Child Find Initiative

The 1997 Amendments to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act mandates that every school in the country develop a system to identify children with disabilities, birth through age 21, who live in the District. The law requires each District to conduct a “vigorous” search for children with disabilities. The rules adopted by the Ohio Department of Education direct that in addition to a three-year intensive search, school districts must conduct an annual in-school effort to identify and provide services to children with disabilities.

Few legislative mandates of the federal government have such far-reaching implications for local school districts. Summit Academy Schools are committed to working with the community in providing services that meet the individual needs of each student.

Each year Summit Academy Schools will continue its effort to identify in-school children with disabilities and will conduct an intensive awareness campaign to identify and evaluate children with disabilities under the age of twenty-one. The assistance of all is needed to accomplish this task.

Any student suspected of having a disability should be referred to the student’s Building Director, I.E.P. Coordinator, or Executive Director of Special Education. Any of these individuals will provide information about the differentiated referral system.