Do you suspect that your child has a disability?

A referral to Child Find may be made by a parent or by any person concerned about a child, for example, a doctor, teacher, relative or friend may contact CFBISD.   Parent involvement and agreement is obtained prior to any further action. Information is confidential and the privacy of the children and parents is protected.

Parents of a student already enrolled in a CFBISD school, who suspect that their child may have a disability, should contact their child’s teacher or a campus administrator to discuss a referral to the campus Safety Net Acceleration Planning team (SNAP).

If you are concerned that a child, who is not currently enrolled in a CFB ISD school, may have a disability and need specialized instruction, please contact the Atiliana Morales in the CFBISD Special Education Department at 972-968-5800 for more information or to begin a referral.  Once the referral information is received, a SNAP team will review the data to determine the need for, and the scope of, the evaluation.

Parents must give written consent for an evaluation to take place. All information is confidential and the privacy of the child and family is protected.  In CFBISD, evaluations are completed by educational diagnosticians, licensed specialists in school psychology (LSSP), and/or speech-language pathologists.  Other related services staff may also be involved when necessary.  Once the school receives written consent to evaluate, the District has 45 school days to conduct the evaluation and write the Full and Individual Evaluation report (FIE) and an additional 30 days to convene an Admission, Review, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee to review the results of that evaluation and make a disability determination.

The district’s child find duties also extend to students with disabilities who attend home school or who are placed in private school within the district’s boundaries regardless of place of residence.  If you concerned that a child you know, who is currently enrolled in home school or private school, may have a disability and need specialized instruction, please contact the Atiliana Morales in the CFBISD Special Education Department at 972-968-5800 for more information or to begin a referral.

Each summer, CFBISD solicits input from parents and private schools regarding the development of the district’s proportionate share plan for the provision of private and home school services through its annual consultation meeting.  The purpose of the meeting is to discuss the possible range of special education services for those students whose responsibility lies with CFBISD.

Charter schools are also responsible for identifying, locating, and evaluating their current students with known or suspected disabilities and for providing needed services for their eligible students.

A child between the ages of three through twenty-one must meet the criteria for one or more of the disability categories listed below to be eligible for special education services AND, as a result of the disability, have a  need for specially designed instruction that can only be provided through special education:

• Auditory Impairment (CFBISD deaf education services are provided from birth)
• Autism
• Deaf-Blindness (CFBISD deaf and vision education services are provided from birth)
• Emotional Disturbance
• Intellectual Disability
• Multiple Disabilities
• Non-Categorical Early Childhood (for ages 3 – 5)
• Orthopedic Impairment
• Other Health Impairment
• Specific Learning Disability
• Speech or Language Impairment
• Traumatic Brain Injury, and
• Visual Impairment (CFBISD vision education services are provided from birth)

Children who are birth to 3 years old who have a Visual Impairment (VI), an Auditory Impairment (AI), and/or Deafblindness (DB) may be served by CFBISD.  After obtaining medical documentation of a hearing or vision loss, the Early Childhood Intervention (ECI) Program will obtain consent from the parent and then make an initial referral to CFBISD.  A CFBISD evaluation specialist will work collaboratively with ECI to gather information and determine the scope of the evaluation.

A child who is age birth – 3 years old must meet IDEA requirements for VI/AI/or DB eligibility to receive services through CFBISD.  Once the eligibility is established, CFB ISD will provide services to the child as determined by the Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP) team.  Services for students with vision impairments are provided by a CFBISD Teacher of the Visually Impaired (TVI) and/or a Certified Orientation and Mobility Specialist (COMS).  Services for students with auditory impairments are provided by CFB ISD through a shared services arrangement with Dallas ISD Regional Day School Program for the Deaf (RDSPD).