Special Education
The Northumberland County Public Schools provides special education to students with disabilities who are between two and 21 years of age. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the legal foundation from which the public schools provide a free, appropriate public education to students with disabilities.
Special Education involves specially designed instruction for those students who have been identified, through the proper procedures, as a student with a disability. The identified disability must have an adverse effect on their educational performance.
"Specially designed instruction" means adapting, as appropriate to the needs of an eligible child, the content, methodology, or delivery of instruction: (34 CFR 300.39(b)(3))
1. To address the unique needs of the child that result from the child's disability; and
2. To ensure access of the child to the general curriculum, so that the child can meet the educational standards that apply to all children within the jurisdiction of the local educational agency (Regulations Governing Special Education Programs for Children with Disabilities in Virginia).