If your child (if you're a parent) or your student (if you're an educator) requires a placement that is not offered by your school district or by San Luis Obispo County Office of Education ("SLOCOE"), but that placement is offered by another neighboring school district, your child/student has a right to placement in the more appropriate classroom.

For example: If your school district only offers services up to Resource Specialist Program ("RSP") services, but the student requires something a bit more intensive, such as a Learning Handicapped Special Day Class ("LH-SDC"), then your local school district must inquire into LH-SDCs offered by other neighboring school districts and make an appropriate offer of placement and, if needed, transportation services to get your child there and back.

It is not appropriate for your school district to automatically jump to offering a Special Day Class ("SDC") operated by SLOCOE, unless the student is either severely handicapped, emotionally disturbed, or medically fragile and the IEP team (which includes the parents) has determined that a SLOCOE SDC is the most appropriate placement after considering all the possible alternatives.

The burden is on the district of residence to make an offer of a Free and Appropriate Public Education ("FAPE"). If this means making an offer of placement in a neighboring school district, so be it. Inter-district politicking should absolutely never play a role in what special education placement a child with a disability receives. Thankfully, today - at least on paper - it no longer does in San Luis Obispo County.

That said, it does no good for the policies to change if no one knows about them. There remains the risk that educators in SLO County may not be aware of or fully understand this policy change and fail to take the necessary steps to offer a child an appropriate placement. If the child's parents are unaware of the policy change, they will not know they can successfully advocate for a more appropriate placement. This is why we have updated this site - to make sure that the people who are in a position to use this policy change are aware of it.

For more information about the new policy regarding placement, visit the San Luis Obispo County Special Education Plan Area's ("SELPA's") web site at http://www.sloselpa.org. You want to look at Section G of the SELPA Procedures Manual, which you can link to directly by clicking here.

If you are pursuing an appropriate placement for a child with special needs, feel free to print out this page of our web site and any of the SELPA's materials from its site. SELPA is a public agency and its contents are public information. KPS4Parents grants users of this site the right to print out our content for the purpose of advocating for students with special needs. Parents should use this information to assist them in asking questions about their children's placement options. Educators should use it to make sure they understand the placement options they can offer to their students.

If you have any questions about this policy change, contact Jill Heuer, Director of SELPA, at (805) 782-7302 or jheuer@slocoe.org. You can also post questions and comments on KPS4Parents' blog, which you can link to by clicking here.

This web site is solely operated by KPS4Parents and should not be construed to be a web site belonging to or under the control of SLO County SELPA.