Special Education

The Shiawassee Regional Education Service District (SRESD) supports the instruction of students in eight local school districts of Shiawassee County, Michigan, which is located geographically between the cities of Lansing and Flint. The local school districts served by the SRESD are Byron, Corunna, Durand, Laingsburg, Morrice, New Lothrop, Owosso, and Perry. In addition, the SRESD serves five non-public schools, adult service agencies, and as needed, school districts in neighboring counties. Through cooperative service, approximately 2,000 children are provided with special education programs and services during the school year. Hundreds more are served through consultative, casework, and diagnostic services.

Unified Systems

Cooperation and collaboration are the hallmark of the Shiawassee (SRESD) delivery system. Through a common vision and pooled resources, the SRESD, local education agencies (LEAs), Michigan Department of Education (MDE), and non-public schools provide a united system of student and family support. We are pursuing a seamless system between: general education and special education programs; school districts; public and non-public constituents through interagency partnerships.

Focused Efforts

To maximize effectiveness and cost containment, the RESD and constituents have focused their efforts. The LEAs focus on providing basic classroom and instructional support for their students. The RESD provides administrative, diagnostic, consultative, and therapeutic services in the LEAs. It also supplements local programs with inter-district placements, county-wide programs for more challenging students, and professional development services.

Cooperative Planning

Effective and efficient service delivery requires participative planning at all levels. The Special Education Service Delivery System is cooperatively developed by the MDE, SRESD, LEAs, and Parent Advisory Committee and delineated in the SRESD Special Education Plan.

Individualized planning to meet the unique needs of students with disabilities is provided through the Individualized Educational Planning Team (IEPT) process. Servicing the educational needs of infants and toddlers cannot be separated from those of the family. The Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) creates a common service plan for the family and integrates all services the child and family requires.

Community Integration

To prepare students for adult roles, the SRESD transitions students into the community through community-based instruction, work training, and work study placements. The SRESD provides leadership integrating school efforts with those of the community through such interagency efforts as: Health and Human Service Council, Early On Interagency Coordinating Council, Great Start, START, and Transition Initiatives.

Accountability

Customer confidence and continuous renewal requires feedback and accountability. The SRESD promotes this through the following: annual monitoring of legal compliance; affording parent access to procedural due process; IEP and IFSP reviews; program evaluation; and customer surveys. The SRESD is seeking to integrate these separate efforts into a continuous feedback loop.