Special Education Services in
North Muskegon Public Schools
North Muskegon's Special Education Department provides leadership to
meet the needs of students with disabilities, their families and the
educational staff. Administrative support occurs with the referral
process, diagnostics, individual educational plans, curriculum and
transition to ensure quality programs and services.
Services available to eligible students include, but not exclusive
to psychological services, social work, occupational, physical and
speech therapy. Programs include infant/toddler and preschool
programs, resource room, categorical and regional programs. Programs
and services are determined by the individual needs of the student.
North Muskegon participates in the North Service Unit (NSU)
consortium. The NSU provides special education programs, services
and administrative oversight to Montague, Whitehall, Reeths-Puffer,
Holton and North Muskegon.
Each school district and public
school academy in Michigan is required to publicly post the
process it uses to determine the existence of a Specific
Learning Disability (SLD) for Special Education eligibility.
Consistent with the requirement, North Muskegon School District
reports the following (click on the links to read more):
Specific Learning Disability (SLD)
Project Find
Transition Services
Medicaid
Parent
Advisory Committee (PAC)
Assistive Technology
Procedural
Safeguards Available to Parents of Students with
Disabilities.
Specific Learning Disability
(SLD)
Each school district and public school academy in Michigan is
required to publicly post the process it uses to determine the
existence of a Specific Learning Disability (SLD) for Special
Education eligibility. Consistent with the requirement, North
Muskegon School District reports the following:
For determination of a SLD, a Pattern of Strengths and
Weaknesses (PSW) is currently used in all buildings, at all
grade levels. In order for a child to be eligible, s/he must
meet the following criterion as part of the determination
process.
Exhibits a pattern of strengths and weaknesses in performance,
achievement, or both, relative to age, Michigan grade-level
standards, or intellectual development, that is determined to be
relevant to the identification of a specific learning
disability.
Assessment that addresses each of the areas above must be
conducted to meet the federal requirement for a full and
individual evaluation.
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Project Find
Project Find is a program developed by the Michigan's State
Board of Education to coordinate Michigan's effort to find
individuals from birth to age 26 who have difficulties walking,
talking, hearing, speaking, or who have physical emotional, or
mental conditions that prevent them from keeping up with others
their age and that may make them eligible for special education
services provided by Michigan's public schools.
Project Find is Michigan's response to the "child find"
requirements of IDEA.
For more information on this process, please contact Kim
Burmeister, 231-719-3142 or your child's building principal:
North Muskegon Elementary Principal, Mitri Zainea - 719-4200,
email:
zaineami@nmps.k12.mi.us
North Muskegon Middle School/High School Principal,
Heidi Sunderhaft-Christiansen
- 719-4110, email:
sunderhe@nmps.k12.mi.us
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Transition Services
Every 16 year old student receiving special education services
is provided Transition Services according to IDEA 2004.
Transition from high school to adulthood is often frightening
and uncertain. Young people and their families are faced with
many options and decisions about the future. For students with
disabilities, the options may be more complex and confusing, but
with EARLY, THOUGHTFUL AND THOROUGH planning between the
student, family, teachers, and agencies, students are better
equipped to meet the challenges of adulthood.
The concept of Transition has three major components:
1. Coach every student, along with his or her family, to think
about goals for life after high school and develop strategies to
reach those goals.
2. Design the high school experience to ensure that the student
gains the skills and competencies needed to achieve his or her
desired post-school goals.
3. Identify and link students and families to any needed
post-school services, supports, or programs before the student
exits the school system.
IDEA 2004 - Transition Defined
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An Overview of the
Medicaid Program
School Based Health Services
The Social Security Act, amended by the Medicare Catastrophic
Coverage Act of 1988, provides for Medicaid reimbursement for
health-related services for a special education student included
in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or in an
Individualized Family Service Plan (IFSP) for an infant or
toddler with a disability.
In 1993, the Michigan Medical Services Administration (MSA), the
Michigan Department of Social Services (now the Family
Independence Agency or FIA), and the Michigan Department of
Education entered into an agreement which allows Michigan public
schools to be reimbursed for specific medical services provided
to special education students who are Medicaid eligible.
Examples of reimbursable medical services include, but are not
limited to:
Speech, occupational, or physical therapy,
- Vision services,
- Orientation and mobility services,
- Psychological
counseling and social work services,
- Developmental testing,
-
Nursing, and
- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) assessments.
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Commonly referred to
as School Based Services (SBS), the program was instituted by
all 12 public school districts in Muskegon County under the
auspices of the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District
(MAISD).
The MAISD acts as the enrolled Medicaid provider but the
reimbursements are distributed to the local school district
which provided the service (less administrative costs).
Information related to a student’s Medicaid enrollment and the
services rendered on behalf of that student are private and
confidential and cannot be released to anyone other than the
person providing the service and for administrative functions,
including Medicaid billing.
On November 1, 1996, Phase II of the School Based Health
Services was passed by the Health Care Financing Administration
(HCFA), which approves the State Plan services for Michigan
Medicaid coverage. Phase II included the option for public
schools to bill for case management. Up until this point, case
management had only been billed by agencies such as Community
Mental Health.
On October 1, 2003, the School Based Health Services program was
updated and is now known as Fee for Service program.
Forms, instructions, and other material contained on this
website are to be used only by authorized personnel or
contractors of public schools for the purpose of Medicaid claim
reimbursement. Any other use, without the expressed written
permission of the Muskegon Area Intermediate School District, is
prohibited.
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Parent Advisory Committee (PAC)
The Parent Advisory Committee (PAC) are parents of children with
disabilities, selected by the local district administrator and
approved by the local school board. The PAC strives to represent the
interest and concerns of students with special needs and their
parents. It also strives to promote partnership between parents,
students, the local school district and the MAISD by facilitating
communication and cooperation. The PAC is authorized under Michigan
Special Education Rules. Its purpose is to provide a formal
mechanism for parent input to the ISD Plan for Delivery of Special
Education Programs and Services.
The PAC:
Stresses cooperation between parents, school personnel and other
service providers.
- Listens and offers support to parents of special education students.
- Encourages, advises, and processes information for parents of
special education students.
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BELIEF STATEMENTS - We Believe ......
- All children deserve a quality education.
- Special Education students are children first. The disability is
secondary.
- Students, parents, school personnel, and community resources should
cooperate to maximize the potential of each and every child.
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Questions regarding PAC or parent concerns regarding special
education services may be directed to Stacy Burns, the North
Muskegon PAC representative, at 231-744-7895.
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Assistive Technology
Premier Assistive Technology has created a wide assortment of
tools that make your computer read to you. These programs are
available to you to use at home. Have your computer read your
favorite web page, email, homework, or even read a book. There
is even a program on this site that will let you convert your
documents into audio files so you can listen to them on your
IPOD! These tools are also great for proofreading and editing
your homework.
Premier products are available from their website, but you'll
need to obtain a login name and password first from your child's
special education teacher. Once you have this information, you
can Click here to log in to the Premier website.
Note the login and password are case sensitive, which means you
must correctly enter all numbers, upper-case and lower-case
letters exactly as they have been provided to you by your
school.
You can download and install as many products as you need.
Please note the only limitation is that these programs can only
be installed on computers owned by the student or parents of the
student.
