Special Education
Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday 7:30 a.m. -4:30 p.m.
Phone: 337-521-7237 | 337-521-7115
Location:
202 Rue Iberville
Lafayette, LA 70508
Special Education Advisory Panel
The Lafayette Parish School System (LPSS) is soliciting applicants for its Special Education Advisory Panel (SEAP). The online application form can be accessed from the LPSS homepage and is open through Friday, June 24, 2022. Members are being sought from the following stakeholder groups:
- Parents or legal guardians of students with disabilities enrolled in Lafayette Parish schools
- Teachers, Principals, and Paraprofessionals employed by LPSS
- Adults with disabilities
- Self-advocates (high school students with disabilities)
- Members of organizations serving students with disabilities
- Employers of students with disabilities
- School Board Members
- School student leadership
This council will meet three (3) times per year to provide advice and recommendations regarding special education policies, procedures, and resources.
For more information, contact Special Education Director Holly Ortego hcortego@lpssonline.com
Holly Ortego, Director
Special Education Goals and Purposes
-
It is the goal of the Lafayette Parish School System to provide full educational opportunities to all students with disabilities and exceptionalities, ages 3-21, residing within its jurisdiction. LPSS also provides a free, appropriate public education to each eligible exceptional child, ages 3-21 residing within its jurisdiction.
Information about Special Education
- In October of 1990 the Education For All Handicapped Children Act was reauthorized and renamed Individuals with Disabilities Education Act which is now know known as IDEA.
- The Every Student Succeeds Act is a US law passed in December 2015 that governs the United States K–12 public education policy. The law replaced its predecessor, the No Child Left Behind Act, and modified but did not eliminate provisions relating to the periodic standardized tests given to students.
- A wide range of services for students with disabilities are available to elementary and secondary school age children.
- The LPSS Department of Special Education provides services to our students with gifted and talented exceptionalities.
- IDEA lists 13 different disability categories under which 3- through 21-year-olds may be eligible for services. The disability categories listed in IDEA are:
autism
deaf-blindness
deafness
emotional disturbance
hearing impairment
intellectual disability
multiple disabilities
orthopedic impairment
other health impairment
specific learning disability
speech or language impairment
traumatic brain injury
visual impairment (including blindness)
Elementary and secondary programs utilize various organizational structures, including inclusion, self-contained classes, resource rooms, combination self-contained and itinerant services. Each self-contained class has one teacher and one or more assistants. Placement depends upon the disability and needs of the students and is determined by the IEP committee.
This site provides information using PDF, visit this link to download the Adobe Acrobat Reader DC software.