Education  

Every child is entitled to a Free Appropriate Public Education, ages 5-21. Public education is organized by public school districts, who operate independently and based on the geographic location and boundaries.  Each district holds the obligation to serve the educational needs of school-age children in their districts- regardless of their needs.

Education Service Districts (ESD’s) are regional educational agencies that are funded by the state school fund and work to provide the various counties’ school districts with a wide array of educational programs and services as they can operate with an economy of scale that smaller districts cannot operate.  They also provide regional leadership functions to support districts with business services, technology, teaching and learning, special education and provisions under the Student Success Act.

Regional Programs are state funded organizations that focus on services for children with low-incidence disabilities (vision impairment, hearing impairment, deaf, blind, orthopedic, traumatic brain injury and autism spectrum disorder).  There are eight regions in Oregon.  

Special Education services are provided for children who have a disability and qualify from birth to three, and from ages three through 21 as compelled by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (2004).  For students who qualify for services, the Individual Education Plan (IEP) is based on their unique strengths and needs.  The IEP describes what the school district will provide.  The IEP is developed with a team of stakeholders, which is different for each student. Required members are parents, general education teacher, education specialists qualified to teach children with disabilities, a person qualified to interpret evaluation results and a district representative who has the authority to commit resources.  The IEP is the heart of the special education process, where decisions are made, and where the district will formally make the offer of FAPE.

A 504 planning team decides what supports a student with disabilities needs to "level the playing field" so the student can access educational opportunities. Some students with disabilities qualify for special education services and supports under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Section 504 is not the same as Special Education under the IDEA.  

How to coordinate with us

The best way to coordinate with school officials about questions or concerns about a child’s education would be their teacher, special education case manager, or building principal at the neighborhood school.  If experiencing difficulties reaching someone through the school who can help interface with your agency, you can contact the school district student services office and special education director. Because there are many districts in our region, we are unable to provide contact information for individual schools and districts. We recommend doing an internet search for this information. Here are some helpful links to get you started in your search:

Multnomah Education Service District

Clackamas Education Service District

Northwest Education Service District

It is important to note that often times, agencies do not have the authority to work directly with the school regarding matters of special education and section 504 as schools have the obligation first to work with the child’s parent.  Districts and schools must abide by the OAR’s that define parent.