When a parent/guardian requests an evaluation to make a special education determination, the Team Chair has five (5) school working days to provide a written response to the request (DESE Forms: N1 and N1A or N2).  The Team Chair gathers information including area(s) of suspected disability by completing an intake process.  If the parent/guardian is not the person making the referral, the parent/guardian is contacted by the Team Chair who shares information regarding the referral, the referral/evaluation process, and special education determinations.  The Team Chair gathers information regarding educational difficulties and areas of a potential disability.  Information shared includes the identified disability categories as defined by state and federal regulations as well as the three-prong approach to special education determinations detailed on the eligibility flowchart (ED1) and the use of potential draft Individual Education Programs (IEPs).

Note that all forms, laws, and regulations can be found on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Special Education website. The disability definitions from the state regulations are found in the section Special Education Determinations.

The Team Chair is available to meet with the parent/guardian.  Within five school working days following a request for evaluation, the Notice of Proposed School District Action (N1) and the Evaluation Consent Form (N1A) or The Notice of School Refusal to Act (N2) along with a copy of the Parent’s Notice of Procedural Safeguard and the eligibility flowchart (ED1) are sent to the parents/guardians. If consideration is being given to a specific learning disability, the team chair will send the required state forms that would be used in such a determination.