Dr. Sabrina Salmon
Senior Director
We oversee the education of about 7,000 students with disabilities to ensure that they have access to a free appropriate public education.
Our staff work with general education staff and administrators to create programs and plans for the success of all students who are eligible for special education services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the federal law governing special education.
The purpose of the IDEA is to “ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education [FAPE] that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living.” [34 C.F.R. § 300.1(a)]
FAPE means special education and related services that are provided to students without charge and are in conformity with a student’s Individualized Education Program (IEP).
Because parental participation in educational decisions is necessary and required, the parents of a child with a disability must be afforded the opportunity to participate in meetings that concern the identification, evaluation, educational placement, or the provision of a FAPE to their child.
The Ex Ed AT team is a resource for staff seeking assistance with AT. The goal is to provide support, information, and expertise to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of children with disabilities in the classroom. The AT team maintains a lending library of equipment and offers consultation to staff seeking information about the AT needs of children with disabilities.
Audiologists screen difficult-to-test students and engage in professional practices to identify, assess, and manage disorders of hearing. Audiologists provide services to students with hearing loss and auditory processing disorders. Audiologists work with the Teachers for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing to oversee all personal and classroom amplification equipment.
The ExEd behavior team (BESST) supports students who have behavioral and social-emotional needs. The team observes, monitors, and collects data on students with significant behavior issues to develop an appropriate behavior plan. The team trains teachers and helps create a mechanism for evaluating the effectiveness of behavior plans.
Although Child Find is an ongoing district-wide responsibility to identify, locate, and evaluate K-12 students who may have a qualifying disability, TUSD has a designated Child Find team that has a dual focus. Part of the team focuses on identifying, locating, and evaluating preschool students from 2 years 10.5 months to age 5 who may have a qualifying disability and a need for specially designed instruction as a result. The other part of the Child Find team focuses on evaluating parentally-placed private school or homeschooled students who may have a qualifying disability and a need for specially designed instruction.
Adapted PE (APE) teachers, occupational therapists (OTs), and physical therapists (PTs) work with students to improve motor skills. APE helps students improve balance, flexibility, strength, and endurance. OTs address fine and gross motor skills for academics, play, leisure, activities of daily living, and work skills. PTs focus on improving student strength, coordination, and mobility.
Orientation and Mobility (O&M) specialists teach travel concepts and orientation strategies that facilitate safe, efficient, interdependent travel for students who are visually impaired or blind. Sensory skills, concept development, motor development, environmental and community awareness are all integral components of the orientation and mobility process.
The primary responsibilities of school psychologists are to evaluate students for special education eligibility and provide counseling to students. The goal is to facilitate the educational and emotional development of all students by working collaboratively with school staff, families, and community agencies to make data-based decisions to inform and promote the mental health, welfare, and education of all students.
An educational interpreter plays a crucial role in facilitating effective communication between Deaf or hard-of-hearing students and their teachers, peers, and other school staff. Their primary responsibility is to interpret spoken language into sign language or vice versa, allowing students who use sign language as their primary mode of communication to access educational content and participate fully in classroom activities.
Social workers are the linkage between schools, families, and the community, and they are instrumental in the success of the students they work with. Social workers provide therapeutic counseling to students and provide social emotional supports to the schools in their region. Social workers also assist families in meeting the basic needs of the students.
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) provide comprehensive services for the prevention, assessment, diagnosis, and intervention of communication disabilities related to educational success. SLPs provide services to students with communication disorders involving articulation, fluency, oral language, or voice, using evidence-based practices.
The transition team is a bridge between school and adult life, including higher education/training, employment, and independent living. The team oversees a variety of work programs designed to increase student self-determination, career awareness, and competitive employability.
Teachers of Students with Visual Impairments (TSVIs or TVIs) provide specialized instruction and services that are needed to meet the educational needs of visually impaired or blind students. TVIs complete functional vision assessments (FVAs) and learning media assessments (LMAs), provide accommodations and adaptations of materials to provide accessibility for students, create large print and braille for students with identified services, coordinate and provide specially designed instruction in the areas of Expanded Core Curriculum for students with visual impairments, and consult with and provide training/support for classroom teachers and other staff members.
Learn MoreWhen a parentally-placed private school or homeschooled student is determined eligible for special education and the parent wants to take advantage of the TUSD proportionate share program, an Individual Service Plan (ISP) is created within 30 days of the eligibility determination meeting. Students eligible for special education services who receive Arizona ESA funding can also receive proportionate share services.
Every fall TUSD invites private schools within our boundaries to a proportionate share meeting. Parents of homeschooled students within TUSD boundaries are also welcome. The purpose of this meeting is for TUSD to hear ideas and suggestions about how to allocate our proportionate share dollars. TUSD considers the input and decides which area or areas of service that the district will make available to eligible private school students or homeschooled students within TUSD boundaries.
On September 13, 2023 TUSD held the annual Proportionate Share meeting via Zoom. Participants made several suggestions for expanding the array of proportionate share services, and the suggestions were considered and approved by TUSD administration. Based on the student's needs and team recommendations, funding can support items such as:
TUSD has a School Choice Program that includes the TUSD Magnet school program and Open Enrollment. Open Enrollment is an available option for all students, even Exceptional Education students who have IEPs, but there are some limitations.
Many TUSD schools are greenlight schools, meaning that there is no application process or lottery system. Exceptional Education students who have IEPs that indicate service code/level A or B can open enroll at any TUSD greenlight school provided there is capacity at that campus. Capacity is determined annually and is based on the number of seats available and whether that greenlight school has the required number of teachers qualified to provide the necessary and required instruction and services.
Students whose IEPs call for service code/level C need self-contained classrooms, but not all TUSD schools have self-contained classrooms in all program areas (specialty classrooms in autism, emotional disability, cross-categorical special education). When a C code student wishes to open enroll, the district reviews the IEP to determine which campus has an appropriate self-contained classroom, whether that classroom has an available slot, and whether the campus has the required number of teachers qualified to provide the necessary and required instruction and services.
Service code/level D students need a separate day school or private residential facility. TUSD does not accept students with service code/level D for open enrollment.
