Greenfield Union School District provides a range of special education programs and services for students from preschool through eighth grade. The district is part of the Kern County Consortium Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA). The District, in conjunction with the Kern County SELPA, provides a continuum of services for students who require special education. Through special education, instructional techniques, materials and equipment will be adapted to meet the individual needs of your child.
 
Students receiving special education and Designated Instructional Services (DIS) will be educated with general education students to the maximum extent appropriate. They will be integrated as much as possible in school activities and regular classroom activities as determined by the IEP team.
 
Special education and DIS related services will be provided on behalf of your child, without cost, except for those fees that are charged to general education students. Services will be provided in an appropriate setting as close to their homes/home school as feasible. When transportation to a more distant school, class or program is necessary, such transportation is to be provided without cost to the student.
 
**For infants and children below the age of three who are suspected of having a disability, please contact the Kern County Superintendent of Schools Office of Education at their Search and Serve Office at (661) 636-4817.
 

LEAST RESTRICTIVE EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT

“Least restrictive environment” is that service, placement, or program which can best meet an individual student’s needs and which does so with a minimum loss of contact with general class, students, and programs. Consistent with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), students with disabilities should be educated with non-disabled peers to the maximum extent possible. Here is a brief look at how the IEP team might decide the least restrictive setting for the student to be educated, while still making sure that the student has the opportunity to interact with students who do not have disabilities. 

• The IDEA has a strong preference for educating students with disabilities in regular classes with appropriate supports and services.
   
   
• The student’s placement in the general education classroom is the first option the IEP team must consider.
   
   
• Considering just the student, the IEP team answers the question: What supplementary aids and services would ensure that the student’s IEP can be appropriately implemented?
   
   
• If the IEP team decides that the student can be educated satisfactorily in the regular classroom, then that placement is the least restrictive environment for that student.
   
   
• The IEP team may decide that the student cannot be educated satisfactorily in the regular classroom. The IEP team must then consider other placements and/or services.
   
   
• The local educational agency (district) must have other placements available within the SELPA to the extent necessary to ensure that the student’s IEP can be implemented. These might include: instruction in regular classes, special classes, home instruction and instruction in hospitals or other settings.
   
   
• The IEP team decides which of these other placements is best for the student, given the student’s individual needs and the importance of being educated, to the maximum extent appropriate, with students who do hot have disabilities.