C Smith Scholarship
Carson Smith Scholarship
Beehive Science & Technology Academy(BSTA) is dedicated to the personal and academic excellence of all students, including those with learning difficulties and English Language Learners, and provides outstanding education options for students with disabilities. BSTA’s curricula and teaching strategies, including the use of tiered instruction to address all learning styles, are effective for most students.
BSTA, like all public schools in Utah, follows the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and Section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act. If a child has been receiving special education under an Individualized Education Program (IEP) or services under a 504 Plan, parents should inform the staff when they make application for enrollment. BSTA does not want to have any student miss needed services or accommodations that will support success!
Idea
At BSTA, a strong and dedicated special education staff of teachers, related service providers, consultants, and paraprofessionals know how to instruct and support children with special needs by:
- Teaching and providing proper referral procedures for classroom teachers and parentsActing as a resource for classroom teachers for strategies to support students with different learning needs
- Performing student assessments and evaluations
- Conducting group and/or individual instruction
- Managing documentation of eligibility, IEPs, progress reports
- Providing opportunities for meetings with parents, classroom teachers, and other professionals as appropriate
If a child is not making adequate progress in the grade level curriculum, these issues should be discussed by the parent and teacher. Continuing problems with educational performance may cause a parent or teacher to suspect a child has a disability that might make him/her eligible for services under the IDEA. The parent or teacher may make a referral for an evaluation to test specific areas of concern. The information collected will be considered by an eligibility team, including the parent, in deciding whether the child does have a disability that adversely affects his/her educational performance and requires specialized instruction or specialized instruction and related services. An evaluation will not be conducted without the parent’s written informed consent.
If a child is found eligible, an IEP will be developed by a team including the parent. No child will receive special education services without the written consent of the parent(s).
Areas of disability defined under the IDEA:
- Deaf/blindness
- Autism
- Emotional Disturbance
- Developmental Delay
- Hearing Impairment/Deafness
- Intellectual Disability
- Multiple Disabilities
- Orthopedic Impairment
- Other Health Impairment
- Specific Learning Disability
- Speech-Language Impairment
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Visual Impairment (including Blindness)
BSTA uses Method C
Combination of Response to Intervention and Significant Discrepancy to identify students who have Specific Learning Disabilities as defined in the Utah State Board of Education Special Education Rules. All students are engaged in a tiered model of instruction with supplemental interventions provided in areas where the student is not achieving the State grade-level standards. Parents are informed of strategies used and will receive reports of periodic assessments of progress, along with quarterly reports on overall performance.
Section 504
The eligibility requirements for a 504 Plan differ from those for IDEA. If a parent or a child’s teachers suspect that a child may have a disability that substantially limits one or more major life function, a request for determination of eligibility for a 504 Plan may be made to the school’s 504 Coordinator.
Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship
The Carson Smith scholarship provides tuition assistance for eligible special needs students enrolled in eligible private schools. Prospective applicants may view detailed program information at Scholarship.aspx
Student eligibility requirements: To be eligible for the scholarship, the student must meet a set of requirements including that the student was enrolled in a pubic school in the 2011-2012 school year, had a current IEP during that school year, and has been admitted to an eligible private school. For complete eligibility details follow the link above.
If you would like more information about the IDEA and the Utah State Board of Education Special Education Rules, ask a special education teacher at BSTA or go to www.school.utah.gov/SARS.