Special Education/EIS

All states and territories must provide early intervention services to children who have, or are at risk for having, developmental delays, from birth to their third birthday.

Most CONUS locations, local school districts or health departments provide these early intervention services. The program is called different names in different areas, but it is often referred to as Part C because that is the section of the law that pertains to early intervention. The Education Directory for Children with Special Needs has a list of resources specific to each state to help you determine who you should contact. Your installation EFMP Family Support provider can also answer your questions.

If you are moving OCONUS or to a CONUS location with a DODEA school (and you live on installation), your child will receive EIS through the Defense Department’s Educational and Developmental Intervention Services, or EDIS, program.

When moving, you should hand carry copies of your child's most current individual family service plan, or IFSP, and the most current evaluation reports to your new home to ensure they are not lost.

All states and territories provide special education and related services to eligible children between the ages of 3 through 21.

When a child transfers to a different district in the same state, the new school must provide a free, appropriate public education, including comparable services, until the previously held IEP is adopted or a new one is developed and implemented. When a child transfers to another state, the receiving school must provide comparable services until an IEP review can determine if a new evaluation or IEP is appropriate.

If you are moving and your child receives special education and related services, you should hand carry all necessary school and medical documents, including the most current IEP and current evaluation reports. Hand carrying these documents ensures that they are not lost and allows the new school to begin the process as soon as you arrive.

• Education Directory for Children with Special Needs
• EFMP & Me digital tool
• Individualized Education Program & Moving
• Special Needs Resources
• Exceptional Family Member Program videos

All public schools are required by law to provide free and equal education access to children with special needs. Larger school districts have their own Special Education departments that provide a full range of special education services. Smaller school districts may contract with the Pikes Peak Board of Cooperative Services to provide programs for special needs children.

Please bear in mind that there are ten public school districts in the Colorado Springs and surrounding communities.  Where you choose to live determines what school district your child/youth will attend, however, if placement in the neighborhood school does not meet the need of the student, transportation to the service school will be provided by school, parent, or guardian.

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a federal law requiring schools to serve the educational needs of eligible students with disabilities.  IDEA ensures that all children 3-21 receive Free Appropriate Public Education which means providing a student with disabilities special education services and the related services the student needs to benefit from his/her special education program.

Individual Education Program (IEP)

Eligibility for special education services is determined through the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process. In this process, a student is first referred for evaluations to determine whether the student has special needs and is eligible for IDEA services. After the evaluations are completed, an IEP team comprised of necessary school staff, the student's parents, and at the parents' or school's discretion, other individuals who know about the student's needs.

The IEP team will determine whether the student has an impairment, and if so, whether the student needs special education and related services. Impairments include mental retardation, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), serious emotional disturbances, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injuries, other health impairments, or specific learning disabilities.

Should your child already have an IEP in place from another state of Department of Defense school, ensure that it is hand carried along with all educational records. Do not pack these important documents in hold baggage or household goods. Doing so might result in a delay of continuity of special education services received at the losing school.

Also, keep in mind that, according to the law, Colorado schools do not have to implement the IEP as written from the losing school. While the school districts will do so to the best of their ability, an IEP meeting will be scheduled to write a Colorado IEP. This process can be facilitated quickly if the IEP is presented to school officials upon enrollment of your child in his/her respective school.