02/12/2020
A message from CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS
February 12, 2020
Dear CPS Families,
As part of our commitment to support students with disabilities, the district notified families in September 2019 about the district’s Student Specific Corrective Action (SSCA) process to support students who may be eligible for a remedy as a result of a potential delay or denial of special education services during the 2016–17 and/or 2017–18 school years. After gathering additional feedback from parents, advocates, and the Illinois State Board of Education, CPS made additional improvements to our SSCA process to better serve students.
To ensure families who may be eligible for a remedy to receive additional supports as quickly as possible, the district will offer automatic remedies to students who may have been impacted by changes to the district’s electronic Individualized Education Program (IEP) system in prior years. These services will be called a Universal Enrichment Remedy (UER). Beginning today and through the next week, we will be notifying eligible families directly to offer a UER to ensure they have access to these supplemental supports as quickly as possible.
The district has also identified a smaller group of students who will automatically have an SSCA meeting scheduled—as outlined in the September 2019 notice—but are not being offered an automatic UER. If your child qualifies for an automatic SSCA meeting, you will receive a notification letter starting in late March 2020.
If you do not get a second letter, you can still request a meeting. Please request a meeting if you believe your child was impacted by special education policies and procedures during the 2016–17 and/or 2017-18 school years, but you did not receive a notice regarding a UER or an SSCA meeting. If you would like to request a meeting or have additional questions about the SSCA process, please email [email protected].
If you have questions or would like to learn more about your options, you can talk to a lawyer who represents parents for free. Call Equip for Equality at (312) 895-7231. Interpreters are available.
Sincerely,
Stephanie Jones, PhD
Chief of Diverse Learner Supports and Services
Chicago Public Schools