Notification of IEP Meeting and Prior Written Notice
b. Parent Response
c. Interim IEP (must include present levels, goals, and objectives (if applicable) based on written/verbal information obtained about the student)
d. Request for Confidential Records (should have already been completed at registration)
e. Parent Permission for Interim Placement/Medicaid Permission
f. Social, Health, and Educational History
g. Summary of Meeting
h. Determination of Need for Surrogate Parent Appointment (if applicable)
5. The special educator completes the Special Education Transfer Checklist and encloses all forms,
including the Request for Confidential Records, in the SPECIAL EDUCATION PACKET and
sends it to JoAnne Golden in Special Services.
6. If the child will need special transportation, the Transportation Form should be completed, signed by
an administrator, and sent to the Transportation Department.
7. The special educator notifies the school attendance clerk to “code” the student in the area of disability
on the database.
8. When the special education records arrive in Special Services from the previous district, the school
psychologist reviews the records and notifies the school regarding the status of the child’s records and placement (speech/language teachers review the records for speech only students). Joanne Golden sends a copy of the records to the special educator upon receipt. If the child’s records are not received within approximately 2 weeks following the interim meeting, the school psychologist or speech teacher conducts a reevaluation meeting to determine the evaluation information needed.
The information is then gathered and presented at the final IEP meeting to determine eligibility.
For transfer students receiving OT/PT services, the school forwards the records to the therapist(s),
who reviews the student’s IEP and OT/PT records. Records requested should include a doctor’s prescription or Doctor’s Referral form for the current school year. If an evaluation is needed, the procedures for OT/PT Evaluation are followed.
Transfers from out of district, not living with parents
1. If the transferring child is living in a foster/group home, they should be presented for enrollment by a
foster parent, an agency (eg. DSS or a contracted DSS agency) or a representative of the group home.
In this case a surrogate parent must be assigned. A copy of the court order should be obtained stating
that the agency or guardian has legal custody of the student. DSS cannot act as the parent of the
child for special education purposes; therefore, a surrogate parent must be named for special
education students who are in DSS custody.
The Parent Authorization for Appointment of a Surrogate form should be completed and signed
by the agency/person who has custody/educational rights. Once this is signed, it is sent to
Special Services along with the Determination of Need/Assignment for Surrogate Parent.
The Director of Special Services makes the surrogate parent assignment if appropriate.
2. If the child is living with a family member such as a grandparent or stepparent who is acting in place
of the parent, the family member may sign the IEP documents. No surrogate parent assignment is
necessary.
3. If the child is living with a foster parent or in a group home, and the foster parent or group home
administrator meets the criteria listed in this section, then that person may be assigned to be the surrogate. They
must have an ongoing, long-term parental relationship with the child; be willing to make the educational
decisions required of a parent under the IDEA; and have no interests that would conflict with the interests of
the child. If the foster parent or group home administrator does not meet these criteria, a surrogate
parent must be assigned by the Director of Special Services.
Transfers from within the district:
When a student transfers to another school within the district, the school staff member assisting the
parent should ask if their child was receiving special education services (including speech) at their
previous school. If so, the staff member contacts the previous school to verify the information. The staff
member at the sending school notifies the clerical assistant at their school of the transfer. The clerical
assistant for the sending school gathers the student’s special education records and delivers/sends them
to the receiving school as soon as possible after the student transfers.
November, 2008
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