Pompton Lakes School District

     Pompton Lakes Department of Special Services    

• Special Education Programs and Services Are Provided for Students Classified As Educationally Disabled from Preschool (Ages Three to Five) Through Senior High School (or Age 21).  the District Child Study Team Provides Diagnostic Evaluations of the Individual Child, Interpretation of Findings to Parents and Staff, Placement of Pupils for Whom a Specialized Program May Be Necessary, Remedial Instruction, Speech Therapy, and Other Related Services. Requests for Evaluations Can Be Made If a Student Is Suspected of Having a Disability.  

• A referral is a written request for an evaluation that is given to the school district when a child is suspected of having a disability and might need special education and related services. In most instances, the student suspected of having a disability will first be referred to the Intervention and Referral Services Team. If as a result of the interventions recommended by the team, the student continues to experience difficulties in the general education classroom, the I&RS Team will determine the next course of action, which could include amending the Action Plan, determining 504 eligibility, or referring the student to the Child Study Team for evaluation.

When submitting a referral for a comprehensive evaluation from the Child Study, please add the following items in your correspondence:

• Your child’s full name and date of birth,
• A brief explanation of why you would like your child evaluated
• A copy of any reports you may have, if your child has been previously evaluated
• Your contact information including address, phone number, and email
• An original signature on your letter, sent to: Pompton Lakes Special Services 316 Lakeside Ave Pompton Lakes NJ 07442

• When students are not making progress in the general education setting, intervention strategies may begin with a conference with the teacher, principal, and/or the school-based intervention team, called the Intervention and Referral Services Team (I & RS).  In some cases, the interventions trialed may not be successful and a referral for special education to the Child Study Team may be initiated. Even in these cases, the prior period of intervention is valuable.  Prior intervention is needed to document the effectiveness of the interventions and will illustrate whether the referral is appropriate. It will help inform the Individualized Education Program (IEP) team about strategies that have or have not produced success when it comes time to develop a more formal written plan for specialized instruction if found eligible.

• Once a referral is received, a meeting will take place within twenty days. The participants of the meeting are the parent(s), the classroom teacher, and the Child Study Team members. The Child Study Team consists of a learning disability teacher-consultant, school psychologist, and social worker. For a referral for a child between the ages of three and five, a speech therapist will be included in the meeting. A case manager is assigned upon the written request for an evaluation and an evaluation plan is developed. During the evaluation process, the student is considered to be potentially educationally disabled. The evaluation process may take as long as ninety days, involving the collection of data, test results, observations, interviews, and any other pertinent information that was agreed upon in the evaluation plan, and concluding in an eligibility determination meeting and, if eligibility criteria have been met, an Individualized Education Program developed with the IEP Team Members.

Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC)
Pompton Lake's Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC) will meet two times a year, to discuss current topics in special education.  Notifications of dates and times of the SEPAC meetings are posted on the district website and sent home to our families when appropriate.