Special Services

Pennsbury Special Education Vision

We empower every learner to achieve success academically, socially, and emotionally through an inclusive learning environment, grounded in evidence-based practices, and collaborative partnerships with students, families, educators, and the community. Our goal is for every student to develop the skills, confidence, and independence to thrive in school and in life.

Notice of Special Education Services

The public school districts of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and the Bucks County Intermediate Unit (“the Bucks County school entities”), provide special education and related service to resident children with disabilities who are ages three through twenty-two. The purpose of this notice is to describe (1) the types of disabilities that might qualify the child for such programs and services, (2) the special education programs and related services that are available, (3) the process by which each of the Bucks County School entities screens and evaluates such students to determine eligibility, and (4) the special rights that pertain to such children and their parents or legal guardians.

Programs for Eligible or Protected Handicapped Students

In compliance with state and federal law, notice is hereby given by the Pennsbury School District that it conducts ongoing identification activities as a part of its school program for the purpose of identifying students who may be in need of special education and related services (eligible students). If your child is identified by the District as possibly in need of such services, you will be notified of applicable procedures. Individualized services and programs are available for children who are determined to need specially designed instruction due to the following conditions:

• Autism/pervasive development disorder
• Blindness or visual impairment
• Deafness or hearing impairment
• Intellectual Disability
• Mentally gifted
• Multiple disabilities
• Traumatic brain injury
• Other health impairment
• Orthopedic impairment
• Emotional disturbance
• Specific learning disability
• Speech or language impairment
• Deaf-blindness

If you believe that your school-age child may be in need of special education services and related programs, or young child (age 3 to school-age) may be in need of early intervention, screening and evaluation processes designed to assess the needs of the child and his/her eligibility are available to you at no cost, upon written request. You may request a screening and evaluation at any time, whether or not your child is enrolled in the District's public school program. Requests for an evaluation and screening are to be made in writing to the appropriate Special Education Supervisor listed on the right hand side of this page.

Family's Quick Start Guide to Special Education

Please see the link to our Special Education Plan for 2022-2025

Special Education Plan 2022-2025

PDE Notice from 08/30/2023

On August 30, 2023, the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) announced a change to its interpretation of the law regarding the years in which students are eligible for special education. Previously, eligibility for special education services from local school districts terminated at the end of the school year in which a student attained 21 years of age. Under PDE’s new interpretation, students can remain in special education programming until the date of the student’s 22^nd birthday. This does not mean that students get to remain for an entire additional school year, but rather only until the date of the student’s 22^nd birthday.

Beginning with the 2023-2024 school year, students eligible for special education services will be allowed to remain enrolled until their 22^nd birthday if necessary to achieve their transition objectives. For students who turned 21 during the 2022-2023 school year and who have not yet turned 22 years old, should you wish to re-enroll your child in the District to receive these additional months of service, please contact Dr. Travis Bloom,  Director of Special Services at [email protected] and copy his administrative assistant R. Anne Mason at [email protected].

High Leverage Instructional Practices (HLIP)

Pennsbury School District has outlined High Leverage Instructional Practices (HLIP) for classroom teachers. The HLIP are aligned to Act 13 of 2020 and focus on four key areas of practice to ensure our curriculum and instruction is student-centered, universally designed, culturally relevant, innovative and equitable. Recently, we were able to develop a companion document for special educators aligned with PDE's Act 13 guidelines, as well as best practices published by the Council for Exceptional Children. Similar to the HLIP for classroom teachers, the PSD High Leverage Practices for Special Educators provide a common language for Pennsbury staff about the District’s values and beliefs for Distinguished practice in special education.

Department Staff