Part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA 2004) requires that school districts locate, identify, and evaluate at public expense students who are parentally placed at private schools and who are suspected of having disabilities and needing special education and related services. This is part of the general school district responsibility, known as child find.

School districts must make available a free appropriate public education (FAPE) via an Individual Educational Plan (IEP) to those parentally-placed students who are evaluated at public expense and determined to have disabilities if the student enrolls in and attends public school. The requirement to make available a free appropriate public education does not extend to private school settings when children with disabilities are parentally placed in those settings.

There is no individual entitlement of parentally-placed private school students to receive special education services. However, some students may receive services under a Service Plan. Please see the Services Request Packet below to review what services the district has agreed to provide for the current school year.

Please note that these services are only available to parentally-placed students with disabilities (ESE) who attend nonprofit, participating private schools located within Pasco County.

Private School ESE Services Supervisor

• Barbara Kleinsorge
• bkleinso@pasco.k12.fl.us
• (813) 794-2323

ESE Service Request Packet:

ESE Request for Services Packet

Please remember the following:

• The student must be ESE eligible (have an existing IEP or found eligible via Child Find) and attend a non-profit, participating private school to receive services.
• Only the current school year ESE Service Request Packet will be accepted.
• Packets must be submitted fully completed (services request form, teacher input, parent input, and current IEP or Service Plan). Only fully completed request packets will be processed.
• Please submit the students most current IEP, or Service Plan, or staffing paperwork.
• Speech, Language, Occupational and Physical Therapists are currently a critical shortage area for the district and our contract providers. This may affect the ability of the district to provide these services to private school students.
• Further reductions in district staff may also adversely affect the ability to provide consultation services.

Consultation Process

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) requires that timely and meaningful consultation occur between the District School Board of Pasco County (DSBPC) and private school representatives regarding any decision that affects the opportunities of eligible private school students with disabilities, teachers, and other educational personnel to participate in programs under this Act, and shall continue throughout the implementation and assessment of activities under this section. The final decision regarding what services will be provided resides with the district.

Consultation meetings are typically scheduled in March or April of each school year, but the consultation process occurs throughout the school year.

Child Find - Requesting an Evaluation

"Child find" is the process of locating, identifying, and evaluating all students residing in the state, including students with disabilities who are homeless or are wards of the state and students with disilities attending private schools, regardless of the severity of their disability, and who are in need of ESE and related services. This includes all private school students ages 3-21 suspected of having a disability. (34 C.F.R. § 300.131) 

Parents requesting an evaluation for a child ages 3-5, not enrolled in a public school, may do so through FLDRS at: https://www.fdlrsgulfcoast.org/child-findrefer-a-child

Child Find - FDLRS Gulf Coast Child Find - FDLRS Gulf Coast www.fdlrsgulfcoast.org

Parents with school-aged children that are enrolled in a private school located in Pasco County and are requesting an evaluation may reach out to the ESE Supervisor of Private Schools for assistance in determining the zoned public school for that private school or the parents' address if a resident of Pasco County.

Please contact Barbara Kleinsorge, ESE Supervisor, at 813-794-2323 with any questions regarding child find or requesting an evaluation. 

Child Find - FDLRS - Gulfcoast (Pasco):

• FDLRS Screenings
• FDLRS Road Map through Child Find
• FDLRS FAQ

FLDOE Private School Links:

Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice

Private School Directory

FLDOE Private School Resources:

FLDOE Technical Assistance Paper for Students with Disabilities Enrolled by Their Parents in Private Schools

FLDOE Technical Assistance Paper for General Education Intervention Procedures, Child Find, and the Initial Provision of Exceptional Education Services to Eligible Students (See sections E-1, E-4, and E-6 on pages 14, 16-17 for information relating to private schools)

(7/16/2024)