The Highland County School Board maintains an active and continuing child find program designed to identify, locate and evaluate those children residing in the division who are birth to 21 inclusive who are in need of special education and related services

The Highland County School Board provides a free, appropriate public education for all children and youth with disabilities, ages 2 through 21, inclusive, who are residents of HIGHLAND COUNTY or who are not residents of HIGHLAND COUNTY but are residents of Virginia and who are enrolled in a full-time virtual school program provided by the Board. To the maximum extent appropriate, students with disabilities are educated with children who are not disabled.

The special education process includes six steps, each one building on the one before. The steps include:

1. Child Study
2. Referral
3. Evaluation
4. Determination of eligibility
5. Development of an individualized education program (IEP) and determination of needed services.
6. Reevaluation/triennial

The Child Study Committee in each school addresses the needs of individual children who are having difficulty in educational settings. The committees review data to make recommendations and review the results of implemented recommendations. The committees may refer children for evaluation for special education. Evaluation procedures for special education eligibility are designed to identify the existence of disabilities as defined in federal and state guidelines. Services include programs in each school that meet federal and state regulations related to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

Students can receive special education services if they have been identified with autism, deaf-blindness, deafness, developmental delay, emotional disability, hearing impairment, intellectual disabilities, multiple disabilities, orthopedic impairment, other health impairment, specific learning disability, speech/language impairment, traumatic brain injury, or visual impairment.

To help guide the identification of special education students Highland County Public schools use the disability worksheets provided by the state.

Highland County Public Schools

Special Education Advisory Committee

Virginia Department of Education - Parent Survey

Transition Services

Child Find

About Child Find

Homeschool Child Find

Pre-School Screening

Special Education Director