Every school district in New York State has a Committee on Special Education (sometimes called the CSE). The CSE is responsible for children with disabilities. Gilboa-Conesville’s CSE has primary responsibility for making recommendations on classification, evaluation and educational programs for children who require special education.

“Child Find" requires all public school districts to have in place a system to identify, locate, and evaluate all children with disabilities who reside in the district, including children who are homeless, in foster care, and students whose parent(s)/guardian(s) choose to enroll them in nonpublic schools located within the district.  In order to meet our Child Find obligations, our District pursues multiple avenues, including publication on our website regarding the referral process and ongoing training for staff regarding our obligations.

If your school-age child is having difficulties in school, first, talk to your child’s teacher. There are many supports and services available for students within regular education to help students who are experiencing difficulty. Supports available for in general education include, speech/language improvement services, counseling support, curriculum and instructional modifications, remedial reading, remedial math, and Academic Intervention Services (AIS). In addition, our school has an Response to Intervention team (RTI) that can help to develop strategies and supports to help students experience success. Talk to your child’s classroom teacher to ask for a referral.

If, after supports and strategies recommended by the RTI team have been attempted, and you, the teachers, and the building principal have not been able to help your child, he or she may have a disability that affects his or her learning. To find out, you may make a referral to the Committee on Special Education (CSE).