Special Education Directors' Corner

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Technical Assistance Documents
Upcoming and Archived Trainings
- (Special Education under "Topics" on the left)
View CDE Publications

COVID Quick Links

Meetings and Conferences

2024 Special Education Law Conference
The 2024 Colorado Special Education Law Conference will be held on Friday, April 12, 2024 at the Denver Marriott West in Golden Colorado. This one-day conference will cover current issues concerning the education of students with disabilities with updates on both the state and national levels. This event is for Educators and administers, and Parents, Guardians, and Caregivers of students with disabilities in the State of Colorado. Registration is open until March 14, 2024. Register here! Please note that we may have to limit registration space by district.

For more information contact Claire Burbank.

Important Dates Coming Up

Year-at-a-Glance for SY 2024-2025 (PDF) Coming Soon

July 2024 None

August 2024
1st 2024-25 IEP Record Review samples for all age groups available and open for review in the DMS August 1, 2024, through May 1, 2025
22nd SPED Discipline initial error-free due date when a complete snapshot is due (must have passed interchange and snapshot validations).
22nd SPED Discipline report review week begins. Data changes can be made during this week to ensure accurate data before the final close.
29th SPED Discipline final error-free due date. Final reports must be reviewed, signed, and submitted to CDE.
31st 2022-23 Federal Application Project Narrative Amendment Window #1 closes.

Educational Surrogate Parent (ESP)

Address Educational Surrogate Parent (ESP) questions to:

Katherine Rains
Rains_k@cde.state.co.us

Submit form via FAX to:

303-866-6767

Mail form to:

Colorado Department of Education
Exceptional Student Services Unit, ESP Assignments
1560 Broadway, Suite 1100
Denver CO 80202

New Special Education Director

AU Special Education Director of Record and Fiscal Contact Information

ESSU must have current contact information for all state-level Special Education Directors and Special Education Fiscal Contacts. Our office communicates important updates and information through our listserv, please be sure that we have accurate, updated information. Communications from this listserv will come from CDE_SPED.

AU Director of Record & SPED Fiscal Contact Form

ESSU Newsletter

The ESSU e-newsletter is our office's primary form of communication with the field. It is published once a month and contains information from the Office of Gifted and Talented, Office of Facility Schools, and Office of Special Education.

ESSU Newsletter Sign-up

Archived ESSU Newsletters

What's New

PPRA Requirements for the Annual Review and Annual Restraint Review Report
Since 2009, Protection of Persons from Restraint Act (PPRA) has required each school district and institute charter school to establish a review process for restraints, conduct the review process at least annually, and document the results of the review process in a written report. The purpose of the annual review process is to ascertain that the school district or institute charter school is properly administering restraint, identifying additional training needs, minimizing and preventing the use of restraint by increasing the use of positive behavior interventions, and reducing the incidence of injury to students and staff.

HB 22-1376 now requires that the written report, referred to as the Annual Restraint Review Report, be submitted to CDE beginning June 30, 2024, and every June 30 thereafter. Please note that the review is conducted at the school district level, not at the administrative unit (AU) level. Each individual school district must submit a separate Annual Restraint Review Report.

(posted 4/26/24)

ML Enrollment Scenarios Flowchart

It is the Administrative Unit's responsibility under Child Find to locate and identify all students with disabilities including Multilingual Learners (MLs) with disabilities. School teams must not identify MLs with disabilities when linguistic and cultural differences or lack of instruction in literacy and math are the determinative causes for their difficulties in school. When parents or staff members report concerns about a student's academic, social-emotional, functional, or behavioral concerns, IEP teams including educators who are knowledgeable in language acquisition and acculturation should work to investigate these concerns before the special education evaluation referral.

Memos to AU and Special Education Directors

New or Reorganization Application & Checklist

*Applications for New or Reorganized AUs, dates for the 25/26 school year TBD.

Resources

Comprehensive Plan Documents:

Supporting Displaced Special Education Students

There are many ways that children and families can be displaced. There are floods, fires, and other types of natural disasters that can destroy homes or make them uninhabitable for periods of time. Families can also experience hardships that result in major home life changes.

Supporting Displaced Students: Special Education

Dr. Paul Foster
Assistant Commissioner, ESSU
Email Paul Foster
Phone: 720-926-4033

Having trouble with this webpage?

If you have problems with broken links or accessing the content on this page, please contact the Exceptional Student Services Unit at ESSU@cde.state.co.us. Please copy the URL link for this page into the email when referencing the problem you are experiencing.