The Student Services Department provides educational support to students across the district. This support can be delivered through a variety of services, including: Individualized Education Program (IEP), Section 504, preschool special education, homebound instruction, English Language Learners. Other supports provided to students to ensure educational needs and rights are met include: school counseling, nursing and health services, homeless and foster programming, cultural diversity and equity, mental health, and crisis planning.

Students ages 3 through 21 identified as disabled under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act are provided services according to Ohio’s Operating Standards for Ohio’s Schools Serving Children with Disabilities.  Students receive specialized instruction both within a regular classroom setting and in resource classrooms by certified staff.  It is our goal to provide children with disabilities the best conditions for learning within our school system.  The State of Ohio Operating Standards for Students with Disabilities are implemented to ensure that all children with disabilities have available a free appropriate public education that emphasizes specially designed instruction to meet their unique needs.

Depending on the student's least restrictive environment, services range from full-time general education classroom participation with support, to self-contained classrooms.

SPECIAL EDUCATION PROCEDURAL SAFEGUARDS NOTICE 
Click here for a copy of A Guide to Parent Rights in Special Education
This guide can help you understand your rights and your child’s rights according to IDEA and the Ohio Operating Standards. It also gives you information and resources to help you understand your child’s special education supports and services. ODE is in the process of translating this document into the top 10 foreign languages in Ohio (Albanian, Arabic, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Somali, Ukrainian and Vietnamese). A link to the translated versions will be added as soon as available.

Although the above A Guide to Parent Rights in Special Education is replacing the formerly utilized WHOSE IDEA IS THIS (below), the WHOSE IDEA document will still be accessible here and may continue to serve as a valuable resource for parents.  Information related to steps to getting services, specific ETR and IEP information, disability terms and definitions, and other information relevant to special education Frequently Asked Questions can be accessed through this document.

Whose IDEA Is This?

(A Parent's Guide to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004)
To assist districts with meeting the requirement of providing the procedural safeguards notice to parents in their native language (3301-51-05 (H)(3)), ODE translated this document into the top 10 foreign languages in Ohio (Albanian, Arabic, Chinese (simplified), Chinese (traditional), Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Somali, Ukrainian and Vietnamese). The translations are available here.

Memorandum to Amend whose IDEA Is This - January 21, 2014

All school districts are required to provide special education services for preschool children identified with disabilities. Fostoria City Schools offers a special needs preschool program that provides classroom options that integrate typically-developing preschool students with special needs students. This enriched environment supports learning, exploring, and peer involvement for typically developing peer model students as well as students that are identified with delays.  

The preschool curriculum follows the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce Early Learning Content Standards. Knowledge and skills are acquired through a learning environment that utilizes a combination of play and research-based, student-focused instructional experiences, designed to encourage exploration and discovery. We promote positive social and behavioral growth by meeting the individual needs of students and providing positive interactions, language models, and appropriate play schemes to help our preschoolers learn academic skills.

The Fostoria City Schools preschool program is built upon the belief that learning is a collaborative process that occurs between the home and school, and we acknowledge the role that families play in the development of children. We hope to assist families in identifying goals in the areas of need, and helping children to obtain these, while instilling life-long learning, and making sure they are on track to graduate from high school, enjoy success in college, careers, and life beyond preschool!

Our Preschool Program is licensed by the Ohio Department of Education and is located at:

Fostoria Elementary School
1202 H. L. Ford Dr.
Fostoria, Ohio 44830
419-436-4125

Fostoria City Schools has two certified school psychologists.    The School Psychologist conducts assessments to evaluate students on criteria such as intelligence, aptitude, and psychopathology related to a specific disability. Additionally, the psychologist often consults with teachers and other school personnel to help supply interventions to aid in student learning.

Beth Utz
Director of Student Services
butz@fostoriaschools.org
Phone: 419-436-4101

Montana Zaborowski
School Psychologist
mzaborowski@fostoriaschools.org
Phone: 419-436-4108

Megan Siesel
School Psychologist
msiesel@fostoriaschools.org

Gina Johnson
Secretary to the School Psych
gjohnson@fostoriaschools.org
Phone: 419-436-4108

Jessica Herr
Secretary to the Director
jherr@fostoriaschools.org
Phone: 419-436-4101