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The Brandywine Heights Area School District provides special education and related service to resident children with disabilities who are ages three through twenty-one. The purpose of this notice is to describe (1) the types of disabilities that might qualify the child for such programs and services, (2) the special education programs and related services that are available, (3) the process by which the public schools screen and evaluate such students to determine eligibility, and (4) the special rights that pertain to such children and their parents or legal guardians. For further information regarding special education programs and services in the Brandywine Heights Area School District, contact:

Mrs. Mary Darrach, Director of Special Education
200 West Weis Street
Topton, PA 19562
610.682.5181

 

What types of disability might qualify a child for special education and related services?

Under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, or “IDEA,” children qualify for special education and related services if they have one or more of the following disabilities and, as a result, need such services: (1) mental retardation; (2) hearing impairments, including deafness; (3) speech or language impairments; (4) visual impairments, including blindness; (5) emotional disturbance; (6) orthopedic impairments, or physical disabilities; (7) autism, including pervasive developmental disorders; (8) traumatic brain injury, or neurological impairment; (9) other health impairment; (10) specific learning disabilities. Children age three through the age of admission to first grade are also eligible if they have developmental delays and, as a result, need special education and related services. Children with more than one of the foregoing disabilities could qualify for special education and related services as having multiple disabilities.

The legal definitions of these disabilities, which the public schools are required to apply under the IDEA, may differ from those used in medical or clinical practice. The legal definitions, moreover, could apply to children with disabilities that have very different medical or clinical disorders. A child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, for example, could qualify for special education and related services as a child with “other health impairments,” “emotional disturbance,” or “specific learning disabilities” if the child meets the eligibility criteria under one or more of these disability categories and if the child needs special education and related services as a result.

Under Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, some school age children with disabilities who do not meet the eligibility criteria outlined above might nevertheless be eligible for special protections and for adaptations and accommodations in instruction, facilities, and activities. Children are entitled to such protections, adaptations, and accommodations if they have a mental or physical disability that substantially limits or prohibits participation in or access to an aspect of the school program.

What programs and services are available for children with disabilities?

Public schools must ensure that children with disabilities are educated to the maximum extent possible in the regular education environment, and that the instruction they receive conforms as much as possible to the instruction that non-disabled students receive. Programs and services available to students with disabilities, in descending order of preference, are (1) regular class placement with supplementary aides and services provided as needed in that environment; (2) regular class placement for most of the school day with itinerant service by a special education teacher either in or out of the regular classroom; (3) regular class placement for most of the school day with instruction provided by a special education teacher in a resource classroom; (4) part time special education class placement in a regular public school or alternative setting; and (5) special education class placement or special education services provided outside the regular class for most or all of the school day, either in a regular public school or alternative setting.

Depending on the nature and severity of the disability, the public school can provide special education programs and services in (1) the public school the child would attend if not disabled, (2) an alternative regular public school either in or outside the school district of residence, (3) a special education center operated by a public school entity, (4) an approved private school or other private facility licensed to serve children with disabilities, (5) a residential school, (6) approved out-of-state program, or (7) the home.

Special education services are provided according to the primary educational needs of the child, not the category of disability. The types of service available are (1) learning support, for students who primarily need assistance with the acquisition of academic skills; (2) life skills support, for students who primarily need assistance with development of skills for independent living; (3) emotional support, for students who primarily need assistance with social or emotional development; (4) deaf or hearing impaired support, for students who primarily need assistance with deafness; (5) blind or visually impaired support, for students who primarily need assistance with blindness; (6) physical support, for students who primarily require physical assistance in the learning environment; (7) autistic support, for students who primarily need assistance in the areas affected by autism spectrum disorders; and (8) multiple disabilities support, for students who primarily need assistance in multiple areas affected by their disabilities.

Related services are designed to enable the child to participate in or access his or her program of special education. Examples of related services, include but are not limited to, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, nursing services, audiologist services, counseling, and family training.

Children of preschool age are served by the Berks County Intermediate Unit in a variety of home and school-based settings that take into account the chronological and developmental age and primary needs of the child. As with school age programs, preschool programs must ensure that to the maximum extent possible, children with disabilities are educated with non-disabled peers.

The public school, in conjunction with the parents, determines the type and intensity of special education and related services that a particular child needs based exclusively on the unique program of special education and related services that the school develops for that child. The child’s program is described in writing in an individualized education program, or “IEP,” which is developed by an IEP team consisting of educators, parents, and other persons with special expertise or familiarity the child. The parents of the child have the right to be notified of and to participate in all meetings of their child’s IEP team. The IEP is revised as often as circumstances warrant but reviewed at least annually. The law requires that the program and placement of the child, as described in the IEP, be reasonably calculated to ensure meaningful educational progress to the student at all times. IEPs contain, at a minimum, a statement of present levels of educational performance, an enumeration of the annual goals and short-term objectives or benchmarks established for the child, and a statement of the special education and related services that the child needs to make meaningful educational progress. For children aged fourteen and older, the IEP must also include an appropriate transition plan to assist in the attainment of post-secondary objectives. The public school must invite the child to the IEP team meeting at which the transition plan is developed.

How do the public schools screen and evaluate children to determine eligibility for special education and related services?

Multidisciplinary team evaluation

The public schools must conduct a multidisciplinary team evaluation of every child who is thought to have a disability. The multidisciplinary team is a group of professionals who are trained in and experienced with the testing, assessment, and observation of children to determine whether they have disabilities and, if so, to identify their primary educational strengths and needs. Parents are members of the multidisciplinary team. Public schools must reevaluate school-age students receiving special education services every three years and children with mental retardation and pre-school-age students receiving special education services every two years.

Parents may request a multidisciplinary team evaluation of their children at any time. They must do so in writing. Every public school has a procedure in place by which parents can request an evaluation. For information about the procedures that apply in your public school, contact the public elementary, middle, or high school to which children in your area are assigned. Telephone numbers and addresses for these schools can be found in the blue pages section of the telephone book under the heading “Schools.” Parents of preschool age children, age three through five, may request an evaluation in writing by addressing a letter as follows: Berks County Intermediate Unit, Early Intervention Services, P.O. Box 16050, Reading, Pennsylvania 19612-6050. The telephone number for the Early Intervention Program is (610) 987-8543. If the public school denies the parents’ request for an evaluation, the parents have the right to challenge the denial through an impartial hearing or through voluntary alternative dispute resolution such as a prehearing conference or mediation.

Parents of children in private schools may request a multidisciplinary team evaluation of their children without enrolling in the public schools. If, after an evaluation, the multidisciplinary team determines that the child is eligible for special education and related services, the public school must offer the parents an IEP and a public school-sponsored placement. If parents wish to take advantage of such an offer, they might have to enroll or re-enroll their child in the public schools to do so. In some cases, students may be eligible to receive special education services at the public school while still attending the private school.

Before the public school can proceed with an evaluation, it must notify the parents in writing of the specific types of testing and assessment it proposes to conduct, of the date and time of the evaluation, and of the parents’ rights. The evaluation cannot begin until the parent has signed the written notice indicating that he or she consents to the proposed testing and assessments and has returned the notice to the public school.

Screening

Public schools undertake screening activities before referring children for a multidisciplinary team evaluation.

For children at every grade level, public schools have an instructional support team, or “IST,” or other similar group that consists of the child’s teacher, an instructional support teacher, or other similar professional who is trained in modifying and adapting instruction and the instructional environment, the child’s parents, and other specialists as needed. With the involvement and consent of the parents, the IST or other similar group will provide peer support for teachers and other staff members to assist them in working effectively with students in the general educational curriculum, and develop a written action plan for assessing the students’ academic and/or behavioral functioning, for determining whether the student’s assessed difficulties are due to a lack of instruction or limited English proficiency, for implementing various modifications and adaptations to the child’s instruction or instructional environment or providing support services other than special education, and for assessing the student’s response to the interventions and whether the student’s needs exceed the functional ability of the regular education program to maintain the student at an appropriate instructional level. The effectiveness of these pre-referral interventions will be assessed within sixty school days to determine whether regular education modifications, adaptations, and supports are effective or whether evaluation by a multidisciplinary team as described above is necessary. While the district may not request an evaluation prior to completing these screening activities, except in extraordinary circumstances, parents may request that an evaluation proceed without the completion of screening activities in advance.

Prior to IST, school districts undertake various pre-screening activities, such as performance of vision and hearing screenings, review of group achievement test results, and referral for English language proficiency assessments through English as Second Language or English Language Learners’ programs.

For information about the dates of various screening activities in your local public school or to request screening activities for a particular child, contact the local public school directly. Telephone numbers and addresses for these schools can be found in the blue pages section of the telephone book under the heading “Schools.” Parents of preschool age children, age three through five, may obtain information about screening activities, or may request a screening of their children, by calling or writing the Berks County Intermediate Unit, Early Intervention Services, P.O. Box 16050, Reading, Pennsylvania 19612-6050; phone number (610) 987-8543.

Private school administrators, teachers, and parent groups, or individual parents of students in private schools, who are interested in establishing systems in those schools for locating and identifying children with disabilities who might need a multidisciplinary team evaluation may contact Arlene G. Otis, Ed.D. at Berks County Intermediate Unit, P.O. Box 16050, Reading, Pennsylvania 19612-6050; phone number (610) 987-8511.

What special rights and protections do children with disabilities and their parents have?

State and federal law affords many rights and protections to children with disabilities and their parents. A summary of those rights and protections follows. Interested persons may obtain a complete written summary of the rights and protections afforded by the law, together with information about free or low cost legal services and advice, by contacting the special education or student services department of the school district in which they reside at the address and telephone number listed at the end of this notice. The written summary is also available through the Berks County Intermediate Unit, Early Intervention Services, P.O. Box 16050, Reading, Pennsylvania 19612-6050; phone number (610) 987-8543.

Rights and Protections

Notice:    The public school must notify parents in writing whenever it proposes to initiate or to change substantially the identification, evaluation, educational program, or placement of a child or whenever it refuses to initiate or make a change in identification, evaluation, educational program, or placement requested by a parent. Such notice must be accompanied by a full written description of the parents’ rights.

Consent:   The public school cannot proceed with an evaluation or reevaluation, or with the initial provision of special education and related services, without the written consent of the parents, unless, after seeking such consent, it obtains the approval of an impartial hearing officer or judge following a hearing. If the parents fail to respond to a written request for permission to reevaluate, however, the public school may proceed with the proposed reevaluation without receipt of written consent if the district has taken reasonable measures to obtain consent and the parent has not responded.

Protection in Evaluation Procedures:   Evaluations to determine eligibility and current need for special education and related services must be administered in a manner that is free of racial, cultural, or linguistic bias. Evaluations cannot consist of a single test or assessment, and testing must be a valid measure of the psychological, social, emotional, or other learning characteristic or behavior that the school is using it to measure. Testing and assessment must be administered in accordance with professional standards and the criteria established by the publisher. It must be administered in the native language of the child.

Independent Educational Evaluation:   Parents of children with disabilities have the right to obtain an independent educational evaluation of the child. Each public school will provide to the parents, upon request, information about where an independent educational evaluation may be obtained and the criteria established by the public school for an independent educational evaluation at public expense. If the parent obtains an independent evaluation at private expense, the results of the evaluation must be considered by the public school in any decision made with respect to the provision of a free appropriate public education to the child, if it meets the public school criteria. If parents disagree with the evaluation conducted by the public school, they may request in writing an independent educational evaluation, or “IEE,” at public expense. The policy of the public schools of Berks County is to refuse to pay for such evaluations if the independent evaluator is not a Pennsylvania certified or licensed professional, if the evaluation is not conducted in the same manner that the law requires of public school evaluations, or if the cost of the evaluation substantially exceeds the prevailing cost of similar evaluations in the region. Exceptions to these limitations will be granted only for compelling reasons. If the public school refuses to pay for the IEE, it must request an immediate special education due process hearing to defend the appropriateness of its evaluation. If a hearing officer requests an independent educational evaluation as part of a hearing, the cost of the evaluation must be at public expense.

Special Education Due Process Hearing:   Parents may at any time request a special education due process hearing to challenge (1) the identification, evaluation, program, or placement of the child proposed by the public school; (2) the refusal of the public school to initiate or change the identification, evaluation, program, or placement of the child; or (3) the provision or failure to provide a free appropriate public education to the child. The hearing must occur within thirty days of then parents’ request unless the hearing officer grants a continuance. The hearing shall be an oral, personal hearing and shall be closed to the public unless the parents request an open hearing. If the hearing is open, the decision issued in the case, and only the decision, shall be available to the public. If the hearing is closed, the decision shall be treated as an educational record of the student or young child and may not be available to the public. The hearing must be held before an impartial hearing officer at a time and location convenient to the parents. Parents have the right to request a free written or, at the option of the parents, an electronic verbatim transcript or recording of the proceedings, to present evidence and witnesses disclosed to the public school at least five business days before the hearing, to confront evidence and testimony presented by the public school, to review, or have their representative review, their child’s complete educational record on request before the hearing, to receive a written or electronic findings of fact and decision from the hearing officer, and to be represented by legal counsel and accompanied and advised by individuals with special knowledge or training with respect to the problems of children with disabilities of their choice. Parents of school age children may, within fifteen days of receipt of the written decision of the hearing officer, appeal the ruling of the hearing officer to a state-level panel of three administrative hearing officers. Upon receipt of the written decision of the appeals panel, parents may file within thirty days an action in the appropriate federal district court or in the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. The decision of the hearing officer regarding an eligible young child may be appealed to a court of competent jurisdiction. Failure to pursue due process hearings or to appeal decisions resulting therefrom in a timely manner can bar the ability of the parents to raise some or all of their claims. To request, or obtain information about, a special education due process hearing for school age children, parents are directed to contact the public school’s office of special education. To request, or obtain information about, a special education due process hearing for eligible young children, parents are directed to contact the Berks County Intermediate Unit. Information concerning special education due process hearings also may be obtained from the Office for Dispute Resolution, 6340 Flank Drive, Suite 600, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17112-2764; telephone number (800) 222-3352. The failure of parents to initiate a request for a hearing within one year of the date on which they were or should have been aware of a problem concerning the education of their child could limit their ability to raise issues or demand remedies.

Mediation and Pre-hearing Conferences:   Without prejudice to the right to a hearing as outlined above, parents and public school officials can agree to mediate or attempt to resolve amicably through a pre-hearing conference any or all of the issues between them. Information concerning mediation can be obtained from, and requests for mediation can be addressed to Office for Dispute Resolution, 6340 Flank Drive, Suite 600, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17112-2764; telephone number (800) 222-3352.

Maintenance of Placement:   During any dispute between the public school and the parents, the public school must maintain the child in the then-current educational placement. This “stay put” rule does not apply to programs and placements recommended by public schools in other states, to programs and placements in private schools that are not the recommended placement of the public school, and to exclusions from school for possession or use of an illegal substance or for possession of a weapon when the public school is proposing an alternative school placement for up to forty-five days.

Attorney’s Fees and Costs:   When parents ultimately prevail in an administrative hearing or judicial challenge against a public school related to their child with disabilities they may recover from the public school reasonable attorney’s fees and costs incurred in the pursuit of the administrative hearing or judicial challenge. Fees and costs are not available for attendance of the attorney at IEP team meetings unless a hearing officer or judge orders the meeting. Parents can be denied some or all of their claim for fees and costs if they fail to provide written notice to the public school at least ten days before the due process hearing of the problems or concerns that they have with the actions or inaction of the public school, the specific facts that support their problems or concerns, and their proposed resolution, if any.

Private School Tuition Reimbursement:   In some cases, parents of children who were identified by the public school as eligible for special education and related services and who received such services can recover in a due process hearing or from a court an award of private school tuition reimbursement. Parents can also receive such awards if their child was in need of special education and related services but were not offered such services in a timely manner. To obtain an award of tuition reimbursement, parents must notify their public school of their intent to enroll their child in a private school either verbally at the last IEP team meeting prior to withdrawing their child or in writing received by the public school at least ten days prior to the date on which the child is withdrawn from public school. Parents can obtain tuition only when they can prove at a special education due process hearing that (1) the public school failed to offer an appropriate program or placement to the child, (2) the parents therefore placed their child in a private school, and (3) the private school placement was proper. Tuition reimbursement awards can be denied or reduced if the parent’s behavior was improper or if the parents delay unreasonably in asserting a claim against the public school in a due process hearing. Such awards can also be denied or reduced if the parents fail to do one of the following: (1) notify the public school of their intent to place the child in a private school at the last IEP team meeting prior to the planned placement or (2) notify the public school in writing of their intent to place the student in a private school at least ten days before withdrawing the student for that purpose.

Rights under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.    As noted above, some students with disabilities who are not in need of special education and related services are nevertheless entitled to adaptations and accommodations in their school program or in the physical environment of school buildings, grounds, vehicles, and equipment, when such adaptations or accommodations are required to enable the student to access and participate meaningfully in educational programming and extracurricular activities. Parents are entitled to a written description of the adaptations and accommodations that the public school is willing to offer. This written description is called a “service agreement” or “accommodation plan.” The rights and protections described above under the headings “Notice,” “Consent,” “Protection in Evaluation Procedures,” and “Maintenance of Placement” apply to students receiving adaptations and accommodations under Section 504. Parents who have complaints concerning the evaluation, program, placement, or provision of services to a student may request an informal conference with the public school, request a due process hearing, or initiate judicial action in a court of competent jurisdiction. The hearing must be held before an impartial hearing officer at a time and location convenient to the parents. Parents have the right to request a free written or electronic transcript or recording of the proceedings, to present evidence and witnesses disclosed to the public school, to confront evidence and testimony presented by the public school, to review their child’s complete educational record on request before the hearing, to receive a written decision from the hearing officer, and to be represented by legal counsel and accompanied and advised by individuals with special knowledge or training with respect to the problems of children with disabilities of their choice. An appeal may be taken from the decision of the hearing officer to a court of competent jurisdiction.

Student Records 

The public schools of Berks County maintain records concerning all children enrolled in public school, including students with disabilities. Records containing personally identifiable information about or related to children with disabilities could include, but are not limited to, cumulative grade reports, discipline records, enrollment and attendance records, health records, individualized education programs, notices of recommended assignment, notices of intent to evaluate and reevaluate, comprehensive evaluation reports, other evaluation reports by public school staff and by outside evaluators, work samples, test data, data entered into the Penn Data system, correspondence between school staff and home, instructional support team documents, referral data, memoranda, and other education-related documents. Records can be maintained on paper, on microfiche, on audio or videotape, and electronically. In the case of personally-identifiable information on paper or stored on magnetic or video tape, the term maintain shall mean kept in a secure file or desk drawer or in the continuous and secure control of a school official with a legitimate educational interest in the content thereof. In the case of personally-identifiable digital information that is electronically-stored, including electronic mail, the term shall mean kept in a secure database located on a server or servers, disk partition, or other electronic storage system specifically designated by the Superintendent or his or her designee as a “student records maintenance site.” Records can be located in the central administrative offices of the public school, the administrative offices of the Berks County Intermediate Unit, the school building or building at which the student attended or attends school, private schools and facilities at which the public school has placed the child for educational purposes, central storage facilities and electronic storage systems, and in the secure possession of teachers, building administrators, specialists, psychologists, counselors, and other school staff with a legitimate educational interest in the information contained therein. All records are maintained in the strictest confidentiality.

Records are maintained as long as they remain educationally relevant. Public schools are required by law, however, to maintain a written record of each child’s name, address, telephone number, grades, attendance records, classes attended, grade level completed, and year completed for at least 100 years beyond the date on which the child attains the age of twenty-four and to maintain health records for at least two years beyond the date on which the student ceases to be enrolled. The purposes of collecting and maintaining records are (1) to ensure that the child receives programs and services consistent with his or her IEP; (2) to monitor the ongoing effectiveness of programming for the child; (3) to document for the public school and the parents that the student is making meaningful progress; (4) to satisfy the requirements of state and federal agencies who have an interest in inspecting or reviewing documents concerning particular students or groups of students for purposes of compliance monitoring, complaint investigation, and fiscal and program audits; and (5) to inform future programming for and evaluations of the child.

When educational records, other than those which must be maintained, are no longer educationally relevant to the education of students and young children with disabilities, the public school must inform parents of children when personally identifiable information collected, maintained, or used is no longer needed to provide educational services to the child and may destroy the records or, at the request of the parents, must destroy them. Public schools are not required to destroy records that are no longer educationally relevant unless the parents so request in writing.

Access to Records

Upon submitting a request to do so in writing, parents have the right to access the educational records of their child within forty-five days or before any due process hearing, whichever is sooner. The public school will presume that the parent has authority to inspect and review records relating to his or her child unless the agency has been advised in writing that the parent does not have the authority under applicable state law governing such matters as guardianship, separation, and divorce.

Access affords the parents to the following: (1) a response to reasonable requests for an explanation and interpretation of these records by public school personnel; (2) copies of the records if providing copies is the only means by which the parents can effectively exercise their right of inspection and review; and (3) inspection and review of the records by a representative of your choosing upon presentation to the records custodian of a written authorization from the parent. The public school can charge a fee not to exceed its actual costs for copying records so long as the fee does not effectively prevent the parents from exercising their right to inspect and review those records. The public school may not charge a fee to search for or retrieve student records.

After reviewing records, parents may ask the public school to change any information that they believe is inaccurate or misleading or violates the child’s privacy rights. The school will make the requested changes or reject the request within forty-five days of the receipt of the request in writing. If the school rejects the request, the parent may request an informal hearing. The hearing can be held before any public school official who does not have a direct interest in its outcome. If the parents are dissatisfied with the outcome of the informal hearing, they may submit to the public school a statement outlining their disagreement with the record. The school thereafter must attach a copy of that statement to all copies of the record disclosed to third parties.

Parental Consent for Disclosure of Records

Parent consent is required in writing prior to the release of any personally identifiable information concerning a child with disabilities. Parent consent is not required, however, prior to the release of information

  1. to a hearing officer in a special education due process hearing;
  2. to public school staff and contractors with a legitimate educational interest in the information – including teachers of the child, building administrators, guidance counselors to whom the child is assigned, members of instructional support and multidisciplinary teams in the course of screening and evaluation activities, public school administrators with responsibility for programs in which the student is enrolled or intends to be enrolled, program specialists and instructional aides working with the child, therapeutic staff working with the child, and substitutes for any of the foregoing persons, clerical staff of the agencies enumerated above who are responsible for the maintenance and security of education records and to attorneys, consultants, and school board members when school board action concerning the student is required by law or when the education or treatment of the student is the subject of present or potential litigation or legal dispute, any employee or contractor of the District of residence, the Berks County Intermediate Unit, the area vocational technical school, and any public or private school or facility that the District is using or is proposing to use to provide elementary or secondary education to the student in place of a public school, who is or will be responsible for providing or supervising the provision of education, education-related services, or extra-curricular activities or experiences to or for the student, when—

    i. particular information concerning that student is presently or potentially relevant to the provision of such education, education-related services, or extracurricular activities or experiences, or

    ii. when such information is necessary to protect the health, safety, or welfare of other students with whom the student might have contact;

  3. to officials or staff of other schools and school systems at which the student is enrolled or intends to enroll;
  4. to federal or state education officials and agencies and to the Comptroller of the United States;
  5. to accrediting organizations to carry out their accrediting functions;
  6. to comply with a lawful subpoena or judicial order;
  7. in conjunction with a health or safety emergency to the extent necessary to protect the health and safety of the child or others; or
  8. that the public schools have designated as “directory information.” Disclosure without consent of the parent is subject to certain conditions more fully described in the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, 20 U.S.C § 1332g, and its implementing regulation, 34 C.F.R. Part 99.

The public schools of Berks County have designated the following as “directory information”: (1) the name, address, and telephone number of the child; (2) the date and place of birth of the child; (3) participation in school clubs and extracurricular activities; (4) weight and height of members of athletic teams; (5) dates of attendance; (6) diplomas and awards received; (7) the most recent previous institution or school attended by the child; and (8) names of parents, siblings, and other family members. The parent of an actively enrolled public school student may, within thirty days of the publication of this notice, request in writing that information here designated as directory not be disclosed without parental consent. If the public school does not receive such request within this time, it will assume that it may release such information without consent. Written notice must be received either at the local public school in which the child is enrolled or at the administrative offices of the public school at the appropriate address listed below.

This notice is only a summary of the special education services, evaluation and screening activities, and rights and protections pertaining to children with disabilities, children thought to be disabled, and their parents. For more information or to request evaluation or screening of a public or private school child contact, the public school nearest you. The number and addresses of all public schools in Berks County are located in the blue pages of the telephone book under the heading “Schools.” Information can also be obtained, and screenings and evaluations requested, by contacting the offices of special education or student services in each of the various school districts or, for preschool children, at Berks County Intermediate Unit.