What is a Special Education Referral? 

A referral is a written statement requesting that the school district evaluate your child to determine if he or she needs special education services. This written statement would be addressed to the chairperson of your school district’s Committee on Special Education or your school principal.

The referral may result in a request to have your child tested to see if he or she needs special education services. In some cases, you may want to meet with the principal before agreeing to test your child to discuss other ways to assist your child. As a result, the referral may be withdrawn. You, the parent, can also make a referral for your child. Your child’s teacher or a professional in your child’s school may also make a referral to the Committee. For a preschool child, any of the people mentioned above may make a referral to the CPSE.

After the evaluation is completed, the parents would be invited to a meeting, as a member of the Committee, to talk about the results. The parents should attend this meeting because they have important information to share about their child. At the meeting, the Committee will review the evaluation results. Based on that information, and information that the parents provide, the Committee decides if the child is eligible or ineligible to receive special education programs and/or services.

Every school district has a Committee on Special Education (CSE) and a Committee on Preschool Special Education (CPSE) that decide a child's special education needs and services. The CPSE is responsible for children with disabilities ages 3-5. The CSE is responsible for children with disabilities ages 5-21. Parents are valuable members of the Committee. Parents know their child better than anyone else and have beneficial knowledge to bring to Committee discussions. Other members of the Committees are people who have a broad range of experiences planning for and/or working with students with disabilities. Together we work to make sure that special education programs and services are provided to meet the child’s needs.

If you are a parent of a child in CLCS, build partnerships with your child’s teacher and school. Contact your child’s teacher (and other staff working with your child, such as a speech therapist or psychologist) at the beginning of the year. Children develop in different ways, each with their own individual personalities. To help students learn, it is important that teachers know as much as they can about each child. By working together and sharing information, parents and teachers can help children have a successful school year. Department Secretary, Kathy Freeman, School Psychologist, Katrina Cummings, and Megan Lundgren, Director of Student Services, will be happy to answer any of your questions or concerns at (716) 753-5877.