Special Education

• Marathon will provide a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) consistent with the need to protect the health and safety of students with disabilities and those providing special education services.

 

• Marathon will make every effort to educate students with disabilities with their non-disabled peers while maintaining the health and safety requirements set forth by the Department of Health.

 

• Remote learning - During periods of time when school is closed, students with disabilities will participate in virtual instruction (Google Classroom) with their grade level peers to the maximum extent possible.  Examples of this include Co-taught sections of a particular subject area.
• Hybrid - all students in grades K-5 with an IEP will attend school Monday-Friday.  Students in grade 6-12 with IEPs will have expanded opportunities for in-person instruction Monday-Friday. 
• Full In-Person with Heightened Health and Safety Protocols - All students with an IEP will attend school Monday-Friday and receive special education services in person.

 

• Marathon will document the programs, services and communication with parents of students with a disability in a manner that is easily understood and readily available.

 

• Marathon will seek regular input regarding the programs and services offered to students with disabilities.

 

• Marathon will encourage meaningful parental engagement regarding the provision of services to their child through participation in program reviews as well as annual committee on special education meetings.

 

• During periods of time when school is closed or in hybrid mode, program reviews and annual reviews will be conducted virtually by phone conference or Zoom meetings.
• When school is full in-person with or without heightened health and safety protocols, parents will be given the choice to do meetings in person, by phone or by Zoom.

 

• Marathon will continue to work in partnership with the CPSE/CSE and program providers representing a variety of settings where students are served in an effort to ensure that committee recommendations for programs and services are being delivered as indicated on the IEP.

 

• Communication with parents regarding their child’s progress toward annual goals will continue to occur at regular 10-week intervals throughout the school year.

 

• During the 2020-21 school year, due to the health and safety requirements that must be in place when schools resume, schools may not be able to provide all services in the same mode and/or manner they are typically provided.

 

• Remote learning mode - The programs and related services listed on a child’s IEP will be delivered virtually, through a combination of real-time video sessions (Zoom), pre-recorded video lessons that may be accessed at a later time during the day, and/or phone calls to work with individual students.
• Hybrid mode - The programs and related services listed on a child’s IEP will be delivered in-person.
• Full In-Person with Heightened Health and Safety Protocols - The programs and related services listed on a child’s IEP will be delivered in-person.

 

• Marathon will ensure access to the necessary instructional and technological supports to meet the unique needs of students with disabilities.

 

• Staff will collaborate with each child’s case manager to develop a plan for delivering the accommodations, modifications, supplementary aids and services and technology listed on the IEP.  Teachers, Aides, counselors, social workers, and Teacher Assistants will work together to meet the needs of students with disabilities during distance learning.

 

• Marathon will prioritize in-person instruction and services as staffing and space to maintain social distancing allows, for students with disabilities, and will develop contingency plans for remote learning in the event of a school closure.

 

• Teachers and service providers must continue to collect data, whether in-person or remotely, and use these data to monitor each student’s progress toward the annual goals and to evaluate the effectiveness of the student’s special education services.

 

• If the school district is in session remotely or otherwise, pupil transportation must be provided to nonpublic, parochial, private, charter schools or students whose Individualized Education Program have placed them out of the district whose schools are meeting in conducting in-person session education even when/if the district is not.