IN Fox Chapel Area Winter 2019 | Page 28

SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH UNDERWAY T he Fox Chapel Area School Board has taken the first steps to begin the search for a new superintendent. School Board President Somer Obernauer Jr. established a committee of Vice President Marybeth Dadd, Ron Frank (committee chairperson), Adam Goode, and Lisa Rutkowski to lead the search. The Board is expected to appoint a search firm at its January meeting, and a nationwide search will begin. Representatives from the firm will reach out to the general public, administrators, teachers and other district employees, and members of the site-based teams to talk about what important qualities they are looking for in a superintendent. With that input, a qualifications letter will be written, and the position will be advertised. The Board committee will review the applications, and the entire Board will interview worthy candidates. The Board, as a whole, will then choose three candidates to present to the community, and their names will become public. Community members will have the opportunity to meet these three candidates, ask questions, and find out more information about their backgrounds and qualifications. The School Board will consider community input in making its final decision on the district’s next superintendent. Newly elected School Board member Ron Frank is the chairperson of the Board’s superintendent search committee. NOTICES TO PARENTS OF CHILDREN WHO RESIDE IN THE FOX CHAPEL AREA SCHOOL DISTRICT ANNUAL PUBLIC NOTICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION SERVICES AND PROGRAMS, SERVICES FOR GIFTED STUDENTS, AND SERVICES FOR PROTECTED HANDICAPPED STUDENTS ■ IDEA – Chapter 14 In compliance with state and federal law, notice is hereby given by the Fox Chapel Area School District that it conducts ongoing identification activities as a part of its school program for the purpose of identifying students who may be in need of special education and related services. Child Find refers to activities undertaken by public education agencies to identify, locate, and evaluate children residing in the state, including children attending private schools, who are suspected of having disabilities, regardless of the severity of their disability, and determine the child’s need for special education and related services. The purpose is to locate these children so that a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) can be made available. Identification Activities are performed to find a child who is suspected as having a disability that would interfere with his or her learning unless special education programs and services are made available. These activities are sometimes called screening activities. The activities include: review of group data, conducting hearing and vision screening, assessment of a student’s academic functioning, observation of the student displaying difficulty in behavior, and determining the student’s response to attempted remediation. Input from parents is also an information source of identification. If your child is identified by the district as possibly in need of such services, you will be notified of applicable procedures. 26 FOX CHAPEL AREA Individualized services and programs are available for children who are determined to need specially-designed instruction due to the following conditions: autism/pervasive development disorder, blindness or visual impairment, deafness or hearing impairment, deaf blindness, orthopedic impairment, developmental delay, multiple disabilities, traumatic brain injury, other health impairment, emotional disturbance, specific learning disability, and/or speech or language impairment. We offer a continuum of services for students with disabilities that begins with full inclusion in the child’s home school and class, to separate programs within other schools in which peers without disabilities would not participate. If you believe that your school-age child may be in need of special education services and related programs, or your child (ages three to school age) may be in need of early intervention, screening and evaluation processes designed to assess the need of the child and his/her eligibility are available to you at no cost, upon written request. You may request screening and evaluation at anytime, whether or not your child is enrolled in the district’s public school program. Requests for school-age evaluations and screenings are to be made in writing to: Special Education Department, Fox Chapel Area School District, 611 Field Club Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15238. Requests for children ages three to school age should be made in writing to: Project DART, Allegheny Intermediate Unit, 475 East Waterfront Drive, Homestead, PA 15120.