Exceptional Student Services

St. David Unified School District offers a special education program based on a partnership between regular education and special education. Multi-educational teams, requiring parent input and participation, work together to develop appropriate programming for students on an individual basis.

A continuum of services is available for all disabled students through a resource/collaborative model. The goal is to provide each disabled student with instruction that is sufficiently intense to enable successful learning. This is accomplished by sharing teaching responsibility between regular and special education teachers and by altering instructional variables for these students. An IEP is developed on individual student needs and students are educated in the general education curriculum that assures maximum participation.

St. David School District ensures that all children with disabilities within the boundaries of the district including homeless children or wards of the state, children attending private schools or who are homeschooled, and those who are in need of special education and related services are identified, located, and evaluated.

Child Find Screening Dates for 2023–2024:

Anyone interested in receiving information about special education is encouraged to contact the special education office at (520) 720-4781, ext. 140 or 139, or visit the Arizona Department of Education AZ Find page.

Students may qualify for placement in one or more of the following areas:

• Autism
• Emotional disability
• Hearing impairment
• Mild, moderate, or severe mental retardation
• Multiple disabilities with severe sensory impairment
• Multiple disabilities
• Other health impairments
• Orthopedic impairment
• Developmental delay
• Preschool severe delay
• Specific learning disabilities
• Speech/language impairment
• Traumatic brain injury
• Visual impairment

A continuum of related services to include: occupational theory, physical therapy, counseling, speech therapy, and other related services are available to a range of support to qualifying students. The intent of the other related services is to provide service to students who require these services in order to make progress in the general curriculum.

Students are referred to special education in any number of ways. The most common is by the classroom teacher. Parents are notified of concerns and a Child Study Team (CST) meets to develop strategies that can be attempted in the student's regular class to help the student be more successful. If a referral is made to collect further data, parents must receive prior written notice. If a special education evaluation is recommended, parental consent must be obtained prior to the evaluation. School staff must complete an appropriate evaluation within 60 days. At its conclusion a student may be deemed eligible for special education placement at a meeting of evaluation staff and the parents.

If eligible, an Individual Education Plan (IEP) will be developed within 30 days of the eligibility decision. This plan is developed by the evaluation staff, special education teacher(s), regular education teacher(s), related services staff, parents, administrators, and, where appropriate, the student. The purpose of the IEP is to develop a program that will meet the student's specific needs in the areas of eligibility.

The St. David School District is in the process of destroying special education records for students who withdrew, transferred, or graduated from high school four or more years ago. We are required to notify parents or students, if they are 18 years or older, to give them an opportunity to review the records before they are destroyed. If you believe that you or your child might have special education records and would like to review them, please contact Nancy Dever at (520) 720-4781, ext.140 or via email.

All inactive/graduated records dated June 30, 2020, and older are scheduled to be destroyed July 30, 2024.

The mission of the St. David School District is to nurture academic excellence and improve student achievement. To this end, the district is committed to providing identified gifted students the services which will help them to develop their unique talents. The Gifted Scope and Sequence, which was adopted by the governing board, details the components of the program.

St. David Preschool program provides services to children ages three through five who may have communication, cognitive, social/emotional, adaptive, or motor delays. The program runs both a morning and afternoon session three days a week for two and a half hours. The program uses the Arizona Early Childhood Learning Standards and provides quality early childhood instruction and activities in all developmental domains. There are typically developing students integrated with those students in the special education program. We address special education student’s needs through their individual education plans and goals.

Specialized instruction includes:

• Early literacy and numeracy instruction
• Social/emotional skills instruction
• Self-help/adaptive skills instruction
• Motor skills activities
• Communication skills instruction
• Speech/language therapy
• Occupational therapy
• Physical therapy