What is Special Education?
Hemet Unified School District joins 24 other local educational agency (LEA) members to form the Riverside County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA), which is the largest multi-district SELPA in California. Riverside County SELPA supports Hemet Unified School District in the implementation of the legal requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEIA) and its supporting regulations for Special Education.
Education Code
56031 (a) "Special education," in accordance with Section 1401 (29) of Title 20 of the United States Code, means specially designed instruction, at no cost to the parent, to meet the unique needs of individuals with exceptional needs, including instruction conducted in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and other settings, and instruction in physical education.
(b) In accordance with Section 300.39 of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, special education includes each of the following, if the services otherwise meet the requirements of subdivision (a):
(1) Speech-language pathology services, or any other designated instruction and service or related service, pursuant to Section 56363, if the service is considered special education rather than a designated instruction and service or related service under state standards.
(2) Travel training.
(3) Vocational education.
(c) Transition services for individuals with exceptional needs may be special education, in accordance with Section 300.43(b) of Title 34 of the Code of Federal Regulations, if provided as specially designed instruction, or a related service, if required to assist an individual with exceptional needs to benefit from special education.
(d) Individuals with exceptional needs shall be grouped for instructional purposes according to their instructional needs
Federal and state law define individuals with exceptional needs as including children with intellectual disabilities, hearing impairments (including deafness), speech or language impairments, visual impairments (including blindness), emotional disturbance, orthopedic impairments, autism, traumatic brain injury, other health impairments, specific learning disabilities, deaf-blindness, or multiple disabilities; and who by reason thereof, need special education and related services (20 U.S.C. section 1402(3); 34 C.F.R. section 300.8; Education Code section 56026; 5 California Code of Regulations (CCR) section 3030).
