Special Services

Supportive Services
 
The following supportive services are listed to help clarify for parents the services that are available.
  • SCHOOL NURSE - Student general health and welfare.
  • COUNSELING SERVICES - Full-time elementary guidance and middle school guidance and high school guidance counselors work with children, parents and teachers.
  • SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST - Individual psychological testing, parent - teacher consultation.
  • TITLE I READING - Supplemental reading services with emphasis upon remediation.
  • TITLE I MATHEMATICS - Supplemental math services with emphasis upon remediation.

GSSD & Westmoreland Intermediate Unit Provide Special Services

Greensburg Salem School District, in cooperation with the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit (IU7), provides an ongoing system to locate, identify and evaluate students who may need special education services. Procedures may include one or more of the following: Preschool Screening - Children with special needs are identified through a program of public announcements, mass screenings and a referral system utilizing a number of public and private agencies.
  • Kindergarten Screening - School districts provide mass screenings of children being registered in kindergarten classes. These screenings may include evaluation of learning, vision, hearing and speech.
  • Screening School-age Children - Individual needs may be identified through several established procedures including referral by parents, teachers, nurses, guidance counselors and other professionals. Mass screenings for vision, hearing problems, etc., are conducted.
  • Instructional Support Teams - Parents and members of the professional staff collaborate to assess students' needs and find ways to help students.
  • Special Education Programs - A continuum of special education services is offered to students identified through a Comprehensive Evaluation and an Individual Education Program Team. Individual programs are designed to meet the needs of students in the areas of Learning Support, Emotional Support, Mental Retardation, Giftedness, etc.
Parents may request screening and evaluation of their child at any time by contacting their child's teacher, guidance counselor or building principal. Parents have the right to request screening and evaluation to determine special education needs and may initiate due-process procedures to ensure that their child is being provided an appropriate educational program. Due-process procedures include pre-hearing conferences, an impartial due-process hearing and mediation services.
 
Details concerning each of these may be obtained from the Westmoreland Intermediate Unit Director of Special Education at 836-2460 or the office of the building principal where the child attends school.

Protecting Handicapped Students

Federal and State regulations protect otherwise qualified handicapped students who have physical, mental or health impairments from discrimination because of those impairments. The regulations require public educational agencies to ensure that these students have equal opportunity to participate in the school program and extracurricular activities to the maximum extent appropriate to the ability of the protected handicapped student.
 
Greensburg Salem School District will provide aides, services and accommodations that are designed to meet the educational needs of protected handicapped. These aides, services and accommodations are provided without discrimination or cost to the student or family.
 
To qualify, the student must be of school age and have a physical or mental disability which substantially limits or prohibits participation in or access to an aspect of the school program. Special education services are different from services for protected handicapped students. Special education students require educational modifications while protected handicapped students generally require accommodations for access to programs.
 
For further information about the evaluation of or services to the protected handicapped, please contact the Coordinator of Psychological Services and Special Education at 832-2906.