A full continuum of special education and related services is available to all children who meet specific eligibility requirements. Each school provides a variety of services to address the diverse needs of their student population. All schools are committed to providing services in the least restrictive environment. This commitment provides the opportunity for children to participate in and benefit from the general education curriculum and environment as much as possible.

Child Find/Eligibility

Students are identified for special education through a child find process as required by federal and state guidelines.

Early Childhood

Students between the ages of 3-5 years old who reside within school district boundaries may participate in a developmental screening through HBR's Early Learning Program. This screening will determine if the child is meeting developmental milestones in the areas of speech and language, academic readiness, social emotional readiness, and motor skills. If difficulties are detected from the screening, an evaluation may be initiated in order to identify possible special education eligibility. To schedule a developmental screening, please contact Megan Sheffer at MSheffer@hbr429.org or 815-286-7578.

School-Age

For students who are currently attending our K-12 buildings, the district uses a Problem Solving process to provide interventions in order to supplement research based core instruction for academic or behavioral deficits.

The building Student Assistance Team regularly reviews classroom performance and assists in connecting students to appropriate interventions, if deemed appropriate. The data from this process then provides the foundation for a Response to Intervention (RtI) approach, which may result in a referral for a comprehensive evaluation and a possible determination of eligibility for special education services.

To determine whether the student requires an evaluation, the school district may utilize screening data, prior standardized assessments, current grades, social emotional information, and progress monitoring data if applicable.

Questions regarding referral procedures should be directed to the district psychologist.

Related Services

Students who qualify for special education services, may need specific services in order to meet their individual needs. Each building is staffed with personnel who are qualified to provide the appropriate services and support, as determined by the Individual Education Plan (IEP).

Social work, psychological services, speech/language therapy, occupational and physical therapy are some of the related services provided as individual student needs deem necessary. Related service staff members are listed on building staff rosters and can be contacted through the child’s school.

For questions related to special education, contact our Interim Director of Special Education, Mary Therriault at MTherriault@hbr429.org

Home Schooled or Parentally Placed Non Public Students

Full-time private school students or homeschooled students with disabilities have the opportunity to meaningfully participate in school district special education and related services throughout the school year. 

HBR ensures meaningful participation by: 

○ Completing child find

○ Providing educational recommendations for eligible students 

○ Providing direct speech-language services