In accordance with federal regulations, New Hartford Public Schools and Region 7 assumes responsibility for the location, identification, and evaluation of all New Hartford children from birth through age 21 who require special education and related services. All children who are suspected of having a disability and who are in need of special education are part of the Child Find process in the New Hartford Public Schools' district. This includes students who are advancing from grade to grade; enrolled in private elementary or private secondary schools, including religious schools, and highly mobile, such as migrant and homeless children. Parents and/or caregivers who suspect their child may have a disability should contact their child’s teacher about their concerns. Any additional questions regarding this process can be directed to the school principals or the director of student services.
The Department of Student Services supports all learners. All of our students are general education students first. As a multidisciplinary team, we work collaboratively to provide specially designed instruction and related services that will meet each student's unique needs.
Service Delivery
Special Education is a service, not a placement. These services may include direct academic instruction, counseling, nursing, speech, occupational therapy, physical therapy, behavioral consultation, autism consultation, assistive technology consultation, and transportation. Services such as nursing are available to all students. Students with special educational needs may be recommended to either receive services under an IEP or a Section 504 plan. These decisions are made with the collaboration of parents and professional educators through the Planning and Placement Team (PPT). New Hartford is committed to excellence for all learners- and the ability to access the curriculum is a primary goal.
We invite you to contact us with any questions or comments.
Under federal and state statutes, children requiring special education are those children who have one or more of the following disabilities, which adversely affect their educational performance and who require specially designed instruction: autistic, deaf-blind, hearing impaired, learning disabled, intellectually disabled, multi-handicapped, orthopedically impaired, other health impaired, emotionally disturbed, speech/language impaired, visually impaired/blind, traumatic brain injury, developmentally delayed (infants and preschool age). Special education is available to preschool children who have attained the age of three years and whose degree and type of disability, based on the evaluation by the Planning and Placement Team, is such that the absence of special education will impair the child's educational development to the extent that it is unlikely that the child will be able to make satisfactory educational progress when the child attains school age.
Under state statutes, school districts are required to identify gifted and talented students. However, programming for such students is optional and left to the discretion of each local board of education.
The term special education means specially designed instruction, special classes, programs and services, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of a child with a disability.
The following links may be helpful to you in learning more about special education and your rights. www.sde.ct.gov State Department of Education www.ctserc.org State Education Resource CenterSPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS
Bakerville
Drenka Marku - drenkam@newhtfd.org
New Hartford Elementary
Midwinter, Kayli - midwinterk@newhtfd.org
PreK Teacher: Gallant, Michele - gallantm@newhtfd.org
PreK Teacher: Hughes, Melissa - hughesm@newhtfd.org
SPEECH & LANGUAGE
Farley, Nicole - farleyn@newhtfd.org - New Hartford Elementary
Swanson, Elisabeth - swansone@newhtfd.org - Bakerville & Antolini
SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGIST
Plourd, Alexandra - plourda@newhtfd.org - Antolini
Plourd, Christian - plourdc@newhtfd.org - Bakerville & New Hartford Elementary
SOCIAL WORKER
Milano-Mailhot, Alison - milano-mailhota@newhtfd.org - supports all schools
SCHOOL COUNSELOR/ LICENSED PROFESSIONAL COUNSELOR
Palazzollo, Julie - palazzoloj@newhtfd.org - supports all schools
NURSING STAFF
Antolini - Christine Holland - hollandc@newhtfd.org
Bakerville - Marie Kitch - kitchm@newhtfd.org
New Hartford Elementary - Kara Albee - albeek@newhtfd.org
The New Hartford Public Schools also employs several ancillary staff that work on a part-time basis to service the unique needs of some of our students:
Karpovich, Amy Occupational Therapist
Storch, Jessica Physical Therapist
Connecticut Special Education Data System (CT-SEDS)
The Department of Student Services would like to make our families aware that beginning July 1, 2022, the Connecticut State Department of Education will be launching a Statewide, web-based special education data management system called CT-SEDS. CT-SEDS is an online management system for all Individualized Education Plans (IEP) and 504 documents. The use of the CT-SEDS platform will be mandatory for all CT school districts beginning July 1, 2022.
The State is moving to CT-SEDS for three reasons:
What’s New: The Parent Portal: The new CT SEDs System will include a parent portal for families to access their student’s IEP and other important information, as well as several language translations for PPT invitations and IEP documents to ensure that parents receive information in their native language. The (10) languages available for translation include: Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Creole-Haitian, Mandarin, Albanian, Polish, Urdu, Bengali, & Vietnamese.
The IEP Layout: The layout of the current individualized education plan (IEP) will also change. The new layout of the IEP is designed to be more user-friendly and easy to follow.
The most important thing to take away from these changes are that they will NOT impact your child’s special education programming. Parents and students do not have to take any action at this time. The Department of Student Services will provide information as it is received.
In the 2022-2023 academic year, if your child’s current IEP/504 is being created, reviewed, or revised, it will be completed in the new CT-SEDS platform. As usual, the Department of Student Services will contact families when they are scheduled for their next PPT/504 meeting.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act was enacted in 1973 . It prohibits discrimination against handicapped persons, including both students and staff members, by school districts receiving federal funds, regardless of whether the specific program or activity involved is a direct recipient of federal funds. Within the last several years, the Office for Civil Rights has become pro-active in the field of education of handicapped individuals.
As a student with an individualized education program (IEP) you have certain rights under both Federal and State Laws. This Transition Bill of Rights will help you and your parents understand your rights related to getting an education and other important issues regarding the transition to life after high school. School districts will provide this document annually at a planning and placement team (PPT) meeting to all parents, guardians, and surrogate parents of students who are receiving special education services in grades 6-12 as well as to students who are 18 years of age or older.
Your parents, guardians, or surrogate parents, or you if you are 18 years of age or older, also have the right to receive Procedural Safeguards in Special Education that explain the rights and responsibilities in the federal law called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). These procedural safeguards are provided at least annually at a PPT meeting by each school district. This publication describes your right to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) in the least restrictive environment (LRE) through specialized instruction and related services in your IEP.
Students with an IEP have a right to:
a) Students have met all academic requirements for graduation;
b) Transition-only services are not needed for graduation; but may include academic, vocational, and independent living types of activities that will help students meet their post-school goals;
c) PPT makes the recommendation for transition-only services that must be reviewed at least annually;
d) Transition-only services must be a coordinated set of individualized activities but do not need to be a specialized “program;”
e) Transition-only services must provide students with the opportunity to spend at least 80% of their time with non-disabled peers;
f) Students are entitled to participate in graduation activities upon completion of academic requirements or at the conclusion of transition-only services – this is a PPT decision; and
g) If students participate in transition-only services, the date on their diploma or certificate will be the date that they exit high school (either aging out at 21 or with a diploma or certificate).
In addition, the following should also be considered:
h) Transition-only services are typically discussed during the senior year of high school;
i) Transition-only services should be based in the local community to the greatest extent possible in order to prepare students for life after high school;
If you have questions or have a problem asserting any of these rights, first speak to your teacher, school case manager, school counselor and parent/guardian or surrogate parent. If you need additional help, you (or your parents, guardians, or surrogate parents) have the right to file a complaint, ask for mediation and if needed ask for an impartial due process hearing. For more information, you can download a copy of the publication Parent’s Guide to Special Education or obtain a copy from your school.